Amazing Artisans: Stuart and Kathryn, Founders of Proper Nutty Peanut Butter

Peanut butter. As far as we're concerned, breakfast doesn't get much better than toast topped with a generous smear of this delicious nutty spread (although we are often guilty of eating it straight from the jar - spoon optional).  It’s always fantastic to see an artisan take something and apply their own artisanal methods to their production, creating a unique, delicious product. Enter this week's Amazing Artisans Stuart and Kathryn, the nutty masterminds behind artisan peanut butter company, Proper Nutty. After returning to the UK, the couple struggled to get hold of the delicious, quality, unprocessed peanut butter they had been used to whilst living abroad. Noticing a gap in the market, Proper Nutty was born. Read the interview in full to find out what made Stuart and Kathryn nutty enough to take the plunge and start their own business.

Amazing Artisan: Tamsin, Founder of Luponde Tea

Luponde are a great example of a family company who continue to maintain their commitment to their artisan values. It was great to see how passionate founder Tamsin is about the heritage of their tea, and it’s lovely to hear how the Luponde tea estate aims to support small, independent farmers, social welfare projects as well as endeavouring to preserve and improve the natural environment both here in England and in Tanzania. We caught up with Tamsin to find out a little bit more about her company and what makes being an artisan so exciting - read the interview in full here to find out what she said.

Amazing Artisans: Cate, Founder of Dine and Dandy

Dine and Dandy started out as Cate’s solution to the lack of wholesome, interesting vegetarian meals on offer in her local supermarket. After positive feedback and encouragement from her friends, she decided to take the next step and turn her solution into a business model. An awesome name, a business mentor and a couple of markets later and Dine and Dandy was born. Having only launched in January this year, it was great to get a peek into the beginnings of a business journey. We wish Cate every success with her big plans - keep your eyes peeled for her nutritious, tasty veggie meals, we think Dine and Dandy is sure to be big business in the veggie world! Read the full interview to find out more about her awesome startup story.

From Exams to Intern to Employee - Why Students Should Consider Starting Out in Startups

June 2014; After what seems like months of late-night essay writing and pre-exam cramming, I finally finish my university exams. Two days later, I had moved back home with my mum, ready for my first day of my first proper post-grad job.

Applying for the internship at KTP made perfect sense. Working in food? Check. Putting to use my OCD grammar skills honed from three years of essay writing at university? Check. Opportunity to be creative and write? Double check. I loved the idea of working for a new company and seeing the business develop right from its very beginning.

In the student world, the word ‘intern’ is bandied around in a negative way far too often. Despite the fact that students are told that ‘having a degree is not enough’, thousands of students every year leave University without the right kind of skills and experience that make them attractive to employers. Internships are a great way of gaining some of these skills. I can’t speak for all interns, but gone are the days of making the tea and filling; instead, I was offered a chance to gain practical experience in a professional environment and have a real input into the company.

Working in startups and SMEs is an opportunity passed up by far too many graduates. At university, it was never suggested to me that I should consider working for a smaller company; instead, I spent three years attending career fairs dedicated to big name brands and corporate companies, feeling pressured into applying for top grad schemes that offer a handful of places and yet receive thousands of applicants. Whilst I’m not going to deny that these offer fantastic opportunities for the right person, students should know that this isn’t the only route. After all, big doesn’t always means best.

Far from ‘making the tea’, my internship was interesting, varied and, most importantly, enjoyable. Trusted with the mammoth task of building up KTP’s artisan community, I found it rewarding to see tangible results of my work and learn some new practical skills away from the ‘classroom’. What’s more, I got to attend industry events, learn about the food industry and countless opportunities to network and build contacts with a variety of people. In just three months, I got a unique insight into the food industry and the fast paced world of startups.

The opportunity to work for Kitchen Table Projects full-time was a bit of a no-brainer. You’ll still find me tweeting about our foodie musings or blogging about all the new goings on in the food world, but being full time has given me the opportunity (and confidence) to make some of the ideas I developed during my three month internship a reality. Being an employee let me directly implement my ideas on our strategy and share my ideas on our plans for the future.  

