FOR CLEAN VERSION SEE STORY NUMBER: 4053826

LEAD IN:

Chocolates made with reindeer moss and 'duck crackling' are among the innovations at a speciality food fair in London.

Since the Brexit vote, many British producers are concerned that they can no longer rely on the EU market and are beginning to look to the east.

STORY-LINE:

It looks like intricately stitched fabric, but these are colourful cakes based on eastern henna designs.

The bright gold reds and pinks are aiming at markets all over the world. The company is called Sari after the ornately designed garments traditionally worn by women in India.

The foods and drinks found here are aimed at the top end of the market.

Many stall holders are hoping to find favour with restaurateurs, luxury food wholesalers, or high end supermarkets.

The director of the Speciality and Fine Food Fair is Soraya Gadelrab.

Gadelrab believes the UK especially London has an international cuisine that other markets are opening up to.

That's why next year there will see the launch of the Asian Speciality Food Fair in Singapore, a lucrative market chosen because consumers there are wealthy and becoming more cosmopolitan.

Gadelrab says: "People see the UK and London as ahead of the trends when it comes to food and drink and the latest products, the latest ways of eating, the latest styles, the latest diets, and I think that's something that countries around the world sometimes look to the UK and more specifically London to see what we're doing and at this show there's so many countries represented, there's so much food from around the world and we eat globally here in the UK every day. But not all countries do that and what we're finding is that other countries are starting to catch up with us so we're actually taking this show to Singapore next year and launching Speciality and Fine Food Asia."

Despite warnings from President Obama at the G20 summit in China at the weekend, Gadelrab is not gloomy about Britain's food industry after the UK leaves Britain.

She says: "Artisan biscuits, pies, it's a huge market there's the expat(riot) community, but there's also quite an affluent consumer there and they want the latest, the greatest products imported from all around the world and British food is really up there."

This company has been exporting gourmet Italian foods into Britain for forty years.

It's owner Toni Pirozzi helped to blaze the trail which has ensured that many people in Britain consume cheeses, hams, pastas and sauces which wouldn't have been easily available a few decades ago.

Exporters like Pirozzi see the UK as an important market.

While he isn't gloomy about the luxury food market, he believes there will be a downward pressure on prices.

According to Pirozzi: "Being in the exit (Brexit from EU) from the common market I think it's going to be a little problem for the Italian product. But not too much because the product is not going to be successful, but it's going to be a little outpriced and quite a lot of imitations, they're coming out produced in every part of the world, which they call Italian product, but they are not original."

Concern about authenticity is something that many food producers are worried about.

Tight restrictions in EU law ensure that the products of particular regions are protected.

For example you can't make sparkling wine and call champagne unless it's from the champagne produce region in France.

Pirozzi gives the example of a particular kind of Sicilian tomato.

"If you look at the ciliegino di Pachino, the original ciliegino di Pachino, only from Pachino do you have a different flavour, the vitamins, everything inside is beautiful because the area of Pachino is an area which is very salty, very windy and very hot. Now if you go only thirty kilometres from Pachino, you buy the same ciliegino, it looks the same. Now ciliegino comes from everywhere and the price...(gesticulates that the price goes down)."

A concern for luxury food producers in the UK is whether shoppers post-Brexit will still be happy to pay more for specialist products.

Gadelrab is optimistic: "People still want those beautiful indulgences and this is what this fair is all about, the handcrafted products with all the best ingredients, full of flavour, exciting flavour combinations and I think that's not something that's going to go away because when times are tough, maybe people scrimp on holidays and big TVs, but they're still going to treat themselves to a beautiful cake, or some lovely ham, or some hand reared beef, so it's here to stay."

New ideas and producers are developing all the time.

Adam Wilding is launching his new product here at the fair after three long years of testing and developing a 'duck crackling' to take on the British pork crackling market.

Crispy duck skins are sold in delicatessens in France and of course the Chinese gourmands have been creating crispy duck skin for centuries, but Wilding believes he's the first to think of marketing it in this way.

He says: "We've a good connection with pork crackling, this idea came about when I was running a menu for a canape event and just as I was going to sleep I thought, you know these ideas come to you sometimes at night, but the idea was to have crispy duck skin as a canape base. On top of that we put some duck pate and it kind of went so well that a little spark went off."

