A fair partnership

The Green chats to Turnham Green about their ethical hampers

Above: Camilla France-Hayhurst (left) and Natalie Bayliss

How did you meet?

CFH: We both left successful careers in the City to pursue a foodie endeavour, and met while training as chefs, at Leiths School of Food and Wine.

Have you always had a passion for food?

CFH: I have always loved good food and cooking. My mother is a wonderful cook

and I used to watch in awe as she conjured up delicious meals. When leaving home,

I started a little recipe book of all my favourite meals that she made, so I could re-create them. I then started playing around with recipes, and soon found that I thoroughly enjoyed whiling my time away in the kitchen.

NB: My passion for food came a bit later. I lived on microwave meals for years while working in the City, and it wasn’t until 2005 when my mother was diagnosed with cancer that I realised the incredible influence good food has on health. From that point onwards I have transformed my approach to food to ensure every mouthful is in some way beneficial – life is too precious to be wasted eating junk.

Where did the idea for Turnham Green come from?

NB: On leaving Leiths, Camilla and I were keen to start a business with strong ethics. Having discussed the frustrations that each of us had felt when failing to find gifts that were ethical, but also indulgent for the recipient, the foundations for Turnham Green were laid. Our plan was to create a luxury gift business that actually did some good for the world – or at least our little corner of it.

Can you tell me about the company?

CFH: Our ethos is indulgence with a conscience. Turnham Green produces luxury ethical gift hampers and delectable larder products made with fine ingredients. Our recipes maximise flavour and goodness while capturing the season, without the use of any synthetic additives and preservatives. Instead we go back to natural ingredients

and preservation methods. We have revolutionised the gift hamper by using modern twists on traditional recipes and concepts. We have replaced wicker baskets with a chic re-usable jute bag, swapped bags of builder’s brew for antioxidant-packed rooibos and green tea, and reduced our use of nutritionally barren white flour, in favour of tastier, nutrient-packed alternatives.

How did you decide what products to sell?

NB: We really wanted our hampers to be very different to the standard hampers on the market, and both of us had lots of ideas of exciting and unique products that we wanted to use. With my nutritional training, I was able to choose which ingredients would be most beneficial and from that base we then had a lot of fun creating the perfect recipes for delicious products.

CFH: We have evolved organically from there, but we always like to stay ahead of the trends and to be at the forefront of modern food. We love using new, interesting ingredients and coming up with clever flavour combinations that maximise their nutritional content. We have some very exciting new products to launch for our new hamper range next Christmas.

Where do you source ingredients?

NB: We use a wonderful organic fruit and vegetable wholesaler called Langridge Organic. We were over the moon when we stumbled across their vast warehouse of gorgeous organic produce at three o’clock in the morning, having traipsed around the whole of New Covent Garden Market looking for an organic supplier. They are totally in line with our values and share our views on using local, seasonal produce wherever possible.

CFH: For our dry store ingredients, we use a co-operative wholefood business, Infinity Foods. They are committed to offering high quality, fairtrade and organic products sourced from some of the most ethical

co-operatives in the world. They actually won the Best Local Retailer award in last year's Observer Ethical Awards.

Did you market test your products?

CFH: Funnily enough, this is the part of our business that we have a lot of people volunteering to help with! At first, our products were tested on friends and family – whoever came over to visit at the weekends had to taste all the different versions of various recipes. Today, we have a focus group that provides invaluable feedback on all of our new products. We also listen to the much appreciated feedback we get in emails and letters from our clients.

How important are ethical and recycling issues to you?

NB:This runs to the very heart of our business. We try to limit our impact on the earth by carefully sourcing ingredients from likeminded businesses, buying local seasonal produce wherever possible, and by being rather obsessive about recycling – even our vegetable peelings are composted! All our products are in recycled or recyclable packaging, our stationery is recycled paper and we protect the goods in the hampers with filler made from potato starch rather than polystyrene. We also encourage similar behaviour from our clients by popping a postcard into each hamper with a helpful checklist of tips to lead a greener life.

Do your products reflect the season?

CFH: All our recipes are designed around naturally preserving seasonal produce for use later in the year. So our products reflect the season at the time they are made, but can be enjoyed long after the ingredients have naturally gone out of season. Hence, you can indulge in strawberry flavoured vinegar and tomato ketchup in winter when strawberries and tomatoes are long out of season in the UK. We feel it is important to buy seasonal ingredients to avoid unnecessary food miles and we also think they are tastier having not been transported half way across the world.

What is your biggest seller?

CFH: Of the hampers, the Condimental is very popular with a selection of our favourite Turnham Green sauces and condiments. At the moment, the Summer Hamper and Barbecue Hamper seem to be going down very well too.

Where are you stocked?

NB: All of our ethical gift hampers and the individual Turnham Green products can be bought online at our website or by telephone. You can also find some of our products in Mortimer & Bennett on Turnham Green Terrace, HG Walter in Barons Court, and The Parson’s Nose in Parson’s Green.

What are your future plans?

CFH: We want to continue raising awareness of Turnham Green values. Our Green Dads Campaign in June has been brilliant – we educate children about the importance of being green and they in turn influence their parents of its merits. We

have built some good relationships with schools and hope to be invited back each year to get the next generation thinking about green issues. We are also working with various companies on bespoke hampers. It’s great to see so many companies caring about the environment and wanting to tell others about it too.

07972 216 993, www.turnham-green.co.uk
info@turnham-green.co.uk