Speciality Food January 2024

2 @specialityfood EDITOR’S LETTER 32 30 4 John Shepherd Partridges 6 Stefano Cuomo Macknade 27 James Grant No.2 Pound Street REGULARS 12 Product News 20 Centre Spread: Breakfast 24 TrendWatch: BritishWagyu 25 Counterpoint: The tools of the trade 26 Cheese Uncut 38 Last Words FEATURES 14 The growth of Scottish gourmet food and drink 18 Should you invest in vendingmachines? 22 Thinking of expanding this year? 28 'Our favourite cheese pairings' 30 Daring to Diversify: The Organic FarmShop 32 How to buy bean to bar chocolate 34 A guide to using retail psychology in store 36 Taste Direct W elcome to a brand new year. We at Speciality Food hope you've had an enjoyable festive period - and that those tills were ringing right up to Christmas Eve. I certainly overindulged in the cheese department! On the subject of cheese, in this edition we speak with cheesemongers and specialists to find out their expert pairing tips - Stilton and 70% dark chocolate, apparently, is a pretty delicious combination... As ever, to kickstart a fresh season of buying and selling we bring you a rundown of the trends to be aware of over the next fewmonths, so you can be assured you're ahead of the curve. We also look into several important issues - fromnew EU import rules, to the rise of shoplifting in retail (and what's being done to tackle it). And the team is delighted to present Taste Direct in this issue. This popular annual feature is a great way for you to sample fantastic new products, and build relationships with some of fine food retail's best artisanmakers Here's to a happy and prosperous 2024! CHARLOTTE SMITH-JARVIS | EDITOR (MATERNITY COVER) charlotte.smith-jarvis @artichokehq.com 14