This product has yet to be distributed and Wilding doesn't want disclose who he is in talks with, but he says it is going well.

"There's an overwhelming interest, you can see this moment where people's brains, they compute the idea and they suddenly get it and they are like 'oh yes, I understand what this is'."

After a savoury snack, it's time for something sweet - and another launch of a very unusual product.

Not this actual size shoe adorned with artificial pearls, but something that Nordic and Scandinavian countries will recognise.

Chocolala is an Estonian company which has high hopes for these little bundles of reindeer moss chocolates

It's run by Kristi Lehtis, who goes hunting for the moss in the forests near her home, rather like the reindeer do.

She also forages for wild fruits to put in her chocolates.

"Blueberries and moss they grow together and while I was picking blueberries I thought it would be nice to take something from the forest along, something more and the moss is actually widely used by the chefs as well at the restaurants," she says.

"You can make it with beetroot for example and it's a pink moss, but we make it with chocolate you can caramelise it, we have lots of different ways and it gives texture because it's nice to have the chocolate plus the texture so together it's a great product and something that people haven't tried. There are a lot of people who want something special who have tried everything and they don't know what to give as a present, so this something that they haven't tried."

It remains to be seen whether chocolate moss will be appearing on people's Christmas lists this year.

London, UK - 4 September 2016

1. Close tilt up of ornately decorated cake inspired by henna designs

2. Close zoom out of silver cake

3. Pan of differently decorated cakes

4. Close zoom in on giant chocolate nuts and small glazed chocolates

5. Wide of chocolate producer talking to potential client

6. Wide of chocolate box with graphic designs

7. Close zoom in to artisanal Scotch eggs

8. Mid of man on pie stall chopping eggs for people to taste

9. Close of eggs

10. Wide of specialist bread and cake stall

11. Close tilt up of pies and breads

12. Zoom in to barrel of cheese

13. Mid of staff on Italian food stall

14. Various of event director Soraya Gadelrab trying specialist cheese at Italian stall

15. SOUNDBITE: (English) Soraya Gadelrab, director, Speciality and Fine Food Fair

"People see the UK and London as ahead of the trends when it comes to food and drink and the latest products, the latest ways of eating, the latest styles, the latest diets, and I think that's something that countries around the world sometimes look to the UK and more specifically London to see what we're doing and at this show there's so many countries represented, there's so much food from around the world and we eat globally here in the UK every day. But not all countries do that and what we're finding is that other countries are starting to catch up with us so we're actually taking this show to Singapore next year and launching Speciality and Fine Food Asia."

16. Mid zoom in on large flavoured meringues

17. Wide pan of chocolate shop

18. SOUNDBITE: (English) Soraya Gadelrab, director, Speciality and Fine Food Fair

"Artisan biscuits, pies, it's a huge market there's the expat(riot) community, but there's also quite an affluent consumer there and they want the latest, the greatest products imported from all around the world and British food is really up there."

19. Close of spoon scooping out Gorgonzola cheese

20. Mid of Toni Pirozzi, Italian food and specialist cheese exporter, giving his colleague the spoonful of Gorgonzola

21. Close of man tasting and savouring cheese

22. Close zoom in to Gorgonzola

23. SOUNDBITE: (English) Toni Pirozzi, Italian food exporter

"Being in the exit (Brexit from EU) from the common market, I think it's going to be a little problem for the Italian product. But not too much because the product is not going to be successful, but it's going to be a little outpriced and quite a lot of imitations, they're coming out produced in every part of the world, which they call Italian product, but they are not original."

24. Close of Gorgonzola being scooped out

25. SOUNDBITE: (English) Toni Pirozzi, Italian food exporter

"If you look at the ciliegino di Pachino, the original ciliegino di Pachino, only from Pachino do you have a different flavour, the vitamins, everything inside is beautiful because the area of Pachino is an area which is very salty, very windy and very hot. Now if you go only thirty kilometres from Pachino, you buy the same ciliegino, it looks the same. Now ciliegino comes from everywhere and the price...(gesticulates that the price goes down)."