I think this is what I like the most about working for a small company; I’m able to carry out tasks that I wouldn’t ever think of being assigned to in a larger company with dedicated employees for that particular job. That’s the other great thing about working for a small company - you know everyone in your team personally and your fingers are in every pie. Unlike working for a big name brand with thousands of employees, you build relationships with your co-workers, make an impact and get noticed by the people who matter.

Working in our office at Impact Hub Brixton has been another highlight. Working in the Hub has given me exposure to a vibrant and exciting slice of startup culture, meeting and discovering new, innovative enterprises on a weekly, if not daily basis. It’s such an inspirational environment to work in, and the sense of community that the Hub fosters really fits in with everything we do at KTP. Plus we have tea and cake spread on Wednesdays (yup, that sold us too.) Working in an awesome office doing a job I genuinely enjoy - I’m pretty sure those aren’t the kind of words that a graduate utters very often.

For now, I’m looking forward to working on some really exciting projects leading up to our launch (keep your eyes peeled!), as well as meeting some more exciting people, expanding our team and, of course, our launch!

I would urge any students thinking about working in startups to give it a go - and don’t be put off by the ‘i’ word, either. Internships are a great career springboard: a chance to open those all important doors, make a difference within a company and focus your mind on what you really want to do with your life. Remember, everyone has to start somewhere and starting small doesn’t mean insignificant. Don’t forget the little guy!

Photo by Flickr User Brunel University.

Amazing Artisans: Dan, Founder of BananaBerry

Food Waste is a conversation that all businesses need to be having. Seeing the  potential to capitalise on the 15 million tonnes of food thrown away each year, Dan set up BananaBerry, a smoothie startup that uses non-displayable fruit and veg to create delicious drinks, freshly made to order, for offices around London. BananaBerry’s mission is simple: to reduce food waste, encourage a more healthy, sustainable lifestyle, and contribute towards a worthy cause (10p from each bottle sold goes to Cancer Research). Read the interview in full to find out more about how BananaBerry's big social idea came to fruition (sorry, couldn’t resist!)

Reap Rewards from your Rubbish - Waste in Food Businesses

We need to talk about food waste.

Sustainability is a conversation that all businesses, particularly in the food industry, need to be having. In the UK we produce an average of 15 million tonnes of food waste every year. Relatively speaking, that’s around the weight of 8,250,825 new cars. Enough cars, lined up bumper to bumper, to line the circumference of the earth a whopping 3.7 times.

What’s even more shocking is that 60% of that waste (worth around £12bn) could have been consumed. Instead it is quite literally being thrown in the bin.

Graphic from Feed the 5K Webpage

No longer can businesses afford to be ignorant of waste issues.

Businesses need to be making sure that the sustainability is high up on their agenda. There’s plenty of things businesses large and small can do to utilise their environmental agenda to increase the value of their business.

There’s loads of people who want to help you to improve the environmental value of your business.

As we found out when attended the MAS food waste workshop at the British Library, there’s plenty of organisations who are committed to making food business cleaner business. Melissa Addey, the specialist food advisor who spoke at the event, suggested that we need to turn our thinking away from waste as an expense and towards a way of generating new revenues. MAS is a manufacturing business support service that aims to help improve processes within manufacturing businesses, reduce waste, and put into place long term strategies to ensure continued sustainability. They provide match funded grants for SMEs - something that might be worth looking into if you would like some advice about utilising your waste in your business.

FoodSave is another initiative for SMEs which aims to reduce small businesses’ food waste as much as possible. They divert surplus food to feed people in need, before directing food unfit for human consumption to feed livestock where legally permissible. With any remaining food that cannot be redistributed, FoodSave supports composting and renewable energy generation. The aim is that, by 2015, 150 tonnes of food waste will have been prevented, making demonstrable savings to the local London businesses involved.

Other companies such as Giraffe Innovation, Sustain and Wrap also offer great practical advice and guidance on making your business more sustainable.

We need to start revolutionising the ways we think about waste.

At the event, Thomasina Miers, co-founder of the Wahaca restaurant chain, also spoke about their initiative, The Pig Idea. Wahaca has already proven itself to be a key player in sustainable business, winning a number of prestigious sustainability awards since opening in 2007.

