Our local village shop has recently rebranded (click here to see what we’ve done for them) and opened as a delicatessen, showcasing the best that the region has to offer.

I have to admit I am genuinely impressed by the thought they’ve put in to this. It’s all very well having a shop  with a nice sign, some solid branding and a fancy website, but ultimately a delicatessen like this will be judged on the items it stocks and the service they offer.

We always expect delicatessens to be expensive, but I’ve found that this simply isn’t the case. The trick is buying seasonally from local suppliers. You’ll not find asparagus on their shelves in November, or spring lamb in the fridges in January. What you will find is produce that is ready now, and at a good price – certainly no more expensive than you would pay at the supermarket for an often far inferior product. Our favourites so far have been beef from Acomb Farm, the most amazing ice-cream from Beckleberry’s in Blaydon, and fantastic Brown Ale Bread from the Thomson Bakery.

I really think that this is such a good thing. A local business promoting the best that small providers in the region have to offer. Small businesses have such a lot to offer given the opportunity, and I think that we should support them whenever we can.

We would miss them so much if all that was left were the Sonys, Tescos and Microsofts of the world.

UPDATE: Just recently tried the most amazing home-made pies from the shop. Proper pies, with pastry all the way round, not just some excuse for a lid sat on top. Can’t recommend them highly enough!

This entry was posted on Saturday, August 15th, 2009 at 8:44 pm and is filed under Life. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.