With Christmas products now starting to appear on shelves, it’s time to reveal what products proved popular with buyers this year, and so what you’ll see in Speciality stores across the UK this Christmas!

Tiptree, a brand which needs no introduction, will have a presence on many retailers’ shelves this Christmas. Tiptree Mincemeat, a must have for Tiptree stockists over the Christmas period, has been the 4thmost popular Christmas line out of the 1,500 lines we stock for Christmas. Other lines in the top 20 Christmas sellers from Tiptree are their 454g Cello Wrapped Christmas Pudding, Christmas Conserve, Brandy Butter and the Four Miniature Preserves Gift Box. The Tiptree Gin Liqueurs are still our best-selling alcohol product, a great product to have in your instore Christmas tasting evenings!

Other products which hold their position in the top 20 from last Christmas, are the Lovemore Gluten Free Mince Pies, Opies Pickled Walnuts, Belvoir Mulled Winter Punch, New Berry Fruits Jewels, Sunvale Jelly Slices and Mrs Darlington’s Mincemeat with Brandy! The Farmhouse Biscuits range holds top spot for the tinned biscuit category, with its ’12 Days Of Christmas’ Tin selling the most to earn its space in the top 20!

As ever, it’s likely that you’ll find a Border Biscuit or two in most households this Christmas, with the Chocolate Gingers Hex Boxes being the best seller of their range (just outside the top 20 of our 1,500 products) closely followed by the rest of their Biscuit gift packs!

A new entry to the Top 20 is the Castello ‘Heart’ Prosecco, proving that the British Prosecco addiction is still going strong! The Gluhwein, another new addition for this year, certainly lived up to expectations, with over 2600 bottles leaving our warehouse, I’m sure you’ll come across one in your travels during the Christmas period, or perhaps one of the Display units which proved popular amongst our larger Garden Centre buyers! The beautiful blue bottle of Winter-Secco (a festive Prosecco with hints of cinnamon and nutmeg), also won over many buyers, with over 1000 bottles now distributed among our customers ready to get the Christmas parties started!

Popaball’s bursting bubbles have taken the market by storm! Their flavoured bursting bubbles and shimmers are perfect for the festive period with the gallons of Prosecco and Cocktails that are likely to be consumed! The most popular line this Christmas is the Rose Gold Shimmer (edible glitter in a small glass keepsake jar- what more could you want?!), with the bubbles for Prosecco and the Passion Fruit Bursting Bubbles following closely behind! Their gift packs were also favoured by many, a great gift for Christmas but also any time of the year – the Popaball range is now available All Year Round!

Dreimeister, a new brand for 2018, proved very popular with its best-selling line, the “Chocolate for Wine” 12 Coin Wooden Box” finishing as our 16th best-selling product – evidence of the increasing popularity of food pairing products! In fact – all of its Chocolate Pairing Boxes sold well within the top 30% of Christmas products – something to add to Christmas range next year if you missed out this year! “The Dreimeister Stollen cakes also proved popular – as expected being such a popular festive tradition!

Rendles, a brand exclusive to Springvale, always sells well for Christmas! Their moreish Cheesy Bites which come in various shapes are very popular for Christmas party hosts and Christmas Hampers, with some buyers ordering over 200 cases to meet their customer base demand! The Cheese Trees and Cheese Starts are the most popular Rendles lines at Christmas, each ranking well within the Top 10 Best Selling Christmas lines!

The packaging of Petite & Sweet, a local brand set up by a mother and daughter’s chance encounter with a chocolate making course, won the hearts of many buyers, and it’s safe to say the chocolate inside tastes as good as the bars look! Their ‘Taste Of Christmas Bar’ was the favourite with its unique festive flavours of Cranberry, Sultana, Almond & Marzipan. The unique ‘Chocolate Making Kits’ also proved popular, with ‘Festive Friends’ version being chosen by buyers from all sorts of retailer types!

Another newly added confectionery brand whose classy packaging and delicious flavours attracted many is The Fudge Kitchen. As expected, the best seller from their Christmas range is the ‘12 Flavours Of Christmas’ Box with 12 quirky flavours including Stollen, Speculoos and Christmas Pudding Fudge! Their Drinking Fudge Gift Sets followed close behind along with their award-winning Sea Salted Caramel and Gin Fudge (both flavours are available All Year Round).