The aim of The Pig Idea is to lift the EU ban on feeding catering waste, or swill, to pigs, reducing the amount of waste produced across the food industry. The initiative looks to introduce a robust legal framework for the safe processing of catering waste, including preventative measures to prevent disease spreading. In turn, this would lower the cost of feed for pig farmers, reduce the economic and environmental costs of disposing food waste, create jobs in the new eco-industry and liberate grain supplies to help feed people across the EU. If you’d like to take the pledge, or want to donate money to help the campaign, you can find all the details on The Pig Idea website.

Other events focusing on sustainability are popping all the time across London.
A couple of weekends ago we attended the Wasted! Brunch Club, hosted by our friends at Maida Hill Place. The event gave us the chance to chat with other foodies and discuss the plight of food waste with other business owners committed to sustainability. Over a delicious brunch provided by the West London People’s Kitchen, we heard from different initiatives from across London, including Feeding the 5K and Kensal to Kilburn Fruit Harvesters. Keep you eyes peeled for more events like this popping up in the next couple of months.

Some businesses have gone one step further and reuse food waste to create a delicious new product.
Rubies in the Rubble create delicious jams, chutneys and pickles packed with fruit and vegetables which are branded either surplus or ‘outgrade’ (products not fitting with the aesthetic criteria of supermarkets). In this, Rubies in the Rubble not only aims to contribute towards cutting food waste, but also sees its products as symbolic vehicles of their message: to consume less and think more about being sustainable.

Bananaberry - similar to RITR, BananaBerry use non-displayable fruit and veg to make smoothies which are delivered to offices around London. 10p from every bottle goes to Cancer research, and they offer a bottle-back discount for every one of their smoothie bottles you return to them.

Brixton People’s Kitchen aims to bring people together through learning about waste food, whilst at the same time gaining new skills in the kitchen and eating some delicious new dishes. Using waste food from local Brixton businesses, the People’s Kitchen invites people to cook in a local kitchen, sharing skills and making new friendships. The scheme has so far prevented nearly 720kg of food waste from being sent to landfill.

Kitchen Table Projects care about waste and are committed to becoming as environmentally sustainable as we possibly can.

Attending the event opened our eyes to the kinds of opportunities available to turn profit on your waste, and inspired us to continue working towards a more environmentally sustainable business model.

If you’re a small business and you don’t know about the British Library and their small business center, then check it out, pronto.

They run some great workshops (many of which are free to attend) and have hundreds of useful resources for small businesses and startups. Take a look at their website to find out more.

Amazing Artisan: Hilary, Co-founder of Choctails

London Cocktail Week sees everyone from budding amateur bartenders through to expert mixologists come together to share their passion for their favourite tipple. So what better time to feature the artisan who brings together two of Kitchen Table Projects’ foodie loves;  innovative cocktails and decadent chocolate? Founded by husband and wife team Simon and Hilary Delamare in 2012, Choctails was borne from Simon’s suggestion of putting cocktail flavours into chocolate.  The result?  Praise from family and friends for her concoctions, giving Hilary the motivation to turn her chocolate-making hobby into a full-time business. Turning her domestic kitchen into a production factory by day and giving up the dining room to become a chocolate store, Choctails was born. Read the interview in full here, where Hilary talks to Kitchen Table Projects about her startup story so far, and explains why running your own business is so awesome.

Amazing Artisans: Raw Foodies featuring Haughton Honey and Moral Fibre

British Food Fortnight continues to run until the 5th of October, and in celebration this week we thought we’d celebrate two Amazing Artisans who are dedicated to using delicious British ingredients. Haughton Honey and Moral Fibre are committed to keeping nasties out of their food. Both brands opt for raw, unprocessed ingredients, making for a more natural and healthy (yet equally delicious) product. What’s more, both Cris (Haughton Honey) and Jenny (Moral Fibre) have a great start up story to tell and we were really pleased to have the opportunity to chat to them about their business journeys so far. Check out the interviews in full to read more about their trials and tribulations, the ups and the downs of a food startup and their motivations.

Speciality Food Fair 2014 - Our Top Picks

Whilst we know that we’re a nation that values tradition, it’s clear to see that us Brits are becoming increasingly less afraid of try new flavours and ingredients. Our supermarkets are now filled with a variety of products from around the globe, the popularity of fusion cuisine has taken off along with pretty much everyone who’s anyone opting for street food over more traditional, fine dining restaurants.

