Local Flavours
Pick of the island's producers and growers supply
Southern Co-op
Launched
on the 1st March 2007, Southern Co-op's new local produce range - Local Flavours
- celebrates all of the Island's finest local produce, offering a choice of
home-grown and homemade goods sourced from Isle of Wight farms and manufacturers.
Local Flavours offers a selection of fabulous-tasting fresh vegetables, dairy
produce, condiments, baked goods, refreshing drinks and alcoholic beverages
and even ice cream.
The
full range is currently available from the co-operative retailer's largest
Island stores in Freshwater and Cowes, with its twelve smaller stores soon
set to stock a selection of the products.
The Co-op says that they are proud to sell an array of Isle of Wight foodstuffs
that are distinctive to the area and as one of the sunniest places in Britain,
with low rainfall, soft breezes and fertile soil, the Isle of Wight has an
excellent climate for growing produce.
Mouth-watering food and drink but with a conscience
It
is hoped that by stocking local goods Southern Co-op will be able to take
an active role in supporting the area's farmers and businesses - helping to
protect island jobs and putting money back into the island's economy. The
company, which first began trading on the Island in 1875, previously stocked
some locally produced goods in a number of their Isle of Wight stores, but
have now added lots more delicious items including vegetables, cheese and
eggs, to their selection to create the Local Flavours range. These products
will be really visible in Co-op stores; they will be displayed together where
possible and prominent posters and stickers will make it easy for customers
to identify and locate them in store.
Here are some details of just a few of the Island’s growers and producers
whose products will feature in Southern Co-op’s new Local Flavours range:
WStallard
A
selection of seasonal vegetables all nurtured in island soil will be supplied
by Shanklin-based vegetable growers WStallard. The family business, now run
by John Stallard, was established by his father 50 years ago. With a 220 acre
farm, 95 per cent of all the vegetables grown by WStallard is for Isle of Wight
consumption.
The growers will initially be supplying a selection of seasonal vegetables all cultivated on the island – at the moment cauliflower, cabbage and spring greens are in season and next to be harvested will be potatoes, courgettes and marrow.
John Stallard, of WStallard said: “Working with Southern Co-op will be an interesting experience for us, we supply independent vegetable shops and wholesalers and this is the largest retailer we have provided produce to.”
The Isle of Wight Cheese Company
Cheese lovers will be
tempted by the new range’s flavoursome blue cheese from the up and coming
manufacturer The Isle of Wight Cheese Company.
Richard Hodgson, aged 27, and his mother Julie, set up the company after Richard decided to give up his job in TV and attend an agricultural college in Cheshire to learn cheese-making skills.
The mother and son team converted an old barn into a state of the art cheese
production facility at Queen 
Bower
Dairy in Alverston, and use the milk from the farmer, Michael Reed’s
86 Jersey cows.
The Isle of Wight Cheese Company currently produces the Isle of Wight Blue, a deliciously creamy, soft blue cheese which is a naturally rinded and unpasturised. This is a perfect ‘after dinner’ cheese with a distinctive flavour and will feature in Southern Co-op’s Local Flavours range.
“We currently supply farm shops and sell at farmers markets, and we stock four island restaurants,” commented Richard of the Isle of Wight Cheese Company. “We are definitely looking to expand and ultimately would like to move onto the mainland, so supplying Southern Co-op is the next step in growing our business.”
Calbourne
Classics
For those with a sweeter tooth, Shalfleet-based Calbourne Classics will be supplying Southern Co-op with a selection of seven delicious luxury country cakes and traybakes for the Local Flavours range.
The award-winning family run business, which was set up in 1989, prides itself on only using the finest ingredients sourced from the island in its products and uses milk from its own free range cows.
Calbourne Classics stock a number of island cafes, the company’s Louise Hart said that this has helped them build brand awareness. “We are also very well known through our attendance at farmers markets, however we are keen to increase our operations and want to build demand for our products in retail environments, so this link up with Southern Co-op has come at the perfect time.”
Rossiters Vineyard
Local Flavours will also boast delectable wine from Rossiters Vineyard. The wine maker, set up in 1990, will supply a crisp 2002 medium dry White; a tasty 2005 Rose and a rich Rossiters Red 2005 to the co-operative retailer.
Of only three vineyards on the island, Rossiters is the only one based in West Wight, with 10 acres of vineyards in Wellow with approximately 10,000 individual vines.
Owner
Rod Thompson, a retired professor from the medical school in Southampton,
began growing grapes as a past time, but the hobby soon turned into a successful
commercial operation. Many of the wines Rossiters Vineyard produce have been
independently recognised with Quality Status Wine award by the UK Vineyard
Association, meaning they can be labelled Isle of Wight Regional Wine.
Rod said: “We are a very island-focused enterprise with shops, restaurants and pubs offering our wines. This is the first time we will be supplying a supermarket of this size and we are very excited – we are becoming better known and this will make our wines available to more people, enabling us to develop. We currently sell 10,000 bottles a year but we have the capacity to make more so are happy to have linked up with Southern Co-op.”
The Complete List of Suppliers
| From the farm | Hamiltons Fine Foods |
| From the dairy | Isle of Wight Cheese Company, Coppid Hall Dairy, Brownrigg Poultry |
| From the larder | Island Mustards |
| From the bakery | Island Biscuits, Calbourne Classics |
| From the vine | Rosemary Vineyard, Rossiters Vineyard |
| From the earth | DJ Hunt supplying fresh produce from island producers including Isle of Wight tomatoes, Isle of Wight garlic, Freshwater Fruit Farm, Ben Brown’s asparagus and sweetcorn and WStallard’s various seasonal vegetables |
| From the freezer | Minghella ice cream |
| From the barrel | Goddards Brewery |
| To quench the thirst | Osel Enterprises mineral water, Sharon Orchard apple juice |
Please use this link to view photographs of the Local Flavours produce range taken at the launch on March 1st 2007.
Contact details
| Tel: 01983 756342 Email: [email protected] Web: http://www.southernco-op.co.uk |
The Co-op |
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