Growing Reputation for Healthy Eating

by thisisbristol.co.uk - 08/09/2010

"BRISTOL has long been the spiritual home of organic food, but the sector has taken some heavy knocks in recent years."

Doubts about the benefits of organic meat and vegetables, and people being more careful with their cash as a result of the recession, signalled tough times for traders.

But now it appears that in one part of Bristol the demand for top quality food and drink is showing no signs of disappearing. Clifton is fast becoming a foodie's haven, with businesses cashing in on the trend and moving into the area.

The Soil Association, which has its headquarters in Bristol, admitted last April that people were starting to turn their backs on organic produce in favour of cheaper alternatives.

Last year sales in organic meat, vegetables and other products fell by almost 13 per cent. The Organic Market Report released by the Soil Association found that the sector lost out on £1.8 billion as a result of the dip. Organic food store Fresh and Wild, which was based on Clifton Triangle, was forced to close because of lack of demand, and meat specialist Taste, on the A38 near Barrow Gurney, suffered similar problems.

But now it seems that demand is fast returning and two new businesses are planning to open shops in the Whiteladies Road area in the coming weeks.

The Better Food Company is on the verge of opening its second store on the corner of Whiteladies Road and Hurle Road. The firm is one of the oldest organic food specialists in Bristol and is the brain-child of managing director Phil Haughton, who started selling organic food in the late 1980s from his home.

The first shop was in Gloucester Road and then the firm moved to St Werburgh's. As well as running a box scheme it also operates a delivery service and has grown into one of the biggest companies of its kind in the South West.

Mr Haughton said: "The new store will be culinary paradise, with a real emphasis, as in St Werburghs, on local sourcing and impeccable provenance. We are currently working with some 65 local producers and farmers, who between them supply us with hundreds of different products, and the more the merrier."

The store will be in the former Bottoms Up site, and according to Mr Haughton will add to the area's reputation as a foodie haven.

He said: "Whiteladies Road is rapidly becoming a culinary delight for food-lovers, with two established delis – Chandos and Papadeli – as well as Deli Delish on nearby Cotham Hill. Cook, another food outlet, has opened, and you've a really good fish merchants, an organic butchers, Wild Oats – a Bristol natural foods institution – and now us, providing quality, local, organic food. The whole area really is being transformed."

Another firm planning to come to Clifton is Weston-super-Mare based Munch Deli, which is opening a store close to Clifton Triangle.

Stefan Carlin, owner of the firm, said: "There is a lot of demand for good quality, properly-sourced food in Clifton and the surrounding area.

"Even though we are coming out of recession, people are still happy to spend on good quality food. We will be aiming at the students as well as the office workers. There is plenty of choice and a wide variety of options, but there is also plenty of demand for the kind of food we will be offering. We are incredibly excited about coming to Clifton where the competition is so much tougher."

The Better Food Company will be at Bristol's Organic Food Festival this weekend (September 11 and 12) and Mr Haughton welcomed what he saw as a return to the movement's roots. He added: "A few years back it felt like it had been hijacked by big organic commerce. It had become too commercially driven and had lost some of its heart. But last year there were a lot more small, artisan producers and a real hustle and bustle. It feels like it's got its heart back."

Mr Haughton said small, community organic stores were doing better than the supermarkets.

"I haven't found the market too bad. Last year we dropped five per cent in the middle of the recession but picked up again at the end," he said. "This year we're expecting to grow very slightly, which I think is quite healthy. There's been too much emphasis on economic growth; we want to grow in a slower, more holistic way."

More Details: http://www.thisisbristol.co.uk/news/GROWING-REPUTATION-HEALTHY-EATING/article-2612600-detail/article.html