At the beginning of September we visited the Speciality and Fine Food Fair at Olympia and to say that there was a huge variety of products on show would be an understatement. Being a trade-only show and having never visited before, I was expecting something a little more corporate and a little less exciting. With over 700 producers exhibiting it was certainly nothing like that; we were blown away by not only the scale of the fair but the huge diversity of producers, experts and foodies that came far and wide to visit and exhibit at the fair. It was so exciting to meet and chat to so many passionate, innovative food producers, and the fair really affirmed our mission and inspired us to continue working towards something really awesome.

Tempted by the delicious smells that filled Olympia, there was loads to look at and try (okay, there was definitely a lot more trying than looking!) We tried pretty much every kind of food you could imagine, from cured meats to pasta to olive oils and artisan chocolate. It was all delicious, but if we had to whittle down our favourites, these guys from the small producer village had to come top:

The Frozen Fruit Company

As ice cream devotees, it’s usually hard to convince us that something healthy would make a delicious alternative to our usual creamy treat. First taste and we were sold; this super fruity fat-free frozen dessert is just the right amount of sweet. The Strawgo has to be our favourite, and is sure to be our go-to treat when we’re next reaching inside our freezer.

Emily’s Fruit Crisps

Our guilt-free snack of choice in the KTP office. Delicious fruit crisps for when the 4pm snack attack hits, these crisps are free from nasties (and the packaging is gorgeous, too). The pineapple is delicious, but the crunchy apple variety have to be our favourite.

British Cassis

The super-friendly, outgoing guys on the British Cassis stall immediately drew us in; it helped that their drinks were delicious, too! These guys are big on providence and celebrate the traceability of all their British ingredients. We loved their story and look forward to hearing what these guys are up to next!

We Love Jelly

The idea behind this product is awesome! Their cocktail infused jellies come in three flavours and are perfect for a dessert or even an alternative to your usual tipple. Watch out for these cocktail chemists (complete with lab coats)...we predict they're going to be big business in the food world!

Warner Edwards

It doesn’t take a lot to tempt us into trying Gin. Warner Edwards have it down to a tee - great tasting gin, fab branding and interesting flavour combinations. We’re looking forward to seeing a lot more of these guys very soon!

Image from http://bit.ly/1Chx4Wg

Wicked and Wonderful

We’d already met chocolatier Ben when we interviewed him as an Amazing Artisan a couple of months ago. His new chocolate venture, Wicked & Wonderful, was one of our favourite takeaways from the chocolate show; mouth-wateringly good chocolate in decadent packaging that feels as luxurious as it tastes.

Cloudberry Bakery

The thought that entered our minds on trying their Great Taste 3 Gold Star salted caramel sauce? Why haven’t we tried this before!? Deliciously decadent, we think this sauce would be perfect heated over a brownie or drizzled over ice cream (or, if we’re feeling really greedy, straight out of the jar on a spoon!)

Little Dabbas

Another Great Taste three gold star winner, we loved these quirky little pots holding their authentic Gujarati masala shots. With a different pot for vegetables, seafood and meats, Mistry and Co. are on a mission to educate people that Indian food can be delicious and healthy. Oh, and their website is awesome, too!

Proper Beans

Ben and his team are on a mission to recreate everyone’s favourite baked beans by using delicious ingredients and a slow cooking process. With six unique recipes in their range and already stocked in Fortnum and Mason, these guys look ready to make a storm and shake up the world of beans as we know it.

Mrs Middleton’s Cold Pressed Rapeseed Oil

With Mrs Middleton’s it was pretty simple; bags of enthusiasm mixed with a premium (not to mention delicious) product from their family farm in Bedfordshire. We loved trying their samples - the oil is just as perfect on it’s own with some freshly baked bread than it is in all types of cooking. Looking forward to seeing more from these guys.

Jaz and Juls

With the nights drawing in and winter firmly on its way, Jaz and Juls hot chocolate is the perfect treat. Amazing variety of flavours and ethically sourced cocoa from Madagascar, Peru, and Granda. Sounds good to us!

We can’t wait until next year!

Were you at the food fair? What was your favourite find?