26. Wide of food fair

27. Top mid of specialist food seller speaking to client

28. SOUNDBITE: (English) Soraya Gadelrab, Speciality and Fine Food Fair

"People still want those beautiful indulgences and this is what this fair is all about, the handcrafted products with all the best ingredients, full of flavour, exciting flavour combinations and I think that's not something that's going to go away because when times are tough, maybe people scrimp on holidays and big TVs, but they're still going to treat themselves to a beautiful cake, or some lovely ham, or some hand reared beef, so it's here to stay."

29. Mid of passerby being offered taste of crispy duck skin snacks described as duck crackling

30. SOUNDBITE: (English) Adam Wilding, chef and inventor of "Duck Crackling"

"We've a good connection with pork crackling, this idea came about when I was running a menu for a canape event and just as I was going to sleep I thought, you know these ideas come to you sometimes at night, but the idea was to have crispy duck skin as a canape base. On top of that we put some duck pate and it kind of went so well that a little spark went off."

31. Close of duck crackling in pots on tray

32. Mid of Wilding talking to colleague

33. Close of Wilding

34. Close of pots

35. SOUNDBITE: (English) Adam Wilding, chef and inventor of "Duck Crackling"

"There's an overwhelming interest, you can see this moment where people's brains, they compute the idea and they suddenly get it and they are like 'oh yes, I understand what this is'."

36. Close of chocolate shoe in real shoe size

37. Various of chocolate shoe being held outside of box

38. Close of reindeer moss chocolates being put into gift box

39. Close of moss chocolate

40. SOUNDBITE: (English) Kristi Lehtis, specialist chocolate maker, Chocolala

"So moss is a very special product."

41. Close of reindeer moss chocolate

42. SOUNDBITE: (English) Kristi Lehtis, specialist chocolate maker, Chocolala

"Blueberries and moss they grow together and while I was picking blueberries I thought it would be nice to take something from the forest along, something more and the moss is actually widely used by the chefs as well at the restaurants because you can make it with beetroot for example and it's a pink moss, but we make it with chocolate you can caramelise it we have lots of different ways and it gives texture because it's nice to have the chocolate plus the texture so together it's a great product and something that people haven't tried. There are a lot of people who want something special who have tried everything and they don't know what to give as a present, so this something that they haven't tried."

43. Close of carton filled with reindeer moss

44. Close of Lehtis

45. Mid of Lehtis filling gift box

LEAD IN:

Chocolates made with reindeer moss and 'duck crackling' are among the innovations at a speciality food fair in London.

Since the Brexit vote, many British producers are concerned that they can no longer rely on the EU market and are beginning to look to the east.

STORY-LINE:

It looks like intricately stitched fabric, but these are colourful cakes based on eastern henna designs.

The bright gold reds and pinks are aiming at markets all over the world. The company is called Sari after the ornately designed garments traditionally worn by women in India.

The foods and drinks found here are aimed at the top end of the market.

Many stall holders are hoping to find favour with restaurateurs, luxury food wholesalers, or high end supermarkets.

The director of the Speciality and Fine Food Fair is Soraya Gadelrab.

Gadelrab believes the UK especially London has an international cuisine that other markets are opening up to.

That's why next year there will see the launch of the Asian Speciality Food Fair in Singapore, a lucrative market chosen because consumers there are wealthy and becoming more cosmopolitan.

Gadelrab says: "People see the UK and London as ahead of the trends when it comes to food and drink and the latest products, the latest ways of eating, the latest styles, the latest diets, and I think that's something that countries around the world sometimes look to the UK and more specifically London to see what we're doing and at this show there's so many countries represented, there's so much food from around the world and we eat globally here in the UK every day. But not all countries do that and what we're finding is that other countries are starting to catch up with us so we're actually taking this show to Singapore next year and launching Speciality and Fine Food Asia."

Despite warnings from President Obama at the G20 summit in China at the weekend, Gadelrab is not gloomy about Britain's food industry after the UK leaves Britain.

She says: "Artisan biscuits, pies, it's a huge market there's the expat(riot) community, but there's also quite an affluent consumer there and they want the latest, the greatest products imported from all around the world and British food is really up there."

This company has been exporting gourmet Italian foods into Britain for forty years.

It's owner Toni Pirozzi helped to blaze the trail which has ensured that many people in Britain consume cheeses, hams, pastas and sauces which wouldn't have been easily available a few decades ago.

Exporters like Pirozzi see the UK as an important market.

