SF-0820

6 @specialityfood “Is our café ahero or avillain?” M y first article for Speciality Food was five years ago in 2015 and since then we have experienced three general elections (amazingly), the Queen’s 90th birthday, a major Royal Wedding, Brexit and several weather extremes. However, nothing even remotely compares to the effect of Covid-19 on our businesses. Talk about the new normal, the learning curve has looped the loop literally and the current pandemic has knocked the socks off all other challenges. The lucky part is that as food retailers we have been able to keep trading each day, albeit with less customers than ever before, but the average spending of each one has risen which helps a lot. And recalling (from my own lockdown experience) the song from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, “From the ashes of disaster grow the roses of success,” we have had the opportunity to have a long hard look at what we are doing in the shop. And the result is that there could be one notable casualty – the café, at least in its current form. In my own mind I have often struggled with whether to regard the café as a hero or villain. Admittedly it brings in between 10- 20% of sales revenue depending on the weather, and some customers swear by it. On the After millions petitioned to protect British farmers amidst ongoing trade deals, the Government has agreed to set up a Trade and Agriculture Commission. As negotiations continue, the commission will advise ministers on the UK’s approach to post-Brexit trade agreements. It comes after months of campaigning by farmers and agricultural unions across the UK, including the NFU, whose food standards petition attracted over one million signatures. The Government’s handling of trade deals has been scrutinised for weeks as fears over food safety standards intensified. Farmers as well as consumers voiced concerns over an influx of cheap, poor-quality imports that would threaten the UK’s food standards and put British farmers’ livelihoods at risk. Announcing the new commission, International Trade Secretary Liz Truss wrote to NFU president Minette Batters, claiming the decision came about following “positive discussions” with four of the country’s biggest farming unions: NFU, NFU Scotland, NFU Cymru and Ulster Farmers’ Union. Speaking about the commission, Batters said: “I am very pleased that the government is taking concrete action to address the challenges of safeguarding our high food and farming standards by agreeing to set up a Trade and Agriculture Commission, something we first called for over 18 months ago. This is a hugely important development. “We look forward to working with the Government and other stakeholders in the days ahead on the Commission’s terms of reference, to ensure that its work is genuinely valuable. In particular, it will be vital that Parliament is able to properly consider the Commission’s recommendations and can ensure the Government implements them effectively. “The NFU will continue to scrutinise the progress of trade negotiations with the USA and other countries over the coming months outside of the work of the Commission so that our future trade deals work for British farmers and consumers, and believe it is vital that Parliament is provided a strengthened role in this regard as well.” Speaking to SF after the announcement, NFU spokesperson Mike Thomas said: “Shoppers have shown a desire to know the provenance of their food. While affordability remains a key purchase driver, most consumers are interested in traceability and buying local. This publicity is a great opportunity for independent retailers to communicate clearly the origin of products to customers while supporting British producers in ensuring their product has a market. Knowing the products you are selling and engaging in effective promotion can help to attract and maintain a loyal and wide customer base that will spread the positive story of British producers.” JOHN SHEPHERD PARTRIDGES other hand it seriously increases wage costs, raises a lot of service issues and some customers swear at it. The question remains how can we improve it without losing its benefits? When well managed and in good weather I am sure the answer to running an in-store café is a resounding thumbs up, but managing two parallel and often competing retail activities profitably under one roof is not as easy as it looks. I know several deli owners who have franchised their cafes out or reduced them significantly. However, without the major upheaval of the past few months I confess I would not ever have considered taking these steps. However, since Covid-19 not a single customer has bemoaned the closure and reduction in scale of the café – especially since we opened our take away section at the front door. The retail world is comprehensively moving in the direction of experiential shopping – the aim being to find the retail version of the Holy Grail: increasing in-store dwell times. So as customers are continually requiring a more engaging and memorable experience, to remove a café would surely put that in jeopardy? In the Covid-19 era the answer probably lies somewhere in the middle of two concepts. Having a popular café and drinks counter but removing the formal catering elements with fewer tables in less confined spaces. This has incidentally been my 50th Article for Speciality Food . I am very grateful to the esteemed publication and Editor for allowing me to bear the soul of the shop in print for so long. Best wishes to all through these still difficult times. NewTrade and Agriculture Commission could protect food standards post Brexit “ This publicity is a great opportunity for independent retailers to communicate clearly the origin of products to customers while supporting British producers in ensuring their product has amarket ”