As the supermarkets start to trial refillable aisles, field fare announce a 76th packaging-free line heading for the Simply Scoop frozen range that they launched 40 years ago …

Continuing their commitment to reducing plastics and encouraging their stockists to follow suit through their BYO container campaign, field fare will introduce their artisan pastry purses to the loose serve line-up from July 2019 …

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40 years ago, premium frozen food specialists field farelaunched their pioneering loose serve range of fresh frozen produce, ready to scoop into simple, branded bags in precise, waste-reducing amounts.

The growing range …40 years on, they continue to blaze a trail, expanding the frozen loose serve range to 76 products, including …

• AA Grade frozen single fruit and veg lines, frozen within two hours of picking
• Vegetable and fruit medleys, from Californian Fruit Salad to Peas, Beans & Asparagus
• International cuisine mixes, including Chinese Stir Fry, Tuscan Roasting Vegetables and Vegetable Biryani
• Patisseries and baked goods direct from specialist patissieres, from savoury Cheese & Bacon Bites to Blueberry Plaits
• Premium fish and breaded poultry products, including premium Jumbo Cod Fingers, Thais Cod & Prawn Fishcakes and Chicken Kievs

The next eco-step … While scooping precise, waste-reducing amounts into degradable field farebags was a huge environmental leap for the consumer, and frozen foods have a vastly reduced carbon footprint*, in 2016, field faretook the bold next step of launching a campaign amongst their 400+ independent stockists – mainly farm shops, garden centres and butchers – to encourage them to offer their customers the option of bringing their own reusable containers to fill at field fare'sSimply Scoop freezers. The response from both retailers and consumers continues to be enthusiastic.

The multiples start to join the crusade …Says field fare MD, Karen Deans, “As a brand that is so linked with British Farming and farm shops, the environment has always been a priority for us. We recognised two years ago that consumers were becoming equally concerned and would increasingly be looking for help to reduce their use of single use plastics. We had the perfect product format in our Simply Scoop lines with which to do so, and began to actively encourage and support our stockists in taking that next step and offering a Bring Your Own container initiative.

The enthusiastic response from both retailers and their customers has confirmed our prediction, demonstrated that it doesn't have to be complicated or need specialist scales and equipment; and that the demand is only growing,” she continues.“We committedly only supply and support independent retailers, so I am pleased to see that Waitrose are leading a charge from the multiples side in trialling packaging free lines. We are all in this together, after all. We've shown that it can be done and that it can be applied to a huge diversity of products too.”

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“[Our customers have been] filling everything from ice cream tubs to glass jars. They simply take their empty container to the till before they fill it and tell us what is going in it. We then weigh it and calculate the price to deduct when it's filled. A straightforward way to start making a real difference.” George Dobson, co-owner Manor Farm Shop, Chelmsford


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Pastry purses join the packaging-free line up … As part of this on-going eco-stance,  field fare is literally unpacking their pastry purses (pictured right) and adding them to their growing loose-serve list. They will be introduced without packaging from July 2019, with the full transition anticipated to be completed by the Autumn.

Produced by Nottinghamshire-based Maloney's, a multiple award-winning, family-run, country butcher since 1979. As they explain, “we make our pastry from scratch, with our butchers making the fillings in batches using the meat we butcher in house. This is then steamed in cooking bags overnight for ten hours to produce a tender filling that has retained its own cooking liquor for maximum flavour. Next we stamp out our pastry cases by hand into the various shapes and sizes we need and hand finish the products which are then frozen in batches.”

Spinach, Goats Cheese and Olive Purses …

Crisp, buttery puff pastry, packed with creamy, tart goat's cheese and fresh spinach in an olive sauce. Bake from frozen at 200C for 35 - 40 minutes for a handy lunch or a veggie main centrepiece.

Suitable for vegetarians. Serves one.

Weight: 270g

Whsl:       £2.50 each  | RRP:  £3.55 each  | 30% POR

Steak & Stilton Purses …

Local Nottinghamshire beef from a farmer with whom Maloney's have built a long standing relationship; slow cooked in a rich liquor and smothered in a full-flavoured British Stilton sauce; all wrapped in a light puff pastry and garnished with poppy seeds. Bake from frozen at 200C for 35 - 40 minutes.

Weight: 270g

Whsl:       £2.50 each  | RRP: £3.55 each  |  30% POR

Chicken, White Wine and Asparagus Purses …

Succulent chicken in a delicate shallot, white wine and asparagus sauce and encased in light puff pastry. A triumphant triumvirate! Bake from frozen at 200C for 35 - 40 minutes.

Weight: 270g

Whsl:       £2.50 each   | RRP: £3.50 each  |  30% POR

Availability of field fare products: over 400 farm shops, garden centres, delis and butchers across the UK, which stock field fare products. A postcode-activated search for local stockists can be found at www.field-fare.com

editors' notes ________________________________________

• the team… field fare remains family owned by the second generation Cryer family and based in Kent on Black Robins Farms (pictured right), 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 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 farein 2001, becoming MD in 2003, as Richard and Ann Cryer moved towards retirement.
• the history…40 years ago, in 1977, field fare launched a pioneering idea in independent retail. Visionary in its environmentalism, brilliant in its simplicity, the idea was high quality fresh fruit and vegetables, frozen direct from the field and sold loose by the scoop from branded freezers; with minimum packaging and waste, maximum nutrient, vitamin and mineral lock-in, zero additives or preservatives required and the flexibility for customers to economically take as little or as much as they wanted. The loose range now numbers over 80 products ranging from Tuscan Roasting Vegetables to Tuna & Mozzarella Fishcakes. In November 2015 it was joined by a premium ready-meal range, each made in small batches using the quality and quantity of ingredients used in a domestic kitchen, locally sourced where possible. It now numbers over 60 dishes, including comfort food classics, international cuisine, desserts-to-die-for and special dietary requirement dishes.
• the nitty gritty…field fare ready meals are made in small batches and frozen down to between -12°C and -15°C, before being stored at -25°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. 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.
• the environmentals… pioneering in their environmentally conscious loose-serve model, field fare is still committed to reducing food and packaging waste and minimising food miles. Freezing food reduces the waste associated with perishables, while loose serve means only as much as is needed is taken, with minimal packaging. It is also year-round seasonal, negating the hugely damaging air miles from importing fresh produce; and, transporting in bulk, with minimum packaging much reduces both road freight and frozen storage space. field fare's one-stop-shop provision of all frozen requirements reduces potential deliveries to just one, but the work continues. In 2018, they are replacing their already minimal, recyclable, loose-serve bags to biodegradable ones. The packaging of their ready meals usessustainable, Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certificated paper sleeves and mono-material plastic trays. And they are taking the next step towards zero-waste by encouraging their stockists to encourage their customers to bring their own re-useable containers.
• the charity…field fare is proud to support the wonderful work of FareShare, a charity that redistribute surplus food to their 20 UK wide regional centres and on to partner charities. 28.6 million meals per year are thus provided to people in need. fareshare.org.uk
• 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 Blue Diamond Group stores, 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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Press enquiries, images and sample requests …                          

Lisa Jones, Dandelion PR                                                      

t:          07968 963456                                                                

e:         lisa@dandelionpr.co.uk                                                 

w:         www.dandelionpr.co.uk                                                 

tw / f:    @dandylisa / @dandelionPRUK                                    

field fare links …

w:         www.field-fare.com

tw / f:    @fieldfarefoods / @fieldfarefoods

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