Free Masterclasses For Retailers Looking To Learn

Throughout March, April and May 2009, renowned food expert, Juliet Harbutt, will be leading sample-rich masterclasses for delicatessens in cities around the UK, helping to boost retailers’ perceptions and understanding of the origin of some of the world’s most revered products.

Juliet Harbutt’s two hour interactive seminars will provide in-depth education for 20 people, helping to boost understanding of PDO status and the Discover The Origin products: Parma Ham, Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, and if licensed, Burgundy wines and Port and Douro Valley wines. These hands-on masterclasses will sharpen your skills and increase your knowledge. You will sample some of the finest Parma Ham and Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese – shipped directly from the Consortiums – giving you the opportunity to compare different ages of the products and learn how best to advise your customers to use each vintage variety.

Taking part in a masterclass will also prepare you for entering the Discover the Origin Best Masterclass Competition. The ‘Discover The Origin’ Delicatessens Best Customer Masterclass Competition will run annually for the next three years, searching for the stores that most successfully educate and inform their customers about the importance of origin, PDO status and the five products. Entrants will be provided with a range of colourful materials to dress their shops including recipe cards, flags and posters.

The competition will reward the UK’s best delicatessen with an all expenses paid ten-day gastro tour of Parma, Burgundy and the Douro Valley - a rare opportunity to see how these products are made in regions rich in history and tradition. Finalists will also be featured in Speciality Food, along with pictures of the owner and their store. Through the competition, ‘Discover the Origin’ aims to support learning and development within the delicatessen industry and reward knowledge and creativity whilst boosting entrants’ bottom line results.

Judging will be based on two components. Firstly delicatessens will be invited to complete an entry form, detailing their current approach to educating customers, as well as setting out their plans to improve on this in order to win the competition and to boost future sales of these products. Your programme must be submitted by 31st March.

Mystery shoppers with significant food experience will then visit the finalists to assess their knowledge by judging how well they provide useful information to customers. Delicatessens will also be assessed on their in-store displays of the products and POS materials.

An information pack, with guidelines on how to run your own masterclasses, is available from Discover the Origin. You will also be provided with a pack of point of sale materials comprising posters, shelf barkers and recipe cards. Discover more about these masterclasses and how to register here.