Speciality Food Magazine May 2024

classes in our commercial kitchen, for children and adults. It’s always busy over there. Then we’ve branched out and diversified further. A kitchen fitter has a showroom in our old meeting rooms, which we got rid of in Covid times. We’ve got a health and beauty business, Bodylines, that’s moved in from Ipswich town centre, and a podiatrist, and osteopath.” All of these additions “help to make ours a viable business. They can use our customer base, and we can use their customer base. It really works for us as a whole, we all promote one another, and that can only be a good thing,” Nick adds. These days, it seems to run a successful farm shop, deli or food hall, you need to not only excel in food and drink, but offer an extra spark or two. Something that sets your business apart, beyond being able to deliver products customers can’t readily find in supermarkets. And Suffolk Food Hall is an example of how slowly but surely discovering your feet, knowing your audience, and giving them both what they want, and what they didn’t know they needed, can be a recipe for revenue. “My advice, if you’re thinking of expanding or diversifying is to just do it,” says Nick. “We had the guys from The Goat Shed in Norfolk down here and we introduced ourselves and showed them around, and showed them what we’re doing. They went on to grow, and they’re just now expanding again. I think the demand is out there for unique businesses like ours. Lots of people are moving away from pre-packaged supermarket goods. There’s a greater understanding of the benefits of better quality food in terms of health and the environment. As we’ve gone through the last few years, with the pandemic, people are trying to look after themselves better, and to treat themselves when they can...and that’s where we come in!” he admits. “But we’re always busy at breakfast and lunch. That’s our core customer. And we’re focussing on that.” Set around the restaurant in the Cookhouse building are multiple independent businesses, predominately food and drink- related, and the team are proud this space has acted almost as an incubator, providing the facilities for start-ups particularly to begin their journey. Brands such Choose Spice, Syms Pantry, Carpenter’s Gin and Bwownies all set their stall out here. “And we have Ilyia’s Kitchen. She runs workshops and cookery pick the best of the rest from further afield.” Top sellers include the Stokes Sauces range “which always sell well”. “And we sell a lot of wine from our local vineyard at Shotley. Local honey sells very well too. And chocolate from Linden Lady in Essex, or Fairfields crisps.” Absolutely crucial to the success of the food hall though, and ringing through the till in huge numbers, is produce made on site – be that bread from the onsite bakery, tartlets in the deli, or meal solutions at the butchery counter. Nick says these are things customers actively seek out, and that they’ve seen growing interest in prepared specialityfoodmagazine.com we’re going to be announcing a new play park soon.” A taste of the food hall A key driver to Suffolk Food Hall is its local messaging. Residents in the county, and visitors passing by or chalking it up as a day trip during their holiday, know they can experience a true flavour of Suffolk as soon as they step out of the car. “Stocking local is one of our core values, and our buyers spend a lot of their time scouting and looking for really great products from the area,” says Nick, who reveals sales of local goods make up a decent proportion of revenue. “A lot of what we have (including fruit and veg) is from Suffolk or East Anglia, and then we food, which is something they will continue to invest in. “We’re always making innovative new things for customers to try. We’ve got a team of production and development chefs both on the deli and butchery side, making everything from our sausage rolls and samosas, to ready-to-cook items. There’s a huge amount of growth there and we’re currently looking at doing more of our own frozen range. People really are looking for great quality ready meal options, and we’ve been inspired a lot by Goodies Food Hall in Norfolk, who do a huge amount of these. We see them being an important part of Suffolk Food Hall in the future.” Cooking up a storm Outside of the main food hall, the renovated restaurant keeps customers coming back to dine... and to shop. “Having the restaurant retains people on site,” says Nick. “And it’s a way for us to showcase some of the products we make and stock in the food hall. Our own burgers are on the menu. Our steaks are on the menu. We try to use as much of our fruit and veg as possible in the restaurant too. It’s another prong to our offering and obviously gives a boost to our income.” Although it has previously tried opening during the evenings, Nick says it’s breakfast, lunch and afternoon tea that are the restaurant’s bread and butter, and while they arrange the occasional evening event, he doesn’t see a market for opening fully at night. “It just doesn’t really work for us,” This was a significant investment. Therewas nothing else like it at the time Having the restaurant retains people on site. It’s away for us to showcase some of the products wemake and stock in the food hall 37