There were more organic products than ever before at the lunch! exhibition at London’s Business Design Centre this month, which attracted a record number of visitors. Michael Wale went along
Many companies were making their first appearance at the show like The Source, an organic cold pressed juice company based in West London. Mustafa Ahmed , managing director, told me that he moved to London from New York in 2008 to continue his career working in finance in private equity. But he admitted: “ I’d always wanted to do something entrepreneurial. Healthy food was always close to my heart. I felt it was lacking in London. When I was working in Canary Wharf there were no healthy places to eat lunch, the same when I moved to Mayfair. I saw it as a general mindset in London. Slowly it’s starting to come. We felt there was a market and demand.”
He recalled that when he was in New York cold press juice cafes were taking off like coffee shops as a trend took hold. Mustafa explained : “ It takes a long time to make cold pressed juices. It’s very different to centrifugal made juice. They use a blade. Cold pressed leaves all the vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients (plant chemicals) intact. It doesn’t apply heat. It’s very healthy. We use all organic suppliers and try to get all our ingredients from the UK’.”
The Source produce six differing juices as well as juices for cleansing. Despite recently launching the company are already selling into 20 outlets as well as on their internet site.
Another company with a first time announcement to make was the Consett Popcorn Company, who have just done a deal with Planet Organic to supply own brand organic popcorn with Soil Association registration. The company re based in County Durham and a spokeswoman explained : “We don’t grow maize for popcorn in the UK. We get all our maize from South America, and then make it ourselves. Obviously popcorn is very light to transport. A whole pallet weighs only 200 kilos! We’ve got Soil Association recognition”.
Superfoods-Market told me on their stand that they had added 40 new lines this year with products such as beetroot powder, which is being used by top level athletes as a natural aid to better performances, because it is packed with nitrates. Among their dried fruit powders is Guarana (caffeine) fruit that when powdered and drunk its effects can last longer than a cup of coffee, and you remain healthy!
London based Zumi Natural Ltd’s organic coconut water has been named as a top ten finalist in this year’s Soil Association Organic awards. And they were proudly giving away samples from their stand. Their coconut water boasts a rare hat trick of selling points. It is 100% pure, Organic and Fair Trade. Coco Zumi explain that the product is simply the water out of a young green coconut with nothing else added. It is rich in electrolytes including potassium and magnesium. A spokesman said: “With it being ethically sourced, we contribute towards social development projects including the building of fresh water wells in our producer community”. The company has Soil Association recognition as well as Fair Trade.
As for the Lunch show it was bigger than ever this year with all three levels of the Business Design Centre packed with exhibitors.
Chris Brazier group event manager of diversified told me: “The best way to measure how successful a show is is by looking at the re-bookings for next year. They are a record. It’s our barometer that shows that exhibitors are happy”.
I put to Brazier the fact that there were more organic exhibitors than before. He replied : “ We know that in the food-to-go section there is gluten free, organic, healthy eating. A good example is the British Smoothie championships that we stage. They provided a healthy alternative. Non of them were full of sugar”. The championship was won by an Oli Wilson Fish, who runs the independent family café Juicafe in Lancaster. His winning entry was made from Lucuma Matata, an immune boosting smoothie that he claimed ‘gives you a real lift’. The championship was sponsored by Magrini.
• lunch! 2015 will take place at the Business Design Centre in London on September 25-25 September 2015