As ever, Panettone’s of some sort make their way onto most Christmas orders! Following Galup’s launch of exciting new lines for this Christmas, their ‘Colour’, ‘Christmas’ and ‘Vintage Chocolate’ Panettone’s proved most popular. Amaretti Virginia also boasted an impressive display of new lines for 2018, with their beautiful Frosty Green branded range toping their sales. The Panettone Display which returned from last year’s brochure topped its 2017 sales by miles.

The Sweet Potato Spirits Company have gone from strength to strength this year, with over 5,500 of their eye-catching wax topped bottles leaving our warehouse. From their delicious array of flavours, the Marshmallow Moonshine proved the most popular flavour, closely followed by Toffee Apple Moonshine and Raspberry Gin. Of the three Gift Packs, the ‘Gin Collection’ was the most popular with buyers this Christmas – however this could change since these products are available All Year Round so it’s not too late to order this in time for the festive shopping period!

Lottie Shaw’s, the Yorkshire based bakery renowned for her delicious treats proved as popular as ever, with over 3000 Gin Mince Pies having left our warehouse ready to be demolished by hungry shoppers! With buyers taking note of the unrelenting popularity of Gin, the runner up from the Lottie Shaw Christmas range is her Sloe Gin Fruit Cake. Following closely behind are her Deep Rum Filled Mince Pies, and her Gingerbread Reindeers!

A brand with a real point of difference and a sentimental background story is The Bottled Baking Co. A brand which made its way into the brochure mainly because our marketing team couldn’t help but fall in love with the cute bottles – but wow it has been really popular, so popular in fact that we now have it featuring in our Easter brochure which will be delivered to customers mid-October!

Another range which proves that packaging is everything is The Lakes Distillery– whose Baubles filled with Gin, Vodka and Whisky, caught the eye of most! The large Baubles were the most popular, with Gin being the favoured drink (over 400 Gin Baubles to be exact!) followed by Vodka then Whisky. Their Rhubarb & Rosehip and Elderflower Gins, again in an eye-catching matte pink/green bottles made their way onto many orders too, proving the most popular of their range of 7 flavoured Spirits.

Some of our customers have already sold out their Christmas stock – so don’t be afraid to contact us to place a top-up order. We will do everything we can to accommodate your requests and work with our suppliers to deliver the stock to you as soon as possible!

Exclusive Adnams Christmas Collection is now available to pre-order ready for the Christmas period! We have carefully selected a range of 14 Wines, Gin, Whisky, Mulled Wine, Low Alcohol Wines, Prosecco and Gift Packs to give you something a bit different this Christmas!

Place your order by Friday 28th September to guarantee delivery intake for the Christmas period.

Keep your eyes peeled for our July - December Brochure which is in the post
and will be delivered to our existing customers in the next couple of days if you have not already received it! The brochure now has the pricing published inside for ease when ordering!

We have over 500 new lines and plenty of new and exciting brands
which we can't wait for you to see!

If you are a interested in browsing through our new brochure - please email maddie@springvalefoods.co.uk to request for a brochure be sent by email or post. 

Although its mid-July... the time has come to draw the prize winners from our Christmas ordering competition. Each order placed before our initial deadline of 29th June was entered into the subsequent bracket to win 1 of 4 great prizes!

We would like to thank all of our customers for their Christmas orders and are thrilled to see so much interest in the new brands we added for 2018. We look foward to delivering these orders and supporting you to deliver a successful Christmas selling period for all! 

The winners are:

Locations and dates are detailed below:

Wednesday 25^th April – Novotel - Stansted  CM24 1SF                                        9:30am-16:00pm

Thursday 3^rd May - Clarion Cedar Court Hotel - Wakefield  WF4 3QZ          9:30am-16:00pm

Thursday 10^th May - Marriott Hotel - Leicester  LE19 1SW                                 9:30am-16:00pm

This year we have over 500 new lines from some very exciting new brands - all of which will be available for you to see and taste at the shows - along with plenty of brands which you already know, who will be showcasing their new products!

At each show our team will be there ready to answer any questions you may have, and give you any help you may require when selecting your Christmas 2018 range. We will also be available to take your Christmas order on the day if you have already finalised your range.

If you wish to attend one of our Roadshow dates - please register using this link https://goo.gl/forms/io1ygYooSl65IsKj1!

We can't wait to see you all!

