OF&G :: The Blog

Last night was a big one for licensee, Jess Vaughan, who featured prominently in BBC2’s Hairy Bikers’ Twelve Days of Christmas.

Jess (left) and her friend sing to the nation!

The well-known two wheeled cooks whipped up what they described as one of their best ever dishes on a makeshift kitchen in one of Jess’s Gloucestershire fields.

And why were they there? “It’s the only place to go for cream. It’s the best there is, man.” A ringing endorsement indeed!

The pair went on to praise the quality of the cream from Jess’s Ladies numerous times and credited it with making their Christmassy Panacotta the special dish they profess it to be.

Jess explains what makes her milk and cream so good and gets to try out the finished food – not to mention indulging in a spot of festive singing… Very brave on national telly, but nicely done!

Jess told us the rather large film crew spent a whole day on the farm and that she loved the experience.

You can take a look for yourself on the BBC iPlayer (until they remove it). Jess’s part starts at 39′58″, if you don’t want to watch all of it…

Some industry news we’ve received that’s worth sharing:

Community Foods appoints new MD and Commercial Director

Community Foods Ltd, experts in sourcing dried fruit, nuts and seeds as well as leading organic specialist has appointed Martin Rome as Managing Director from 1st January 2010 to succeed Bill Henry who remains on the board.

Martin joined Community Foods from Whitworths in April. Martin brings over 20 years experience
in dried fruit, nuts and seeds having started his career with S&W Berisford before moving to Voicevale and latterly Whitworths for 8 years where he held the position of Purchasing Director.

Martin’s external interests include his position as chairman of FRUCOM (a European federation, representing a wide range of food products) and board member of CENTA (Combined Edible Nuts Trade Association). Martin has previously also chaired the NDFTA (British Dried Fruit Trades Association).

David Lewis is promoted to Commercial Director overseeing all of Community’s retail activities. David has been with Community for 9 years and has been responsible for establishing Community’s leading Organic Brand, Crazy Jack Organic in the home bake sector.

Obviously, the headline refers to a ‘pee bale’. What else?

Staff at the National Trust Wimpole Estate attracted quite some attention recently with the story of their open-air, non-flushing, recyclable, compostable, loo-with-a-view.

In an enlightened move, the gardeners at the stunning Wimpole Hall, in Royston, Cambridgeshire, (the associated Wimpole Home Farm is converting to organic with OF&G) have installed their bales against a spare wall and the men use it in preference to the more traditional water closet.

This has a number of benefits, not least saving many unnecessary toilet flushes and it gives a marvellous natural boost to the compost that it is eventually added to. I imagine it also removes the need for a walk to wherever the toilets are, so you could say it also results in saved man-hours.

That’s not a sexist turn of phrase, by the way; bale relief is limited to the men because apparently their urine is less acidic (plus other fairly obvious practical reasons, one would imagine).

They certainly got plenty of attention for their new habit, with not only a lighthearted piece by the local BBC TV news, but an interview on Radio Four’s Today programme, no less. Links to both are here.

Though it crossed my mind, it’s far from clear that the ladies would stand for a similar arrangement being enacted here at the Old Estate Yard…

Some very uplifting news comes to us today from licensee, Jones Organic, makers of organic pasties and pies.

Jones Organic - Organic Steak & Vegetable Pastie

Business is good and the firm has now signed a lease to take on new premises which allows it to double its baking and refrigeration capacity.

While the business is proudly based in Bridgend, South Wales, increased demand from retailers in London and the south east has created the conditions for the bakery to ramp up its activities.

You can read all about the new move in the the words of Jones Organic themselves here: Jones Organic Press Release 21.10.09 [Adobe PDF file, 48k].

As well as supplying delis and organic stores around the country, the firm runs a very tempting mail order service which can be accessed through the website.

There’s some fascinating history to the company and its founder, Mike Sweetman, on there as well.

We wish everyone at Jones Organic every success with their expansion.

A bit of fun has been had this week by organic milk cooperative, OMSCo, which has erected a tribute to Stonehenge -  made out of refrigerators painted to look like cows.

It’s a nice stunt to raise the profile of organic milk and give OMSCo a platform to promote its benefits. The move has generated quite a bit of press interest and must surely be a-moo-sing (sorry!) motorists on the A303 at Encie, in Somerset.

Particularly of interest to us though, was the fact that it’s on OF&G licensee Robert Foote’s land and this piece done by the BBC has given Mr Foote a lovely opportunity to spell out what difference being organic has made to his farm and his farming practises.

He points out that the use of natural fertilisers on the land has proved to be far more efficient than artificial alternatives and gives a pretty upbeat assessment of the current organic farming landscape from where he stands.

If you want to see the creation in place you’ll have to get your skates on – it’s only there until September 29.

Okay, must clarify the headline. No-one from here has actually been to the top of Everest. Maybe one or two have conquered The Wrekin or the Long Mynd and our Certification Manager, Steve, spends many a weekend tramping around very tall parts of the country – but I digress.

Sir Ranulph Fiennes conquers Everest with support from Science In Sport products, certified organic by OF&G

What is exciting is, as far as we know, for the first time an OF&G certified product has been to this highest of high places and in the hands of none other than adventurer extraordinaire, Sir Ranulph Feinnes!

Sir Ran sought advice and essential supplies from Science In Sport, which is a leader in sports nutrition, and has chosen OF&G as its certifier for a range of organic products. Among the SIS products Sir Ran took on his successful ascent, in May, were the organic ones (which he’s pictured holding).

This very British hero even went as far as to tell SIS that its energy formulations had “definitely powered me to the top” and he wished he’d had them with him on his previous attempts!

SIS really knows its stuff when it comes to sports nutrition and works with leading names in sport both nationally and internationally, including the heavily Olympic gold-medalled GB sailing and cycling teams, 2009 Tour de France winner, Alberto Contador, last year’s Tour de France winner Carlos Sastre, plus their very successful team mates, as well as leading athletes and teams in a whole cross-section of other sports.

OF&G is very pleased to provide certification services to SIS, who joined us on stand at the Natural and Organic Products Europe show, at Olympia, this year.

We’d like to pass our own congratulations on to Sir Ran for his achievement, which you can read about in more detail here.

OF&G licensee, Martin Orr, and his family are featured in the Sunderland Echo as Sunderland’s first organic farmers.

It must be said we were quite surprised at this apparent statistic, because it’s rare to find anywhere that isn’t represented yet by an organic farm. Out of interest, we checked our database and it certainly doesn’t appear that we have anyone else registered there, though, of course, we only certify a portion of the market (and many people will testify to the fact that trying to get a full list for the UK out of Defra is like, well, something that’s impossible to do!).

The Orr’s have a good business going supplying their organic pork, lamb and beef to a growing band of loyal customers.

We wish them every success!

Just found this great write-up on our National Organic Cereals 09 event from Jimi and Sarah at Launceston Farm.

They’ve had some great coverage themselves in the national press and it’s very satisfying to learn that their long journey to Suffolk had positive benefits for them. They’re not alone – the feedback from the day is still coming in and it’s all extremely up-beat!