SF-June-20

@specialityfood Farm Shop & Deli Show, Food & Drink Expo and National Convenience Showwere due to be held at NEC Birmingham in April of this year, and the organisers had already postponed the events until September before setting the events back to 2021. The events will now be held at NEC, Birmingham on 12th-14th April 2021. Andrew Reed, managing director of events and exhibitions said, “It is only a few short weeks ago that I wrote to you to postpone the UK Food Shows fromApril to September but as you are aware there is still no certainty about howwe will emerge from the current lockdown. “So following much discussion with our partners and picking up on the sentiment in the markets and communities we serve I now feel that it is in the best interests of all to further postpone Food & Drink Expo, Farm Shop & Deli Show and National Convenience Show until 12th-14th April 2021 when we can again reunite at the NEC to deliver the UK’s biggest and best attended trade show. "I am hopeful this will also be a clear rallying point for the food and drink sectors to get together after this disastrous and challenging time where we can share inspiration, learning and demonstrate some of the amazing innovation that continues to be the bedrock of the sector. “By acting now, we aim to remove the uncertainty and allow you to plan as effectively as possible whilst minimising your associated costs. We would like to thank our exhibitors, visitors, speakers, partners and suppliers for their continued support and patience during this challenging time.” Speciality & Fine Food Fair will now be held at Olympia, London on 6th-7th September 2021. Philippa Christer, event manager said, “As the home of the UK’s artisan food & drink community, we know that postponing Speciality & Fine Food Fair will come as an enormous disappointment for the industry. It was an incredibly tough decision to take, however given the current climate and enormous global uncertainty, we felt it was the right thing to do. We took this decision now to give the industry, both buyers and suppliers alike, enough advance notice to adjust their plans accordingly. “While the event is postponed until next year, we are already in discussions with a number of partners to create a series of new initiatives to help our community stay inspired, supported and connected during these turbulent times. We look forward to sharing those plans in due course. In the meantime, please join our weekly webinars – which continue to tackle the pressing topics for our community.” 8 “The future is murky” F ew UK governments have ever been under such intense scrutiny. Battalions of PR operatives and special advisors are kept busy preparing charts and of those who watch the daily press briefings some can even claim to understand what they mean. Commendably, this daily briefing comes with a dollop of transparency along with plenty of charts. For once there seems to be less of the parliamentary bickering that afflicts PM’s questions and a bit more of the consensus that gets things done. What’s more, we get to see a bit more of our elected representatives. For MPs, merely working hard to reserve a safe seat in the countryside is no longer good enough. The nation’s habits have changed – proud parents used to put the toddlers to bed and then open an afternoon bottle of “mummy juice” in front of the telly. Now the domination of the virus press briefing means an earlier start, crisps are essential, and Prosecco gives way to chilled Pinot Grigio. For anybody who had, has or will have a business venture that centres around buying and selling fine food and drink, the future is murky. Those of us who can look back six or seven months CHARLES CAMPION or so have an advantage but are dragged back from the brink of optimism by the resilience of the virus. There may not be a silver bullet, but there is a free resource that will fit with any circumstance. We are talking ideas… and some of the best ideas are free. Ideas can cope with changes of direction. Home baking is doing undeniably well. The rise in demand has seen more than one retailer forced to buy specialised flours by the sack full before re-packaging in store into kilo sized bags. Flour millers must be wondering whether “One swallow might not make a summer” after all. Considering the torrent of TV coverage over the last couple of years it would be strange if there was no peak on the domestic home baking graph, which poses the question – will the golden glow continue when things edge towards normality? Or will bakers everywhere set a new agenda for the flour millers that sees specialist flours becoming the norm rather than the exception? Despite the rise and rise of home delivery, and the indignities of lockdown, there are still cooks out there whose perverse mission is to recreate the iconic dishes of fast food in the comfort of their own homes. Welcome to the land of the ‘fakeaway’. If you fancy a burger with a sauce that tastes just like that of the High Street giants, then John Torode is the man to Google. Meanwhile, Slimming World offers a “KFC- style” Fakeaway recipe, so that you can set about cooking your fast food favourites and still save calories. Speciality & Fine Food Fair, Farm Shop & Deli Show, Food & Drink Expo and National Convenience Show were set to run in September of this year but have been postponed to 2021. September 2020 trade shows cancelled “ This was an incredibly tough decision to take, however given the current climate and enormous global uncertainty, we felt [postponing the event] was the right thing to do ”