25th January 2007
Purple Love Week - Britain's largest free food tasting event - comes to Relish Food & Drink, Wadebridge.
Lovers of gourmet food will be spoilt rotten this Valentine’s week as Britain’s largest free food tasting event comes to north Cornwall.
Relish Food & Drink, Wadebridge’s fine food grocer and delicatessen, is embracing Purple Love Week with a series of free food tastings and special events from 10th-17th February.
Now in its second year, Purple Love Week is Britain’s largest co-ordinated tasting event, drawing in around 600 delis, farm shops, butchers and bakers across the UK in a bid to support and unite smaller independent food shops everywhere.
“Purple Love Week really highlights the serious issue of how we can keep our high streets buzzing, and is a chance for us to give our customers a taste - for free - of the great selection of produce we have on offer,” said Relish’s Sarah Townsend.
“Small independent food retailers are facing ever increasing competition from big supermarkets, and are fast becoming an endangered species, so Purple Love Week is the perfect opportunity for us to show how much we appreciate our customers. At Relish we pride ourselves on offering only the best quality produce and this event allows us to show our customers how good our food is, for free.”
Relish Food & Drink have planned a series of free tasting sessions every day from Saturday 10th to Saturday 17th February. Customers will also be able to meet specialist food producers, including Boddington’s jam, and cheese expert Emma Johnson of Anthony Rowcliffe (formerly of Lynher Dairies, the makers of Cornish Yarg) on Friday 16th.
Twice every day at 11.00am and 3.00pm a “Taste the Difference” session will compare an artisan- or locally-produced food with its supermarket-bought equivalent. There will be a different food to try every day, including Wensleydale cheese, Tywardreath sausages, and Boddingtons jam amongst others.
There will also be all-day tastings of nine different types of olives, as well as free samples from Dorset producer Olives Et Al’s range of nuts and snacks, including habas fritas, chilli puffs, sesame nuts, habas mojado and more.
Throughout the week there is the chance to win a £50 hamper of delicious treats from Relish Food & Drink and Olives Et Al in a free-to-enter competition. No purchase is necessary, just complete the entry form in the shop and guess the number of habas fritas in a jar. Last entries to be received by Relish by close of business on Saturday 17th February.
There will be special offers on the Olives Et Al range of olives, nuts and snacks, and free copies of a specially-produced book, The Little Book of Purple Love, are available while stocks last.
The true romantic will still be able to find mouth-watering Valentines gifts for their beloved, with hand-made Trenance chocolates and Camel Valley bubbly particular favourites. Alternatively, Relish can create bespoke Valentines hampers to order.
“The big message behind Purple Love Week is that, surely there’s a better way to shop, eat and live than to bustle into big, faceless shed-like buildings, buying uninteresting manufactured food, all lugged home in plastic bags,” explained Giles Henschel, creator of Purple Love Week and founder of Olives Et Al.
“Rather, stroll into an independent shop, talk to the knowledgeable folk behind the counter and buy good food, made by someone who cares, from someone who needs you as much you’ll miss them when they’re gone.
“We’re all about supporting the independent guys, who keep us fed the way our mums would like, but the fact is, the only way to help independents thrive and survive is to use them for what they’re for – providing damn good service and food the way it should be.”
ENDS
Notes For Editors
Relish Food & Drink opened in December 2006 following a £75,000 refurbishment of the Foundry Court premises, which includes a 40 seat café and courtyard, and separate grocer with a well-stocked delicatessen counter.
Relish Food & Drink aim to be as environmentally sensitive as possible. Wherever possible, the packaging used is bio-degradable/compostable and in some instances made from recycled products. Only environmentally friendly chemicals are used for cleaning, while heating and lighting systems are as energy efficient as possible.
The Relish logo, a fern, is a representation of latté art: the mark of a quality cup of coffee. Barista and co-proprietor Hugo Hercod, a finalist in the 2006, 2007 and 2008 UK Barista Championships, is among the top five coffee-makers in the country. He also competed as part of the UK team in the European Team Coffee Challenge, held in Moscow in October 2007. Says Hugo: “If you are drinking a cup of coffee which the barista has taken the trouble to make look nice, then you know it’s going to be good.”
Relish Food & Drink, Foundry Court, Wadebridge. Telephone: 01208 814214.
Winter opening hours (until Easter): 9.00am to 5.00pm, Monday to Saturday. Closed Sunday.
Media Contact - PR on behalf of Relish Food & Drink.
For more information and images contact: Jim Michell at Barefoot Media.
Telephone: +44 (0)1208 895089 Email: jim@barefootmedia.co.uk |
