13 Jul 2017
Tags: Ready Meals, Frozen, premium, garden centres, Farm Shop, loose serve, Offer, rebrand
A pioneer of loose frozen food, field fare celebrates 40 years of trailblazing with a crisp, contemporary rebrand of both their expanding premium ready meal range and freezers; plus a new foodie's resource website launching in August …
And the corking gift? Typically it's for their customers: £375 worth of free ready meals and £275 worth of free freezer branding for every minimum order placed before Sept 30th 2017 …*
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Trailblazing since 1977 …
While the nation cracked open the bunting and trestle tables for the Silver Jubilee, field fare was launching a pioneering idea in independent retail, visionary in its environmentalism, brilliant in its simplicity.
High quality fresh fruit and vegetables, frozen direct from the field and sold by the scoop from branded freezers. It included previously unavailable lines, such as frozen chestnuts, broad beans and blackberries, with minimum packaging and waste, maximum nutrient lock in, zero additives or preservatives required and the flexibility for customers to economically take as little or as much as they wanted.
And they still can. Now from a continuously growing, deliciously diverse selection of over 80 loose serve products, ranging from sweet potato chips to cinnamon swirls, from cookies to king prawns, from Tuscan roasting vegetables to tuna and mozzarella fish cakes. field fare's inviting freezers – kaleidoscopically crammed with fresh, innovative and inspiring products - can now be found in some 400 independent garden centres, farm shops, delis and butchers, spanning the Shetland Isles to Jersey, via Northern Ireland!
Underpinning the whole is a commitment to supplying premium products direct from the best independent producers available, sourced locally where possible. But if the real deal means a longer reach, they will, as ever, go the extra mile. Where would you go for waffles, but Belgium? For patisserie, but France? Or for pasties, but Cornwall?
A ready meal renaissance …
As independent retail pioneers of high end frozen food, with close, established suppliers and stockists, field fare was perfectly positioned to continue innovating and developing the sector. And premium frozen ready meals were the natural progression; tapping into an exponentially growing market, fuelled by time poor, yet foodie consumers, educated in the nutritional, quality and environmental positives of frozen foods.
In November 2016 the field fare ready meal range was given a radical overhaul, introducing sophisticated new recipes, improving the quality of existing favourites, creating a slick packaging that reflected this quality and expanding the range.
Whether for a treat night off cooking, stress free entertaining, single dining or even a chance to mix up dishes around the same table, the new field fare range is as good (for most, better) than home made. Each dish is cooked in small batches, using the same quality of ingredients, the same richness of flavours, the same methods, the same generous portions, the same skimp-not policy that you would in your own kitchen – whether that is in the tenderising length of slow-cooking times or that all important red wine measure.
Provenance rich recipes, ingredients and producers …
The range comprises a constantly growing menu of over 50 one and two portion meals, including authentically spiced international cuisines, new gluten free meals, sophisticated vegetarian options and desserts-to-die-for.
It's a menu that stretches from classic comfort food lasagnes, cottage pies and Lancashire hotpots (all with on average 25% higher meat count than the competition) to Great Taste Award winners Coquilles St Jacques, Asparagus & Gruyere Crowns (pictured right) and to their Mushroom, Stilton & Pine nut parcel. The latter two recipes were created by Sheila Milligan … Spike's wife!
“Provenance, quality and authenticity of recipes, ingredients and of our producers is paramount for field fare,” says MD Karen Deans. And if that includes a direct link to a comedy legend, so much the better, says us. “We work closely with a long established clutch of trusted, independent manufacturers and producers, to source the freshest and finest produce. Our frozen raspberries are punnetised to keep them plump and whole, our peas are AA grade, picked and frozen within 2½ hours by a 3rd generation farmer and processor. And the same goes for our new ready meals. We've spent 40 years establishing field fare's credentials of excellence, so we work uncompromisingly with our manufacturers to create dishes worthy of the field fare branding.”
Rebranded freezers, redesigned packaging and a spanking new website …
The whole brand has been given a fittingly crisp, contemporary makeover: that blast of botox on many a 40th birthday list.
In this instance, however, the look is high end, clean, contemporary simplicity, with the product temptingly visible, allowing the dish to almost sell itself. All is supported by a rebranded modular magnet kit of logos, straplines and rumble-inducing product photography; proven to draw customers to the freezers and demonstrably resulting in sales uplifts.
