Deli Wins Provenance Competition

Rewarded with a ten-day tour around Parma, Burgundy and Douro Valley, the competition forms part of this year’s ‘Discover the Origin’ campaign.

The three-year initiative is designed to raise awareness of products with a protected destination of origin (PDO).

Nina Bullock, owner, was commended for her efforts to educate customers about the origins of Parma Ham, Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, Burgundy wines, Douro Valley wines and port.

“The campaign is in its first year and to receive a winning entry of such high calibre is fantastic - the bar has definitely been set. The masterclasses and competition will be running again next year and I hope for many entries with the same flair and enthusiasm as Arch House Deli - congratulations!” said Sarah Taylor, head of the Discover the Origin Campaign.

Run in conjunction with Speciality Food magazine, the promotional push helps to publicise the importance of food provenance in delis and independents throughout the UK.

In the past eight months, participating retailers received free point of sale material and many attended specialist classes with cheese conoisseur, Juliet Harbutt.

“I attended a class with Juliet and left feeling totally inspired. I came away wanting to transform the deli, which was exactly what I did,” said Ms Bullock.

“Our ‘Discover the Origin’ displays totally took over the shop. Customers were aware of the campaign no matter where they stood!” she laughed.

Such commitment is paying dividends. “Since we started the campaign sales have increased and people are asking us so many more questions about our food in general,” she explained.

Ms Bullock is now determined to keep refreshing the material she gives customers.

“We’ve started putting ‘Did you know?’ stickers on many of our foods to give people more details about where the product comes from, who produces it and so on. Now that we’ve got this interest in food provenance, we’re definitely going to keep it going,” she said.

Ms Bullock accepted her award at a drinks reception on the Speciality Food magazine stand with a glass of Crémant de Bourgogne - coincidentally marking the deli’s third birthday.

“We opened on the 7th September 2006, so it was a brilliant way to mark three years in business,” she said.

The Apple Tree Farm Shop, Yeovil was awarded a whole leg of Parma ham and an eighth a wheel of Parmigiano-Reggiano as the runner-up.