It's show time folks!

It’s show time once again folks. Oh how time has flown. It seems like only yesterday we were exhibiting with What On Earth at the Independent Hotel Show and the Restaurant Show, but somehow six months have passed.  How scary.  But we’re welcoming this next show with open arms, and we're extremely excited about it.  Why?  Because this year we're exhibiting with What On Earth at the Natural and Organic Products Europe – the biggest trade show for the natural and organic industry.

Natural and Organic Products Europe is renowned for being excellent.  And we completely agree.  It has been going for many years and attracts trade professionals from across the world.  The show is split up into four sections – Natural Food, Natural Beauty & Spa, Natural Living and Health & Nutrition.   Our stand can be found in the Natural Food section of the show.  

What On Earth and Simply Nectar products can be found on stand 7074 which, according to my show plan, will be right beside Oh My Goodness Foods and the Vegetarian Society.  Come on down and find us!  We will be sampling all flavours of Simply Nectar on the stand, so you can come along, try them and see which are your favourite.  What On Earth will be with us and will be exhibiting all their brand new pizzas (see previous blog) their luxurious granolas and a selection of their organic desserts.  You get to try food AND drink on the same stand.  Lucky you!

Image: Laura Collins

Image: Laura Collins

Natural and Organic Products Europe is taking place on Sunday 7 and Monday 8 April at Kensington Olympia.  The show is open from 9.30am until 5.30pm on Sunday and from 9.30am until 5pm on the Monday.  There will be a few of us on the stand so please come down and see us.  We look forward to seeing you there.  And remember…STAND 7074! 

Simply show time, 

Simply Nectar

New pizzas and cheaper prices from What On Earth

BIG PIZZA NEWS!  Our favourite organic food company, What On Earth, is giving its organic pizza range a shake up to make it bigger and better than ever before.  They're tweaking the flavours of some of the old favourites and introducing not one, not two, not three but FOUR brand new pizzas.

The new pizzas will consist of:

• Pizza Pescheria - Inverawe smoked salmon, feta, mozzarella, sliced red onion, dill and black pepper
• Pizza El Greco - Feta, sliced Kalamata olives, mozzarella, sliced red onion
• Pizza Piccante - Pepperoni sausage, sliced Kalamata olives, mozzarella, shaved parmesan, sliced red onion and fresh garlic oil
• Pizza Miabella - Sliced field mushrooms, cheddar cheese, mozzarella, fresh thyme, oregano and fresh garlic oil

Do you like the sound of them?  We certainly do!  Well, we did...and then we got to try them, and we can confirm that they taste even better than they sound.

In addition to these new pizzas What On Earth will improve the flavour and appearance of its existing pizzas.  The changes won't be drastic; they're just planning to tweak the seasoning so as to give you a tastier pizza experience.  The company will also retire two of the older pizzas - the Organic Pizza de Pepe and the Organic Pizza Mia.  

Once all the changes have been made there will be a total of eight gourmet organic pizzas in the What On Earth range:

• Pizza Pescheria
• Pizza Miabella
• Pizza Piccante
• Pizza El Greco
• Pizza Sienna
• Pizza Cipolla
• Pizza Florentine
• Pizza Margherita (formerly  Basilico)

If all that wasn't enough we have some more news for you. The price of What On Earth's pizzas is GOING DOWN.  Hooooray!  So, all in all, you'll be getting better pizzas at lower prices.  What isn't to love?  Today is a GOOD day.

Simply pizza,

Simply Nectar

JOB ALERT: We're seeking two delivery drivers

Are you over 25? Do you have a clean UK driving licence? And, most importantly, are you a good driver and a good people person?  If yes then you could be exactly who we’re looking for.

Due to recent company growth Simply Nectar and What On Earth are seeking two hardworking and confident delivery drivers.  We have one day driver role and one night driver role available.

Your responsibilities will include: 

• Loading, unloading and moving goods
• Daily picking – including working in the industrial freezer
• Completing daily log books
• Overseeing vehicle and warehouse maintenance: reporting faults and checking vehicle brakes, controls and fuel content on a daily basis
• Communicating with the Logistics & Warehouse Manager on changes to the delivery schedule, any customer questions and/or issues; preparing driver notes as needed;
• Maintaining all relevant financial, HACCP and organic certification records
• Adhering to organic certification rules, as well as food hygiene, health and safety regulations
• Cooperating effectively with the Logistics & Warehouse Manager, Logistics Supervisor, General Manager and Office Administrator
• Liaising with other drivers and warehouse staff; maintaining good working relationships with all colleagues
• Promoting a positive working culture and good working ethics: timekeeping, positive approach, appropriate behaviour, politeness, being calm under pressure
• Reducing overhead costs through conservative use of company resources

Who we are looking for: 

• Must be over 25 years – for insurance purposes
• Must have clean UK Driving Licence and a forklift licence
• Able to start immediately 
• Must have some flexibility for Saturday work 
• Must be able to speak and write good English 
• Must have the ability to multitask, manage time and work autonomously 
• Have good attention to detail
• Ability to work under pressure 
• Good customer service skills 
• Have at least 12 months’ experience as driver
• Must be able to carry and move heavy goods , including when working in freezing temperatures in the freezer
• Good knowledge of London and the ability to read maps and use technology

Pay & Hours:

• £7.35 per hour
• 40 hours per week 

If you are interested in the role please apply by sending your CV & covering letter to Tara Gussain (tara@whatonearth.co.uk) for immediate consideration.  We are an equal opportunities employer.