“At field fare we are all about excellence of service to our stockists, being flexible, adapting to their needs and customers and supporting their sales; and that was the impetus for our rebrand.” continues Karen. “We now offer a variety of magnets for the freezers, including our slick new logo and punchy straplines; as well as a large choice of photo backboards to select from according to stock. We invest heavily in photos of our actual products, using a food stylist and photographer; who regularly take over my kitchen, ransacking my cupboards for props.”
Unlike other frozen ready meal specialists, field fare does not demand a specific number or type of freezer, nor place restrictions on what produce and products can be sold from it. With just one glass top chest freezer and a minimum 25 case order, field fare's flexible point of sale material will do the rest.
“The field fare branding on the freezers is clear and helps entice customers to our frozen and chilled area,” says James Pennell of Pennells Garden Centre in Lincoln, “the redesigned packaging is also clear with a strong focus on showing the great food inside. The choice and quality of the ready meals are second to none and we are continuing to see strong repeat sales. The loose items also are a great seller for us.”
Meanwhile, a fresh new website, launching in August 2017, not only features some 150 products, including loose serve and the full ready meal range, but provides a user friendly, foodie's go-to resource, supplying inspiring recipes using field fare products and seasonal ideas, nutritional information, cooking tips, and an advanced search for local stockists: www.field-fare.com
*Cutting to the deal …
To celebrate their birthday, or possibly in a moment of mid-life crisis madness, field fare is essentially subsidising the cost of a new freezer by contributing £650 to customers listing their premium ready meals.
Until the end of September 2017 they are offering a whopping free ready meal case worth £375, plus free ready meal freezer branding worth £275, with every 25 case minimum order of any field fare products. Call 01732 864344 or email enquiries@field-fare.com for further details.
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ENDS
Editors' notes …
- The team … field fare remains family owned by the second generation Cryer family and based in Kent on a working farm where llamas guard the sheep (yes, really) and chickens regularly strut through the office (true too). A tight team of just six has been working together for up to 10 years and MD Karen Deans (pictured right) has been at the rudder for 16 years. Karen graduated from Oxford Brookes University with a BA Hons in Business Studies, before embarking on a 2½ year tour with her husband-to-be. They bush-camped and worked around Africa and Australia, then to Hong Kong and Manila before returning home. Karen worked for 8 years for Storsack UK Ltd, an industrial packaging company, then in the oil industry; and finally joined field fare in 2001, becoming MD in 2003, as Richard and Ann Cryer moved towards retirement.
- The technicals … field fare ready meals are made in small batches of 360 at a time and frozen at -20°C, which means they immediately retain all those nutrients and flavours with no need to add any preservatives or nasties. Products should be stored at a temperature of -18°C, have a 12 – 18 month shelf life and are mainly to be oven cooked from frozen.
- The support … field fare offer free delivery for a minimum of 25 cases, plus the further back up of a sales team of three – Richard, Paul and Colin, who personally visit and support customers across the UK. Further resources and support includes flexible point of sales material, a destination website and on-going brand awareness building through proactive social media, PR and advertising campaigns in target national press; plus quarterly competitions to drive sales to their stockists. Having started with owning their own shops and with an ex-farm shop manager on their sales team, field fare uniquely understand their stockists' businesses and issues. They don't place restrictions on product combinations or access to lines dependent on the existing field fare offering; and are happy for smaller customers to partner up on a pallet order. A quite simply 'lovely bunch'.
- The returns … field fare ready meal RRPs range from £2.75 for a single portion Macaroni Cheese to £8.50 for a double portion Fish Pie, and in weight from 300g for a single portion Liver and Bacon to 800g for a double portion Shepherd's Pie. Using field fare's suggested RRPs, a healthy average 43% return can be expected on loose goods and 32.4% on the ready meal range.
- The stockists … field fare is committed to supporting UK farming, recently recognised by hard won permission from the National Farmers' Union (NFU) to use the Support British Farmers logo. They only supply independent stores, mainly farm shops; and some 400 stockists include selected Dobbies Garden Centres, Dart Farm in Devon, Millets Farm Shop in Oxon, Preston's Barton Grange Garden Centre, Polhill Farm Shop and Broadditch Farm Shop in Kent, Calcott Hall, Brentwood, Thorncliffe Farm Shop in Huddersfield and Gonalston Farm Shop in Nottingham.
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Weblinks …
Press enquiries:
Lisa Jones, Dandelion PR
t: 07968 963456
tw / f: @dandylisa / @dandelionPRUK
Wholesale enquiries:
Karen, Claire or Dave, field fare
t: 01732 864344
tw / f: @fieldfarefoods / @fieldfarefoods
