12th April 2013
Autumn 2010: Fresh Start
Five years on from Reynolds Catering Supplies’ move to its vast distribution centre in Waltham Cross, Essex, the transition from fresh produce supplier to an innovator in menu solutions is complete with the installation of its new development kitchen.
The first thing you see as you approach Reynolds’ stunning new development kitchen, are the words: Innovation starts here – and it means it.
The company, which provides fresh produce and speciality lines for caterers, means business with its new state of the art kitchen that represents an investment of £200K, and the appointment of Ian Nottage as chef director overseeing new concepts and NPD for the business’ customers.
The purpose built, energy efficient kitchen was kitted out by German equipment specialist MKN, and designed to replicate what its customers would have to cook on. It was finished in October last year but didn’t open officially until Nottage came on board. He says it was well thought out and cleverly designed to include an induction plate with bespoke guard around it, bratt pan and a pasta boiler. The induction hob is round and designed to hold a wok, with adjustable height fittings.
Nottage says: “We have lots of customers in the Italian market, but the beauty of the pasta boiler is that it also works as a water bath and it can even be used as a stockpot. The bratt pan is made of steel so when it’s cleaned it doesn’t transfer flavour – salmon and sweet pancakes can be cooked in it. A char grill with water underneath gives the food above it moisture. Once finished, you drain and wipe it out.”
The unit has been custom made to extend the top to include a “breakfast bar” concept for chefs to watch demos. With a boardroom attached to present food solutions, plus TV and video facilities, it’s a complete package.
Nottage joined the company this year and has been continuously presenting dishes to customers ranging from hotel restaurants and pubs to food to go chains. With the company’s massive larder at his disposal, the opportunities to be creative are huge.
Along with newly appointed development chef Glenn Evans, he can showcase new ideas with fresh produce, which could range from purple potato chips to char grilled Wye Valley asparagus. “We bring produce up from the warehouse and call it ‘bringing it to life’. Sometimes it’s something exotic or what’s best in season to showcase seasonality,” says Nottage.
Local sourcing means meeting suppliers and getting knee deep in fields and nurseries and Reynolds encourages this activity. To show how important the quality of the produce they supply is to the business, it has close relationships with growers and suppliers right across the country.
A local grower literally on its doorstep, barely seven to eight miles away, signifies the importance of close relationships.
The grower supplies the business mainly with speciality tomatoes and sweet pointed peppers from its main nursery, but has sites elsewhere and as far afield as Spain to ensure a sustainable supply of produce. Speciality tomatoes represent around 2%-3% of the whole tomato market, and the grower says from its sites it grows them, bags them and sells them.
Walking into its nursery is like walking into a jewellery shop, as the perfectly shaped tomatoes grow side by side undercover, hanging down like necklaces. Round Piccolo and plum Marzanino tomatoes are the most popular varieties and everything is done to make them as naturally grown as possible. Bumblebees are brought in for pollination in boxes and these bees last for up to 12 weeks. The grower also brings in insects for the biological control of pests such as white fly.
It says it makes the business pest free as when the bugs hatch on the vines, they keep the pests down – “we are trying not to spray at all and so far this year we’ve had no pests”. It costs a lot of money to bring the insects in – £110,000 this year on biological control excluding the cost of the bees, but the latter is cheaper than labour, as they work very hard, it adds.
Varieties such as the Piccolo were developed in Sicily after growers were not happy with the quality of the fruit after they had taken it off the vine, so left it on and discovered that the flavour developed – a characteristic that appeals to caterers.
Reynolds’ commercial director Paul Collins says the drive in foodservice is all about flavour even though it means the tomatoes are dearer – as much as 30% higher in price. The grower also grows long pointed red peppers called Romero and says others may be bigger and longer but not as good tasting. It also grows small orange peppers called Sweet Bites that make a good snacking fruit for lunchboxes.