We get a high volume of applications for roles at What On Earth/Simply Nectar and unfortunately we are not able to respond to them all.  Sorry about that.  If you haven’t heard from us within three weeks please consider your application as unsuccessful.  

Put the kettle on and enjoy English Tea Shop teas

If you're anything like us then you'll probably like tea.  Actually no, you won't like it, you'll LOVE it!  Who doesn't?!   Tea solves everything.  It answers all problems, mends all broken hearts and stops all those tears from falling.  It is wonderful stuff, and we Brits love it. We drink it day and night, in all sorts of places and for all sorts of reasons.  Come to think of it we put the kettle on at every given opportunity – during a tea break at work, when a friend comes round for a cuppa and even when disaster strikes and we need time to collect our thoughts.  The water boils, the mugs come out and the tea is made.  Well, it certainly happens that way here at Simply Nectar!

Our love for tea meant we were very excited to hear that our friends at What On Earth have formed a distribution partnership with English Tea Shop.  This means that What On Earth is now a supplier of these delicious tasting teas.  The company will supply more than 20 different flavours of English Tea Shop teas, both in envelope and silken pyramid tea bags.  The selection of teas will include favourites such as English Breakfast, Earl Grey, Green Tea, Peppermint, Black Tea Chai and Superberries.  

If you haven't tried English Tea Shop teas before then you really should.  The company sources the finest, tastiest ingredients to create genuinely lovely teas.  English Tea Shop is based in the UK but has its manufacturing facility in the heart of Sri Lanka.  The company deals directly with farmers and producers from all over the world and has some of the most experienced tea blenders, formulators and tasters in the industry.  The company has spent hours blending, tasting and sampling different tea blends, which is why they all taste so good.  We should know, we've tried many of them.

Like Simply Nectar and What On Earth, English Tea Shop is a very green company that cares about the environment.  It purchases most of its teas and ingredients from small producers in the third world, and they take great care in selecting their suppliers.  The company’s factory has lots of green certification and its tea is certified organic by Soil Association. Some teas are also Rainforest Alliance Certified and some have Ethical Tea Partnership Certification.  The factory in Sri Lanka is also on its way to becoming carbon neutral and all the teas used are from certified ‘Ozone Friendly’ plantations.  English Tea Shop is a key Fairtrade player and has international licensing to market Fairtrade products in more than 25 countries.  Fairtrade not only helps farmers to achieve a sustainable livelihood but rewards and encourages farming and production practices that are environmentally sustainable.

Photo Sura Nualpradid / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

If you want to find out more about What On Earth visit www.whatonearth.co.uk.  If you want to find out more about English Tea Shop then visit www.etsteas.co.uk.  

Simply tea,

Simply Nectar

Christmas 2012 in (rather embarrassing) photos

It’s December, the weather is dire and Christmas is just around the corner.  This can only mean one thing...the Simply Nectar and What On Earth work Christmas party.  Oh yes!  And what a night was had. Are you sure you're ready for this blog post?!

This year we decided to go all Mexican.  I'm not entirely sure why this was the theme but everyone seemed happy with it.  I personally think it was just the excuse we all needed to wear fake moustaches, eat lots of burritos and drink lots of tequila....and Corona, and Sol, and wine...!  So that is what we did.  Oh and we played some piñata.  If you're brave enough to look below then you can see exactly what went on at the party.  Hopefully the following photos will get you giggling - they certainly did us!  Enjoy.

Here are the sensible pics:

Mexican decorations

Mariachi in an impressive stance

Beers

TEQUILA!!!!

Lots of delicious dips made by Sergei

Yummy Indian food made by Ekta

And now for the fun pics:

"The boys, the boys..."

What a handsome bunch

Piñata!

Ekta turns into the piñata!

So there we have it - a brief insight into the delights of our Christmas party.  If you want to see more head over to our Facebook page and take a look at the full album: www.facebook.com/SimplyNectar.   There are certainly a few more embarrassing pictures in there!  Don't forget to 'like' our Facebook page while you're there.

We hope your work do is/was just as fun as ours.

Simply Christmas, 

Simply Nectar.