Now well into the Christmas period – but with still a few weeks remaining – we take a look at which products, from our selection of 3,000 All Year-Round (AYR) lines, have proven very popular during the build-up to and throughout the Christmas period (October- Mid-December). Proving the most popular (and no surprise) are Border Biscuits Dark Chocolate Gingers, a product which consumers seem to love whatever the weather or occasion. Coming in at 2^nd are their Lemon Drizzle Melts, followed closely by their Variety Share Packs and the Old-Fashioned Ginger Crunch. Taking the top 4 spots out of the top 10 best sellers, Border Biscuits still hold their position as perhaps the favourite brand in the sweet biscuit category, with their variety of everyday packs and gifting treats proving very popular for Christmas gifts.

Farmhouse Biscuits Oat Flips prove very popular also, ranking 5^th, with their Mild Gingers being the next favourite from the Farmhouse brand. Anna’s Ginger Thins, ranking 33^rd and Botham Shah Ginger Biscuits, ranking 48^th, confirm the demand for ginger flavoured biscuits during the festive season. Another brand with plenty of products in the top 20 are Tiptree, again by no surprise, with their Old Times Marmalade and Strawberry Conserve standing at the 6^th and 7^th most popular products. Tiptree’s variety of Orange Marmalade’s, Ginger Conserve, Lemon Curd and Redcurrant Jelly have also proved strong sellers during the winter period, as consumers favour festive flavours such as orange and ginger. It is clear that demand for AYR Tiptree products remains strong during the festive periods, with most of their preserves, sauces and gifts featuring in the top 100.

Mrs Darlington’s Legendary Lemon Curd, perhaps the best-selling product from the Darlington’s range throughout the whole year, stands strong as the 8^th best-selling AYR lines during the Christmas period. The winter flavours of Mint Sauce and Cranberry Sauce are the next Mrs Darlington’s lines to appear, ranking 101^st and 105^th out of the 3,000 products we stock AYR. With three lines in the top 20 (10^th, 13^th 20^th), Coolmore cakes have proven to be the best-selling AYR cake brand throughout the winter period this year. Their Lemon Cake, Carrot Cake and Double Chocolate Fudge Cake are the flavours which have been in high demand from buyers for all types of set-up – Garden-Centre’s, Deli’s, Convenience Stores and the like. The Lancashire Eccles Cakes (4-pack) have been a consistent top seller throughout the year – and continue to sell well during the festive period, ranking as the 9^th best-selling product. The Eccles Cake twin pack ranks as 371^st proving that consumers have favoured the 4-pack version! Pencader Welsh Cakes continue their strong sales during the winter period, ranking as the 38^th best seller. The Marmite Rice Cakes (27^th), Lorenz Salted Pomsticks (27^th) and Snyder’s Honey, Mustard & Onion Pretzel’s (30^th) head up the snacks, crisps and nuts category, proving lines which consumers want during the winter period as well as in the summer months. The Rendles brand have a strong presence amongst the top sellers, with 6 flavours of their flapjacks ranking in the top 100 (of 3,000), headed by the Mixed Topped Flapjacks at 32^nd. The Rendles Cakes also prove very popular winter lines, with the Blueberry & Apple, Chocolate Chip and Farmhouse Fruit proving the most popular recipes.

The Snak Shed brand, exclusive to Springvale Foods, also demonstrates strong sales during the build up to Christmas – with their Chilli Rice Crackers proving the best seller from the range, their Chocolate Peanutsfollow closely behind. Their flapjack range are in high demand too, with the Bakewell and Chocolate Topped Flapjacks being the most popular favours. AYR goods that prove popular for consumers looking to do some festive baking are West Country Meringues, Wessex Mill Flours and Elders Pastry Cases, all ranking in the top 60. Four AYR lines which we would be shocked not to find in the top-sellers during the festive period are the Opies Pickled Walnuts in Malt Vinegar, Sharp & Nickless Brandy Snaps, Crawfords Cheese Savouries and International Favourites Peeled Roasted Chestnuts which all rank in the top 70! The craft alcohol range, which has expanded drastically in the last few months, also fills plenty of the top seller spots, with the Tiptree Gins performing best, followed by Thunder Vodka and English Drinks Cucumber Gin. Hayman’s and Sovereign Spirits also have lines within the top 100. All of these items are available to order now – order before 12noon for the option of next-day delivery. Place your order online at www.dev1.springvalefoods.co.uk, or call us on 01473 284111.