While he isn't gloomy about the luxury food market, he believes there will be a downward pressure on prices.

According to Pirozzi: "Being in the exit (Brexit from EU) from the common market I think it's going to be a little problem for the Italian product. But not too much because the product is not going to be successful, but it's going to be a little outpriced and quite a lot of imitations, they're coming out produced in every part of the world, which they call Italian product, but they are not original."

Concern about authenticity is something that many food producers are worried about.

Tight restrictions in EU law ensure that the products of particular regions are protected.

For example you can't make sparkling wine and call champagne unless it's from the champagne produce region in France.

Pirozzi gives the example of a particular kind of Sicilian tomato.

"If you look at the ciliegino di Pachino, the original ciliegino di Pachino, only from Pachino do you have a different flavour, the vitamins, everything inside is beautiful because the area of Pachino is an area which is very salty, very windy and very hot. Now if you go only thirty kilometres from Pachino, you buy the same ciliegino, it looks the same. Now ciliegino comes from everywhere and the price...(gesticulates that the price goes down)."

A concern for luxury food producers in the UK is whether shoppers post-Brexit will still be happy to pay more for specialist products.

Gadelrab is optimistic: "People still want those beautiful indulgences and this is what this fair is all about, the handcrafted products with all the best ingredients, full of flavour, exciting flavour combinations and I think that's not something that's going to go away because when times are tough, maybe people scrimp on holidays and big TVs, but they're still going to treat themselves to a beautiful cake, or some lovely ham, or some hand reared beef, so it's here to stay."

New ideas and producers are developing all the time.

Adam Wilding is launching his new product here at the fair after three long years of testing and developing a 'duck crackling' to take on the British pork crackling market.

Crispy duck skins are sold in delicatessens in France and of course the Chinese gourmands have been creating crispy duck skin for centuries, but Wilding believes he's the first to think of marketing it in this way.

He says: "We've a good connection with pork crackling, this idea came about when I was running a menu for a canape event and just as I was going to sleep I thought, you know these ideas come to you sometimes at night, but the idea was to have crispy duck skin as a canape base. On top of that we put some duck pate and it kind of went so well that a little spark went off."

This product has yet to be distributed and Wilding doesn't want disclose who he is in talks with, but he says it is going well.

"There's an overwhelming interest, you can see this moment where people's brains, they compute the idea and they suddenly get it and they are like 'oh yes, I understand what this is'."

After a savoury snack, it's time for something sweet - and another launch of a very unusual product.

Not this actual size shoe adorned with artificial pearls, but something that Nordic and Scandinavian countries will recognise.

Chocolala is an Estonian company which has high hopes for these little bundles of reindeer moss chocolates

It's run by Kristi Lehtis, who goes hunting for the moss in the forests near her home, rather like the reindeer do.

She also forages for wild fruits to put in her chocolates.

"Blueberries and moss they grow together and while I was picking blueberries I thought it would be nice to take something from the forest along, something more and the moss is actually widely used by the chefs as well at the restaurants," she says.

"You can make it with beetroot for example and it's a pink moss, but we make it with chocolate you can caramelise it, we have lots of different ways and it gives texture because it's nice to have the chocolate plus the texture so together it's a great product and something that people haven't tried. There are a lot of people who want something special who have tried everything and they don't know what to give as a present, so this something that they haven't tried."

It remains to be seen whether chocolate moss will be appearing on people's Christmas lists this year.

London, UK - 4 September 2016

1. Close tilt up of ornately decorated cake inspired by henna designs

2. Close zoom out of silver cake

3. Pan of differently decorated cakes

4. Close zoom in on giant chocolate nuts and small glazed chocolates

5. Wide of chocolate producer talking to potential client

6. Wide of chocolate box with graphic designs

7. Close zoom in to artisanal Scotch eggs

8. Mid of man on pie stall chopping eggs for people to taste

9. Close of eggs

10. Wide of specialist bread and cake stall

11. Close tilt up of pies and breads

12. Zoom in to barrel of cheese

13. Mid of staff on Italian food stall

14. Various of event director Soraya Gadelrab trying specialist cheese at Italian stall

15. SOUNDBITE: (English) Soraya Gadelrab, director, Speciality and Fine Food Fair

"People see the UK and London as ahead of the trends when it comes to food and drink and the latest products, the latest ways of eating, the latest styles, the latest diets, and I think that's something that countries around the world sometimes look to the UK and more specifically London to see what we're doing and at this show there's so many countries represented, there's so much food from around the world and we eat globally here in the UK every day. But not all countries do that and what we're finding is that other countries are starting to catch up with us so we're actually taking this show to Singapore next year and launching Speciality and Fine Food Asia."

