Speciality-Food-Magazine-November-December-2024

2 @specialityfood EDITOR’S LETTER 34 23 4 John Shepherd Partridges 10 Ollie Lloyd Consultant 31 James Grant No.2 Pound Street REGULARS 12 Product News 16 TrendWatch: Flavoured Butters 20 Centre Spread: Boxing Day 28 Cheese Uncut 30 Counterpoint 38 Last Words FEATURES 14 Festive Food and Drink Inspiration from the European Union 17 IFE 2025 preview 23 Eat La Dolce Vita 26 How to Sell Christmas 31 Singing the Blues 34 Ambient Adventures 36 Daring to Diversify: OttertonMill 16 W elcome to the November/ December issue of Speciality Food – our final outing of 2024. What a year it's been. Frommy own perspective, I came back from maternity leave to find all manner of newproducts and brands in the industry – shaking it upwith their innovation, as SMEs do best – and I thinkwe can all agree that this year has been a great one for food lovers. The great news for all of us is that the appetite for great food is as keen as ever as 2024 comes to a close and 2025 beckons... but we can't rest on our laurels. A cynic could see the constant new demands from consumers a double-edged sword, but I see themas amulti-faceted opportunity. Not only does this ever- changing landscape bring waves of innovation and newproducts to delight customers, but it means that independent retailers can't stand still – and nor should they want to, with the plethora of delicious innovation on offer. It's been a pleasure to report the news stories, trends, opinions, sector updates andmore to you this year, and I look forward to continuing Speciality Food 'smission to inform and delight in 2025 and beyond. HOLLY SHACKLETON | EDITOR holly.shackleton@artichokehq.com