Amazing Artisans: Kitchen Cupboard Essentials Featuring Granny Tigg's, Honestly Good and Spice Kitchen

Check out our website this week for an artisan bonanza! We caught up with three awesome artisans; Jacob from Granny Tiggs, Sanjay from Spice Kitchen and Evan from Honestly Good Olive Oil. From jazzing up a salad, whipping up a flavourful curry, to decadently moist cakes and a tasty companion to tapas, these guys know all about creating versatile ingredients that are packed full of flavour. What’s more, we love how their products, in their own ways, are steeped in their maker’s heritage. Eating their product means journeying to the far and wide corners of the earth; whether it’s Granny Tigg’s journey from New Zealand, returning to Sanjay’s Indian heritage, or sampling the sunshine of Evan’s Greek olive groves, these artisan’s products pack a flavour punch with a fantastic story, too. But don’t just take our word for it - check out the interviews in full for more startup stories and hints and tips from this week’s Amazing Artisans.

Celebrating British Food Fortnight

Britain is at the heart of global gastronomy. Year on year we continue to grow delicious produce which quality is hard matched anywhere else in the world. We’re innovative, we’re diverse and we’re passionate about providence; eating is and has always been central to the British way of life. From your mum’s Sunday roast, to juicy strawberries from Kent or the highest quality hand-reared bacon from your local butcher, food continues to remain at the heart of every Briton’s life. The meaning of British food stretches beyond our stomachs; it reflects our love and pride for our produce, for our farmers and producers, for our country. Because of this, it’s never been more important to champion the plethora of produce our country continues to produce every year.

British Food Fortnight was first curated in order to do exactly that. Starting out in 2002, the team set out to organise a celebration of all things food, primarily aiming to highlight the importance of buying quality, fresh, local and seasonal foods and the health benefits of doing so. British Food Fortnight has since firmly established itself as a significant event in the British gastronomic calendar, attracting the attention of food producers, farmers, the press, chefs, the government and the public alike. Today, the team use the two week celebration as a time to  educate people on all the different and exciting ways you can cook, eat, grow and enjoy British Food, encouraging people to understand more about the plot-to-plate provenance of their food.

As you guys know, Kitchen Table Projects are big on providence and love hearing all the fantastic stories behind our Amazing Artisans’ products. So, in celebration of British Food Fortnight, we put together a list of our ten favourite, can’t live without, British exports.

Meat

Wander down any supermarket meat aisle and you’ll be confronted with huge variety of homegrown offerings. Britain is famous for our delicious Beef, Lamb and Pork, but we also produce amazing game and venison, too.

Tea

Need we say more? Black tea, Builders Brew or Milk’ n ’two… Blighty wouldn’t be without a Great British brew. We’re a thirsty bunch, consuming on average 62.2 Billion cups of the stuff every year.

Marmite

The jar that’s always lurking at the back of the cupboard, the spread we love to hate...the KTP team are firmly in the ‘love it’ camp - do you love it or loathe it?

Strawberries

The British summer staple. The sweet snack of choice at Wimbledon, only bettered with a little cream and a dashing of sugar.

Clotted Cream

Dressing our naked scones for, well, forever. And no, we’re not about to get into the ‘cream then jam’ or ‘jam then cream’ debate.

Cheddar

Tall blonde 5 year aged cheese seeking: creamy butter, handsome ham and a toasty machine to tuck him in at night.

Colman's Mustard

Nigella famously carries a tube wherever she goes - we’re not sure we’d go to quite the same lengths, but it certainly is a firm favourite in British cupboards far and wide.

Oxo Cubes

The underdog of the spice world. Your friend when you forget to buy gravy, perfect for jazzing up a Shepherd’s pie. No Brit cupboard is complete without a tin.

HP Sauce

The tangy friend of bacon butties and Sunday fry ups. Simples.

The Yorkshire Pudding

And we’re not talking about Aunt Bessie’s here, either. Step outside Britain and it’s a crispy eggy mess; To all englishmen - the holy grail of roast dinners.

You can support the campaign by going to www.lovebritishfood.co.uk, where you can find out more about the events going on near you and the ways you an help raise the profile of amazing British food.

Tell us - what British foods get your mouth watering? What in your cupboard could you absolutely not live without?