16. Mid zoom in on large flavoured meringues

17. Wide pan of chocolate shop

18. SOUNDBITE: (English) Soraya Gadelrab, director, Speciality and Fine Food Fair

"Artisan biscuits, pies, it's a huge market there's the expat(riot) community, but there's also quite an affluent consumer there and they want the latest, the greatest products imported from all around the world and British food is really up there."

19. Close of spoon scooping out Gorgonzola cheese

20. Mid of Toni Pirozzi, Italian food and specialist cheese exporter, giving his colleague the spoonful of Gorgonzola

21. Close of man tasting and savouring cheese

22. Close zoom in to Gorgonzola

23. SOUNDBITE: (English) Toni Pirozzi, Italian food exporter

"Being in the exit (Brexit from EU) from the common market, I think it's going to be a little problem for the Italian product. But not too much because the product is not going to be successful, but it's going to be a little outpriced and quite a lot of imitations, they're coming out produced in every part of the world, which they call Italian product, but they are not original."

24. Close of Gorgonzola being scooped out

25. SOUNDBITE: (English) Toni Pirozzi, Italian food exporter

"If you look at the ciliegino di Pachino, the original ciliegino di Pachino, only from Pachino do you have a different flavour, the vitamins, everything inside is beautiful because the area of Pachino is an area which is very salty, very windy and very hot. Now if you go only thirty kilometres from Pachino, you buy the same ciliegino, it looks the same. Now ciliegino comes from everywhere and the price...(gesticulates that the price goes down)."

26. Wide of food fair

27. Top mid of specialist food seller speaking to client

28. SOUNDBITE: (English) Soraya Gadelrab, Speciality and Fine Food Fair

"People still want those beautiful indulgences and this is what this fair is all about, the handcrafted products with all the best ingredients, full of flavour, exciting flavour combinations and I think that's not something that's going to go away because when times are tough, maybe people scrimp on holidays and big TVs, but they're still going to treat themselves to a beautiful cake, or some lovely ham, or some hand reared beef, so it's here to stay."

29. Mid of passerby being offered taste of crispy duck skin snacks described as duck crackling

30. SOUNDBITE: (English) Adam Wilding, chef and inventor of "Duck Crackling"

"We've a good connection with pork crackling, this idea came about when I was running a menu for a canape event and just as I was going to sleep I thought, you know these ideas come to you sometimes at night, but the idea was to have crispy duck skin as a canape base. On top of that we put some duck pate and it kind of went so well that a little spark went off."

31. Close of duck crackling in pots on tray

32. Mid of Wilding talking to colleague

33. Close of Wilding

34. Close of pots

35. SOUNDBITE: (English) Adam Wilding, chef and inventor of "Duck Crackling"

"There's an overwhelming interest, you can see this moment where people's brains, they compute the idea and they suddenly get it and they are like 'oh yes, I understand what this is'."

36. Close of chocolate shoe in real shoe size

37. Various of chocolate shoe being held outside of box

38. Close of reindeer moss chocolates being put into gift box

39. Close of moss chocolate

40. SOUNDBITE: (English) Kristi Lehtis, specialist chocolate maker, Chocolala

"So moss is a very special product."

41. Close of reindeer moss chocolate

42. SOUNDBITE: (English) Kristi Lehtis, specialist chocolate maker, Chocolala

"Blueberries and moss they grow together and while I was picking blueberries I thought it would be nice to take something from the forest along, something more and the moss is actually widely used by the chefs as well at the restaurants because you can make it with beetroot for example and it's a pink moss, but we make it with chocolate you can caramelise it we have lots of different ways and it gives texture because it's nice to have the chocolate plus the texture so together it's a great product and something that people haven't tried. There are a lot of people who want something special who have tried everything and they don't know what to give as a present, so this something that they haven't tried."

43. Close of carton filled with reindeer moss

44. Close of Lehtis

45. Mid of Lehtis filling gift box