Blog

This week, Paul talks about learning lessons from the last year.

When the pandemic hit last year, many people caught the cleaning bug. At Cotswold Fayre, Anti-Bacterial Wipes and Surface Sprays were very popular, along with Sanitising Hand Soap, as the nation followed government guidelines to keep washing our hands. With the desire to sanitise homes mixed with more free time, we were clearing out cupboards and scrubbing skirting boards like never before.

Now, after the chaos of Christmas and with the hope of Spring just around the corner, this time of year gets a lot of people itching for a deep clean. Whether it’s finally getting around to cleaning the oven, pulling out the bed to vacuum the dust bunnies or wiping the marks from the windows, it’s a great time of year to get cleaning caddies stocked up. Paired with many people’s desire to improve their impact on the planet, changing up cleaning products to more eco-friendly versions is a great place to start. 

When we launched our Non-Food category last year, we wanted to make sure that we were only supplying products that weren’t harmful to the environment. This trend has massively boomed over the last year and we have now been able to expand the range to supply demand adding Wilton London and BioBags as well as adding to existing lines. With everything from laundry detergent, to glass cleaner, washing up liquid and toilet cleaner, there’s also cling film alternatives and biodegradable bin liners, and hand sanitiser.

Our team love using these products in their own home so it’s easy for them to pass on their recommendations. For many of them, making small and easy swaps like washing up liquid or laundry products are vital. These are everyday products so knowing that you are using something that will help be kinder on the environment and be a joy to use in the home is a massive plus, our bed sheets have never smelt so good and we’re actually fighting to do the washing up!

These products all do the job they are supposed to do whilst shouting loudly about their credentials as an environmentally positive product. It’s now about more than just how many % of germs it can kill, the consumer wants more, products that look good, smell good and do good.

Our Non-Food Range:

This week, Paul talks about impact of Brexit. 

This week, Paul looks at how we can use emotion to help make changes that stick.

With lockdown currently in full swing in the UK, and chances that it could last for a while longer, the idea of cooking 21 meals a week for the foreseeable future is a grim one for homes up and down the country.

With restaurants shut and take-aways varying massively in quality (and there are still areas that the apps don’t reach) it means more of us are experimenting in the kitchen. For some that means learning the basics and working up gradually from there, for others it means expanding their knowledge and taking up new challenges.

However, with the pandemic almost reaching its first birthday, those weekly meal plans are starting to get boring. Whether it’s the same 7 dinners on rotation each week or your roster of recipes is slightly bigger, sometimes we all need a splash of inspiration to liven up a midweek meal.

Cooking kits, like these from Gordon Rhodes, are a great way to introduce us to new dishes and a fun way to explore new cuisines. When you fancy something different but don’t have the pantry of Ottolenghi, cooking kits have everything you need to create an exciting meal for the whole household.

Meal kits can also be a great way of encouraging your customers to try cooking from scratch. They might start experimenting with their own spice mixes or become interested in more specialist ingredients so investing in some good quality kits may also go on to increase sales in other lines too.

Inspire your customers to get cooking!

This week, Paul introduces the new Foodhall & Kitchen, Flourish.

Most years, most people make a list of Resolutions, and insist it’s “New Year, New Them”. It is said that 80% of people have broken these by mid-February, if not before. But there are some changes that can be made that will have a longer lasting effect on us and the environment around us.

I have been working for Cotswold Fayre for a whole year, and what a year it was. Just when I found my feet, I was thrust in the world of working from home, along with most of the population, with a pandemic going on outside the window. It didn’t take long before the coping mechanisms set in, I was not the only one who turned to snacking and 5pm “Quarantinis”.  I did attempt a few health kicks over the summer, we did Sober October, but it wasn’t long after that that the gluttony of Christmas set in and that was all I needed to excuse an extra chocolate from the tin, glass of wine or two with dinner, or cheese and biscuits in front of the fire at 10pm.

And so January has brought me the desire to do something about those bad habits, and a few other niggling things that had long been on the list of things to change. 

1. Veg-anuary – no I couldn’t quite give up the milk in my tea or poached eggs at the weekend, but we have given up meat for the month. We’re only a few days in but have already enjoyed tofu ramen and an impressive veggie roast (who needs meat when you have cauliflower cheese) amongst other things, and I can’t say I’m missing meat at all. Who knows if I’ll say the same on 31^st January though?
2. Dry-er January – Having previously worked in the Brewing industry and now working in fine food and drink, I know what a devastating effect dry January can have on an industry already on it’s knees. Instead of giving up completely, I am cutting down my units, no more beers every night (unless it’s a Lucky Saint), instead I am looking forward to toasting a celebration, or perfectly matching a glass of wine to my veggie dinner plate. Dry doesn’t just mean sober, think London Dry Gin, Dry Hopped Lager and the dryest Champagne!
3. Food Waste Warrior – I have been a woman on a mission to ensure not a scrap has gone to waste this week. If you want me, you’ll find me in the kitchen making soup from the limp carrots in the bottom of the fridge, or freezing lime wedges for those dry G+T’s.*
4. Put On A Green Wash – I have always been aware of our impact on the planet but my time at Cotswold Fayre has increased this tenfold. As one person, it feels impossible to make enough changes that will actually make a difference, but actually I now know that I each one of those small changes, will add up to make a big difference. By the end of the year, I want to swap out all my cleaning products for more eco-friendly versions, laundry products, washing up liquid, and toilet cleaner, everything t

This week, Paul looks at what we have learned in 2020.

This week, Paul looks at the importance of planning for Brexit.

This week, Paul looks at how much we can gain by looking at developing countries.