A 3rd in carton clotted cream, a 2nd in double cream and a 2nd in farmhouse cream for retail was backed up by outstanding results in ice cream with a 3rd and 4th in vanilla and a 1st and 2nd in the fruit flavour section and in the same result in the ‘open ice cream’ catergory.

Friday, May 10, 2013

ICE cream maker Langage Farm has offered to send  free tubs to the British couples who were charged £54 for four cornets in Rome,  writes business editor William Telford. Holidaymakers Roger Bannister, his  brother Steven and their wives Wendy and Joyce, from Birmingham, were  “scioccato” (gobsmacked) when their “gelato” (ice cream)
turned out to be “troppo caro” (too pricey).

COLD COMFORTS FARM: Langage Farm’s  Angie Tucker and Paul Winterton show what 64 euros would buy.

Italian authorities have started an investigation into how the foursome were landed with  64 euros bill at the Antica Roma bar and gelateria (ice cream parlour), close to the famous Spanish Steps. Each cornet cost 16 euros (£13.50) at the outlet in Via della Vite, where managers said the cost was justified because the cones had been “really big”.

But now Paul Winterton, general manager at Smithaleigh-based Langage Farm, has offered to send the couples some free tubs, saying: “I feel sorry for them.” And Mr Winterton, whose mother is Italian, stressed: “The British Italians have still got a heart – and won’t rip people off.” He described the price charged by the gelateria as “ridiculous” and stressed that for the same price he could supply enough ice cream to last 128 days. “For that price we would look at four big catering tubs, with about 32 ice creams per tub, that’s 128 cones.” He said the firm is offering to send the couples “a month’s worth” of complimentary ice cream. The “hamper of flavours” would contain about
12 to 15 tubs.

Sending more by post is not possible because of the difficulties in keeping it cold, Mr Winterton explained.

Media release

Heart of Devon businesses battle it out to win best cream tea award

Heart of Devon tourism businesses will be battling it out to win the prestigious award of providing the best cream tea in the Heart of Devon. www.heartofdevon.com.

Voting is underway way in this tightly fought contest involving 26 of the best tourism businesses in the area as part of a new competition being launched by the Heart of Devon Tourism Partnership to promote what is a classic ingredient of a Devon holiday.

http://www.heartofdevon.com/food-and-drink/cream-tea-excellence-in-the-heart-of-devon

Devon is home to the finest cream teas in the world and as part of the new Heart of Devon marketing campaign, a new cream tea trail is being created which visitors to area can explore and enjoy. Cream tea fans and connoisseurs have until 22 March 2013 to vote for their favourite cream tea on the Heart of Devon website. http://www.heartofdevon.com/food-and-drink/cream-tea-excellence-in-the-heart-of-devon

The competition for the “best cream tea” is being split into three different categories:

Best City Cream Tea

Best Coast Cream Tea

Best Countryside Cream Tea

The winners from each category will then be judged in a grand cream tea bake off to find the overall Heart of Devon cream tea champion. The finalist will be launched at the Exeter Festival of South West Food and Drink Festival in April 2013.  The campaign will highlight Devon’s local produce so all cream teas judged in the competition must be made from the highest quality local ingredients.

The cream tea trail features on the Heart of Devon website and in a cream tea leaflet available from tourist information centres across the area.  Competitors have also been sent heart shaped scone cutters to make some delightful “Heart of Devon” cream teas.

The campaign is being supported by Devonshire cream connoisseurs Langage Farm who are delighted to be involved in the campaign and ‘put the Heart of Devon’ on the map with their fantastic cream teas. www.langagefarm.com

http://www.facebook.com/HeartOfDevonCreamTea

Follow the Cream Tea trail on Twitter @CreamTeainHOD

Further information about the competition and the cream tea trail is available from the Tourism Promotion and Support officer for the Heart of Devon Tourism Partnership, Lucy Thomas lucy.thomas@exeter.gov.uk 01392 265209

The winners and Flavours are;

Megan Tanners

And

Lydia Barnes

Haribo
Ice Cream

How it all started........the building of the AD plant

This week at the annual Regen SW South West Green Energy Awards held in Bath, Langage AD was awarded the title of Best Renewable Energy Scheme for 2012, the award was sponsored by the Crown Estate.