Our foodie friends are helping cut food waste

We're proud to announce that our friends at What On Earth are providing 29kg of organic chopped tomatoes for the Alternative Christmas Banquet, which takes place from 6-9 December 2012.  This event is being held in conjunction with the inspirational food charity, FoodCycle, and Tom Hunt’s Forgotten Feast, a fantastic restaurant that supports ugly, unwanted and unloved food that would normally go to waste.   The event will be held at the Brunel Museum in London and will be based on the idea of having a ‘Forgotten Feast of 7 Fishes’.  For vegetarians there is also the option of an Italian Vegetarian Banquet.  The Feast of 7 Fishes’ is eaten on Christmas Eve in Italy and traditionally 7 or 13 dishes were served after the seven sacraments and the 13 apostles.  The idea was to bring lots of people together to eat.

Logo courtesy of foodcycle.org.uk

Photo courtesy of tomsfeast.co.uk

Renowned eco chef, Tom Hunt, will be cooking the dishes for the event and will source wild foods, misshapen vegetables, unusual cuts of meat and fish that are often neglected or not normally seen on British menus.  The feast will include options such as carpaccio of scallop, risotto nero with cuttlefish, pumpkin and sage risotto, forgotten fish stew and garbanzo stew with borlotti and glut tomatoes.

Photo courtesy of foodcycle.org.uk

What On Earth’s Organic Chopped Tomatoes will be used within the feast and we are extremely proud of the company for donating this food.  Both Simply Nectar and What On Earth are very eco-friendly companies so we’re always keen to help the environment in any way we can.  By contributing products to the event What On Earth is able to cut food waste, which is a growing problem.  As a country we throw away around 7.2 million tonnes of food and drink from our homes every year, which costs us around £12 billion.  Also, according to FoodCycle, an estimated 400,000 tonnes of surplus food can be reclaimed each year from the food retailer industry to be made into healthy and nutritious meals.  These are shocking statistics and we are happy to help in any way possible.

The Forgotten Feast of 7 Fishes is set to be a fantastic event and we encourage anybody who hasn’t already got tickets to try and get their hands on the remaining few.  Tickets are available from £35 and all proceeds will go to FoodCycle, which helps serve meals to people at risk from food poverty.  It also aids the creation of more Forgotten Feast events.  For those who attend the event on the 6^th, 7^th and 8^th December, there will be an extra treat.  Guests will be offered an excluded guided descent into the underground Grand Entrance Hall of Brunel’s Thames Tunnel.  Closed to the public for over 140 years, this was the first tunnel under a river anywhere in the world and is one of the great wonders of the Victorian Age.

Photo courtesy of IanVisits.co.uk

As well as buying tickets, volunteering options are available.  Please see the event website for more details. The delicious menu for the event is as follows:

Forgotten Feast of 7 Fishes Menu

- An Italian inspired Christmas feast -

 Due to the sheer volume of food surplus we are able to pick the highest quality ingredients. As we are sourcing surplus food the menu is subject to change.

Antipasti

Carpaccio of scallop frills and megrim sole

Baccala mantecato - salted dab pate with saffron

Salmon trim fish cakes with aioli verde

Primi

Risotto nero with cuttlefish

or

 Pumpkin and sage risotto with a foraged salad

Secondi

Forgotten fish stew of gurnard, pouting and red signal crayfish with cheeky bacon

or

Garbanzo stew with borlotti and glut tomatoes

Served with

Sorrel salsa, buttered chard, caramelized fennel, roast tomatoes

Cleo the sourdough

Dolce

Clementine chocolate fondant with Salcombe dairy ice cream

For more information please visit:
What On Earth - http://www.whatonearth.co.uk / @whatonearthfood
FoodCycle - http://foodcycle.org.uk/   / @foodcycle
Forgotten Feast - http://www.tomsfeast.com/restaurants/forgotten-feast/
Tom Hunt - http://www.tomsfeast.com/   / @tomsfeast
Brunel Museum - http://www.brunel-museum.org.uk / @BrunelMuseum

We hope some of you can make it along to the event and we hope you enjoy all the food...especially What On Earth's Organic Chopped Tomatoes!

Simply tomatoes,

Simply Nectar

The benefits of using agave syrup

Our friends over at What On Earth have recently launched some delicious new organic granolas, which have excellent health benefits.  Why?  Because rather than sugar or honey the company uses organic agave syrup in the granolas.  Agave syrup (also known as agave nectar) is a healthier alternative to honey and sugar and it has numerous other benefits.  This struck a particular chord with us because we do not like refined sugars  - we don't add them to Simply Nectar drinks after all.  Hearing about natural alternatives to sugar is therefore extremely interesting and something we want you all to know about.