Nottage says his job involves visiting growers to learn more about the produce. “I know what a chef knows but this is about field to fork. I understand better now why asparagus is expensive – it’s the amount of work that goes into it. When I’m in the kitchen I can pass that on to customers.”
Reynolds has just launched a speciality range from the international market at Rungis just outside Paris. Called Connoisseurs Choice, it is aimed at foodservice but in particular people who appreciate high quality – “top end restaurants and directors’ tables”. It consists of fresh produce plus items such as eggs, oils and vinegars. It will be heavily focused on Rungis but also celebrating the best of British too.
Nottage says it doesn’t mean getting heavily into dried goods but there are some products he thinks are stunning – for example, 8Brix verjus and Minus 8 vinegar. The latter is made from the juice of frozen grapes in Canada – the ingredients say just white and red wine – and at £40 a bottle it isn’t cheap. “But if we are selling the best leaf, why not sell the best oil or vinegar to go with it,” he explains.
There are some customers who are sensitive about food miles but many are also price driven, he says, but more caterers like provenance. “It’s dictated by price but becoming more popular,” says Nottage. “For one customer we were asked to provide a 25 mile salad with named varieties and distinctive leaves if it is a lettuce. To get ahead you have to research your customers, eat in their restaurants, and get their brief on whatever they are working on menu wise.”
To demonstrate the concepts it can produce in the new kitchen, Nottage and Evans devised a 12 course taster menu.
This included “Greengrocers cocktail” served in a Venus urn – an innovative plant container – consisting of a blend of fresh ginger, lime and green apple with orange juice, some spinach and mint and lemongrass; a cactus “spoon” with chilli and lime cured salmon; 8Brix belly of suckling pig with Yukon Gold mash and pea purée; and Amalfi lemon panna cotta with Kentish raspberry compote.
Chairman and managing director Tony Reynolds says this is what Reynolds is about – a business created over three generations of greengrocers, originally from a market stall in Ridley Road, Hackney, London. “When we moved here five years ago, it was like moving into the Premier League,” says Reynolds. “It’s when we understood what the business was really about and the wonderful customers we have, and we began a rate of growth that has grown us nationally.”
Words - Sheila Eggleston
The company, which provides fresh produce and speciality lines for caterers, means business with its new state of the art kitchen that represents an investment of £200K, and the appointment of Ian Nottage as chef director overseeing new concepts and NPD for the business’ customers.
The purpose built, energy efficient kitchen was kitted out by German equipment specialist MKN, and designed to replicate what its customers would have to cook on. It was finished in October last year but didn’t open officially until Nottage came on board. He says it was well thought out and cleverly designed to include an induction plate with bespoke guard around it, bratt pan and a pasta boiler. The induction hob is round and designed to hold a wok, with adjustable height fittings.
Nottage says: “We have lots of customers in the Italian market, but the beauty of the pasta boiler is that it also works as a water bath and it can even be used as a stockpot. The bratt pan is made of steel so when it’s cleaned it doesn’t transfer flavour – salmon and sweet pancakes can be cooked in it. A char grill with water underneath gives the food above it moisture. Once finished, you drain and wipe it out.”
The unit has been custom made to extend the top to include a “breakfast bar” concept for chefs to watch demos. With a boardroom attached to present food solutions, plus TV and video facilities, it’s a complete package.
Nottage joined the company this year and has been continuously presenting dishes to customers ranging from hotel restaurants and pubs to food to go chains. With the company’s massive larder at his disposal, the opportunities to be creative are huge.
Along with newly appointed development chef Glenn Evans, he can showcase new ideas with fresh produce, which could range from purple potato chips to char grilled Wye Valley asparagus. “We bring produce up from the warehouse and call it ‘bringing it to life’. Sometimes it’s something exotic or what’s best in season to showcase seasonality,” says Nottage.
Local sourcing means meeting suppliers and getting knee deep in fields and nurseries and Reynolds encourages this activity. To show how important the quality of the produce they supply is to the business, it has close relationships with growers and suppliers right across the country.