Information taken from a report ranking All Year-Round products in order of cases sold since 1^st October to 14^thDecember 2017. Ranked from 1 – 3,000. 

Last orders to be received by: Midday Wednesday 20^th December

Last delivery day: Thursday 21^STDecember

Last office day: Friday 22^ND December

CLOSED FOR THE BREAK

Office re-opens: Tuesday 2^ND January

First deliveries go out: Wednesday 3^RD January (If ordered by 12noon on Tuesday 2nd January)

The above applies for phone, fax and online orders.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

We look forward to working with you in 2018!

Congratulations to The Pantry Farm Shop for winning the Springvale Foods Hamper Competition. Entrants were required to send in a photo which they believe represents their store the best! Read about our winner below... 

 We all know the feeling of stumbling across a farm shop, hidden in remote lanes of the country side. Come rain or shine, these country-side food emporiums never fail to deliver. But… not so many of us know the feeling of popping to the farm shop on your local high street!

 The Pantry Farm Shop emerged on Sudbury High Street, in Suffolk, when Jonathan and Ashleigh ventured to fulfil their dream of bringing the artisan food experience of a farm shop to the high-street.

 Jonathan, who previously worked in the city, and his wife Ashleigh, formerly a teacher, made the decision to move to Sudbury with their two children and start their new venture to do something a bit different, and revive the more traditional way of buying food and drink, something lost in our weekly shop to the big supermarkets.

 Being a family venture, since opening in November 2016, Jonathan and Ashleigh have ran The Pantry themselves, with the help of their two children on Saturdays! At the beginning of August, the team expanded. With Judith joining, Jonathan and Ashleigh are very excited to share the responsibilities and excitement of running the Pantry with the new member of the team.

 The Pantry prides itself on championing local produce and sharing the very best that East Anglia has to offer. Inside the Pantry you will find 85% of stock is sourced from East Anglia, with well-known brands such as Tiptree making their mark. The Pantry also supports a range of unheard champions such as Taste Collectiv… a range of sauces made in Suffolk that are flying off the shelf!

The Farm Shop's black board maps the distances some of the local produce travels to reach The Pantry!

Behind the till area, a map shows the distances some of the local produce travels to reach The Pantry. To name a few- the meat is sourced from Totham Bangers, a family run butcher based 25 miles in the heart of the Essex countryside. Eggs are sourced 29 miles away, from Havensfield Eggs, based at the top of Suffolk. The jams travel 16 miles from Tiptree… and their salt makes the 22-mile journey from Maldon…. Yes, you guessed the brand- Maldon Sea Salt! 

 Ashleigh noted that some of their best sellers from Springvale Foods are the Tiptree’s ‘Salted Caramel Spread’ and the Stokes sauces- particularly the ‘Sticky Pickle’, which they sold a whole case of the same morning that the Springvale delivery arrived! It seems no-one can resist the Border Biscuits either- the ‘Lemon Drizzle Melts’ are very popular in the summer! Lots of customers are also favouring the Belvoir Pressé range to invent their own fruity gin and tonics… don’t mind if we do!

 The Pantry recently celebrated success in being named a finalist in the East Anglian Daily Times Top 3 ‘Best Independent Retailer’. An award which requires being nominated by their own customers, proves as evidence of the strength of the community that has formed within The Pantry in such a short space of time!

 We look forward to watching The Pantry continue to flourish, and are proud to be providing them with the unique brands which set their farm shop apart from the rest!

The Pantry Farm Shop, Sudbury, Suffolk

Inside The Pantry Farm Shop, Sudbury, Suffolk

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 View The Pantry Farm Shop's website and social media below:

http://www.pantryfarmshop.co.uk

https://www.facebook.com/pantryfarmshop

https://www.instagram.com/_pantryfarmshop/

Thank you to all those that supported Springvale Foods at the Farm Shop & Deli Show 2017. It was very productive and great to see some old and new faces over the course of the show.

I think you will agree, our stand looked amazing. A great way to showcase our products and taste test our delicious product samples. Thanks again to everyone who supporeted us. We hope to see you again next time...

Come and see us on stand F41 at the Farm Shop & Deli Show from 24-26 April NEC Birmingham.

We will have plenty of delightul products on display and the opportunity to sample some of our fabulous ranges.