What On Earth's new granolas

Agave syrup is produced from the blue agave plant, which grows in the southern United States, northern South America and the hilly regions of Mexico.  There are four parts of the plant that can be used in cooking – the flowers, leaves, stalks and sap.  The sap, which is used in the production of agave syrup, comes from the flower shoots.

Agave syrup has been used for centuries as a folk remedy for its medicinal properties.  Aztecs used to mix it with salt and use it as a dressing for wounds and a balm for skin infections.  Modern medical studies have also confirmed agave’s remedial properties. 

The main health property of agave syrup is its low glycemic index.  Unlike sugar which is a processed sweetener that has no nutritive value other than calories, agave syrup is a natural sweetener.  It provides sweetness without the unpleasant sugar rush and unhealthy blood sugar spike that sugars provide.  This means it won’t cause a sharp rise or fall in sugar and will provide more consistent energy throughout the day.  The glycemic value of agave syrup is 27, whereas sucrose or sugar has a value of 92.

Agave syrup contains saponins and fructans which are known for their anti-inflammatory and immune system-boosting properties.   It also contains natural enzymes, vitamins, minerals, and a nutritious fibre called inulin.  This itself has many health benefits.  It is suggested that inulin is helpful to weight loss because of its low impact on blood sugar and its ability to decrease appetite and keep you feeling fuller for longer.  Inulin is also associated with lowering cholesterol, reducing the risk of certain cancers and increasing absorption of nutrients.  Plus studies have shown that it enhances calcium absorption by as much as 20% and increases bone density by 15%.

Agave syrup has also been proven effective against intestinal bacteria and to treat colon diseases such as ulcerative colitis, irritable bowel syndrome and Crohn's disease.  If applied to the skin it can also be effective against bacteria.  Adding salt to it further boasts this.

Agave syrup can be used to replace natural sweeteners in most recipes.  It is 40% sweeter than sugar so less needs to be used – therefore cutting calories.  Amazingly just a third of a cup of agave syrup can be used to replace one cup of sugar.  If agave syrup is used then the liquid ingredients in the recipe will also need to be reduced by about a third, seeing as agave syrup is a liquid – not a dry matter like sugar.

So, there we have it – a brief overview of agave syrup to let you know all about this wonderful ingredient.  If you need to add sugar to your recipes maybe you should opt for agave syrup instead.

Simply agave,

Simply Nectar

Ekta introduces us to Diwali

Yesterday was the Hindu festival of Diwali, also known as the Festival of Lights.  Every year it is celebrated in Hindu communities around the world and here in the office we had a little celebration of our own.  To be honest, I have to admit to not knowing a great deal about Diwali but luckily we have our very own tutor, Ekta.  And now Ekta has kindly offered to do a guest blog all about Diwali.

Take it away Ekta….. round of applause please

Not many know about the story behind the reason for celebrating Diwali, but it is actually one of the most important Hindu festivals.  Diwali is marked as the day in the Hindu calendar as the day that Lord Rama, along his wife Sita and brother Laxman, returned to his kingdom, Ayodhya, from a 13 year exile in the forest.  Lord Hanuman, his friend, helper and confidante also came along with them.

Photo courtesy of www.iskcondesiretree.net

The kingdom’s subjects welcomed them with great fervour and celebrations. That night being a Moonless night, they decided to light up their kingdom with all the earthen lamps they had. Thus, the festival is known and celebrated as the Festival of Lights.  The word Diwali actually means ‘rows of lighted lamps’ and during the festival houses, shops and public places are decorated with small earthenware oil lamps called diyas.

Photo courtesy of http://fr.wikipedia.org

Diwali is followed by the Hindu New Year the very next day (which is today!) This gives families a reason to come together to celebrate, eat, drink and be merry.  It is tradition to make homemade sweets and savoury snacks in the lead to Diwali.  These snacks are then served to guests and relatives visiting each other.  As a good luck present, the elders give younger members of the family envelopes which contain cash.

Photo courtesy of www.desifoodbuzz.com

As well as making lots of food, the women in the family decorate the doorsteps of their home.  They do this by creating patterns with various coloured powders.  The designs are seen as a welcome gesture, symbolic to Lord Ram’s return and his Kingdom’s welcome.

Photo courtesy of www.thehindu.com

So there we have the story of Diwali, as told by Ekta.  Thank you Ekta!

We celebrated Diwali in the office yesterday by eating traditional foods such as Motichoor Ladoo, which I can confirm were delicious!  And yes, I did have to get Ekta to write that spelling down for me!  Motichoor Ladoo is made of flour and sugar, among other ingredients.  It is a sweet Indian delicacy and is generally made for special occasions.  Hmmm, maybe we should make some pizzas that can be eaten of special occasions?!

Motichoor Ladoo

Today is the New Year for Hindus so we should wish you all a Happy New Year!

Peace, love and Diwali pizza,

What On Earth