Artisan food and drink suppliers, including bakers, are being offered the chance to be stocked on the shelves of Fortnum & Mason’s London store.
In its first-ever product discovery scheme, dubbed the Fortnum & Makers Open Call, the high-end retailer is encouraging “all new, expanding, and undiscovered” food and drink brands across the UK to submit their products to its buyers for consideration across five categories including bakery, confectionery, drinks, grocery, and tea & coffee.
Fortnum’s said its bakery buyers were “standing ready to discover and devour the next delicious marvel rising in an oven somewhere across Britain”, listing jewel-like macarons, delicate patisserie, sourdoughs with wild fermentation stories, and lovingly hand-iced cakes among the products it was looking for. Bakery items can also be entered in the grocery category, such as sweet biscuits and savoury nibbles.
Submissions can be made until 16 May via a 15-minute questionnaire on the company’s website. All entrants are required to have “retail-ready packaging” for their products “that reflect exceptional quality, excellent ingredients, ethical sourcing, and sustainability”, noted Fortnum.
Shortlisted ‘finalists’ will then be invited to pitch their products in person to buyers in London in early June, with winners selected by mid-July and offered a listing for a minimum of three months. They will also be given the opportunity to engage directly with Fortnum’s customers through events and tastings.
The initiative is said to build on the success of the Fortnum & Makers programme, which has showcased an ever-changing cast of exceptional producers, suppliers, artists, and craftspeople on the first floor of its flagship store at 181 Piccadilly.
“At Fortnum’s, we are passionate about extraordinary food and drink, and committed to celebrating the makers who pour their craft into every bite and sip, so we are delighted to launch this nationwide search for the very best producers,” commented Liz Morgan, Fortnum’s director of buying for food, wines & spirits.
“We know it can be difficult for small producers to get their products in front of buying teams and this Open Call gives these artisans an opportunity to do exactly that,” she added.
Last year, Fortnum’s partnered with Leeds-based sweet bakery specialist Get Baked on a three-month pop up at its store which featured the launch of new items including the Bertha cake and the Knickerbocker Glory Pie.
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