Just back from the 2012 NAFDMA Conference [NAFDMA = North American Farmers Direct Marketing Association].  I was there on a study tour arranged by Taste of Anglia/via Landskills East.  As I wrote in  a previous blog, it was an unbelievable opportunity for a small business such as mine to see what the Farm Shop market [...]

I spent 6 days last week attending the NAFDMA Conference in Virginia.  NAFDMA  stands for North American Farmers Direct Marketing Association – its UK equivalent is FARMA.  I was there with a group of 19 others on a study trip from the UK, attending the conference and seeing how Farm Shops and retail are done [...]

If I am asked for my advice on how to start a food business then one of the first things I bang on about is to pour lots of thought into how you are going to get the product to the consumer right at the start! Yeap, that’s right before you’ve even designed a scrap [...]

We are going to be at the following Trade Shows in 2012! FEAST EAST – 2-4 March [Linton, Cambridge] IFE/FARM AND DELI SHOW – 25-27 March [NEC, Birmingham] SOURCE – 23/24 April [Westpoint, Exeter] CAFFE CULTURE – 16/17 May [Olympia, London] HARROGATE SPECIALITY – 24/25 June [Yorkshire Event Centre, Harrogate] SPECIALITY FOOD FAIR – 2-4 [...]

Absolutely thrilled to be the winner of the FoodBev 2012 Best Social Media Campaign.   FoodBev provide a global insight into food and drink trends and innovation – they span from large to small companies and have a razor sharp insight into everything going on in the world of food and drink. The judges comments were: [...]

I started Breckland Orchard last year in the midst of the credit crunch, and perhaps that’s not thought by most folk to be the most austipicious time to start a business. For me I’ve loved the discipline of starting a business when times are tight……it forces you to think differently, to be creative and to [...]

I heard the lovely Celia Imrie being interviewed a few days ago – she was counting her blessings about being an actor.  She said how lucky she felt to be doing a job she loved, to be following her dreams.  She also talked about never having a ‘monday morning moment’ of fearing going to work.  [...]

I shared my Top Tips for Food Shows a few weeks back, so thought that I should share similar tips on doing Trade Shows.  Being in the food and drink industry, these are the type of trade shows that I do, but the tips should be equally applicable to any kind of trade show! DO [...]

Colder days in January, and lots of folk are sipping tea and coffee in these kind of temperatures….but there’s no real let up at Breckland Orchard HQ.  January is the month where we apply to lots of shows, festivals and Trade events.  We’re busy filling up the diary, and there’s barely a weekend free [already!]. [...]

My interest in Marketing was piqued by an article in the Sunday Times Magazine back in 1985 – it was a series about careers and one of the roles it talked about was Marketing.  At that time it was an almost unknown ‘art’ and I guess that’s what drew my attention to the article [I've [...]