A local grower literally on its doorstep, barely seven to eight miles away, signifies the importance of close relationships.
The grower supplies the business mainly with speciality tomatoes and sweet pointed peppers from its main nursery, but has sites elsewhere and as far afield as Spain to ensure a sustainable supply of produce. Speciality tomatoes represent around 2%-3% of the whole tomato market, and the grower says from its sites it grows them, bags them and sells them.
Walking into its nursery is like walking into a jewellery shop, as the perfectly shaped tomatoes grow side by side undercover, hanging down like necklaces. Round Piccolo and plum Marzanino tomatoes are the most popular varieties and everything is done to make them as naturally grown as possible. Bumblebees are brought in for pollination in boxes and these bees last for up to 12 weeks. The grower also brings in insects for the biological control of pests such as white fly.
It says it makes the business pest free as when the bugs hatch on the vines, they keep the pests down – “we are trying not to spray at all and so far this year we’ve had no pests”. It costs a lot of money to bring the insects in – £110,000 this year on biological control excluding the cost of the bees, but the latter is cheaper than labour, as they work very hard, it adds.
Varieties such as the Piccolo were developed in Sicily after growers were not happy with the quality of the fruit after they had taken it off the vine, so left it on and discovered that the flavour developed – a characteristic that appeals to caterers.
Reynolds’ commercial director Paul Collins says the drive in foodservice is all about flavour even though it means the tomatoes are dearer – as much as 30% higher in price. The grower also grows long pointed red peppers called Romero and says others may be bigger and longer but not as good tasting. It also grows small orange peppers called Sweet Bites that make a good snacking fruit for lunchboxes.
Nottage says his job involves visiting growers to learn more about the produce. “I know what a chef knows but this is about field to fork. I understand better now why asparagus is expensive – it’s the amount of work that goes into it. When I’m in the kitchen I can pass that on to customers.”
Reynolds has just launched a speciality range from the international market at Rungis just outside Paris. Called Connoisseurs Choice, it is aimed at foodservice but in particular people who appreciate high quality – “top end restaurants and directors’ tables”. It consists of fresh produce plus items such as eggs, oils and vinegars. It will be heavily focused on Rungis but also celebrating the best of British too.
Nottage says it doesn’t mean getting heavily into dried goods but there are some products he thinks are stunning – for example, 8Brix verjus and Minus 8 vinegar. The latter is made from the juice of frozen grapes in Canada – the ingredients say just white and red wine – and at £40 a bottle it isn’t cheap. “But if we are selling the best leaf, why not sell the best oil or vinegar to go with it,” he explains.
There are some customers who are sensitive about food miles but many are also price driven, he says, but more caterers like provenance. “It’s dictated by price but becoming more popular,” says Nottage. “For one customer we were asked to provide a 25 mile salad with named varieties and distinctive leaves if it is a lettuce. To get ahead you have to research your customers, eat in their restaurants, and get their brief on whatever they are working on menu wise.”
To demonstrate the concepts it can produce in the new kitchen, Nottage and Evans devised a 12 course taster menu.
This included “Greengrocers cocktail” served in a Venus urn – an innovative plant container – consisting of a blend of fresh ginger, lime and green apple with orange juice, some spinach and mint and lemongrass; a cactus “spoon” with chilli and lime cured salmon; 8Brix belly of suckling pig with Yukon Gold mash and pea purée; and Amalfi lemon panna cotta with Kentish raspberry compote.
Chairman and managing director Tony Reynolds says this is what Reynolds is about – a business created over three generations of greengrocers, originally from a market stall in Ridley Road, Hackney, London. “When we moved here five years ago, it was like moving into the Premier League,” says Reynolds. “It’s when we understood what the business was really about and the wonderful customers we have, and we began a rate of growth that has grown us nationally.”
Words - Sheila Eggleston