Despite record application numbers for the awards this year, Langage AD, rose to the top of the nominated candidates and took the title for 2012. The award was in recognition of the more recent addition to the business and new operational practices.

The AD plant as it is today

John Deane of Langage AD said “ We are over the moon about the award and feel it is a great conclusion to a year of hard work for all of our staff. It’s great to be involved in the renewable awakening.”

This year saw the Langage consortium operate purely on renewable energy for the first time in it’s history. The energy used is generated by a variety of technologies.

Gary Jones and The Langage Team

The farm operations are run on fertiliser from the AD plant and solar power while the dairy produce factory on renewable heat and energy both produced by Langage AD.

Using the latest in anaerobic digestion technology, Langage AD produces energy by feeding waste from the neighbouring dairy and kitchen waste from over 60 000 homes into tanks which contain bacteria.

The bacteria break down the food and produce methane as a by-product. This methane is then sent through an engine which produces electricity.

This electricity powers the dairy produce factory while the rest is fed into the national grid for general consumption. An award winning closed loop production process.

The Organic Food Awards 2012 were announced as part of this year’s Organic
September, Europe’s biggest celebration of all things organic.
Now in their 24^th year, the Soil Association Organic Food Awards recognise and celebrate the highest quality organic food and drink. The awards are among the most prestigious and widely respected in the UK food sector.

Holy Cow cottage cheese is traditionally made and hand crafted using Organic Milk
from nearby Sayers farm.

Over three days at the Duke of Cambridge organic pub in London, an expert judging  panel of food critics, restauranters, broadcasters and chefs, including Hardeep Singh Kohli and Jo Wood, sipped, nibbled and crunched their way through over 500 products across 34 categories.

Judging in all categories was by blind tasting, with products rated according to smell,  texture, appearance, taste and overall ‘yumminess’.

The awards are open to all organic food and drink products that are certified by a
recognised certifier within the EU. Winners gain industry respect and are able to use the recognised and trusted awards logo on their products.

Paul Winterton, General Manager of Langage Farm said “we are honoured to receive
this award.  It endorses our unique operation within our manufacturing unit.
We believe we are the only dairy within the UK that is totally self sufficient using the process of anaerobic digestion generating our own electricity.  This award emphasises that we can not only produce high quality products, but we can do it unique and
environmentally friendly way, pushing the boundaries of innovation in the UK and elevating the status of our Organic products”

Finn Cottle, Soil Association Certification Trade consultant, said: “These awards showcase the best of organic food and drink and the high quality of products within this market. As the organic market returns to growth, this is a great time to encourage wider availability of these products so that more people can enjoy them.”

Geetie Singh, owner of the Duke of Cambridge organic pub where the awards were hosted, commented:

“I have been hosting these awards for the last five years and I think this was one of our
best years yet. A wonderful array of products were entered which were a pleasure to judge, from baby food to beer.”

Hardeep Singh Kohli, writer, broadcaster, comedian, food ambassador for Scotland and
Organic Food Awards judge, said: “It was heartening to taste so many high quality organic products. It seems that progress and innovation in organic food and drink are on an upward trajectory. For me, food is about passion, joy, laughter and love and I certainly had a lot of fun judging this year. I’ve never eaten so many eggs in my life!”

Jo Wood, lifestyle guru and Organic Food Awards judge, said: “I love being one of the judges at the Organic Food Awards each year. It is a great reassurance to see continuing innovation in the organic food industry and the choice of organic produce getting better and better. If we grow food from healthy soil, then we naturally have a healthy organic chemical free diet, both of which go in unison towards living a more sustainable life.”

In a national move toward minimising waste tonnage to landfill and increasing renewable energy generation, Anaerobic Digestion has quickly become accepted across the country as a reliable form of waste management by which valuable products are generated.

‘Assisting Devon County in reaching renewable energy targets, the Langage AD facility has generated in excess of 3 500 000kW of renewable electricity,’ said John Deane, Environmental Resource Manager. ‘This means that enough energy to power 175 Million modern 20W light bulbs for an hour hs been produced so far.’

As an aid to Devon’s recycling targets, the facility has in the past twelve months processed over 12000 tonnes of source segregated municipal food waste which may have been destined for landfill. Broader knock on effects of the of the AD plant are being experienced by the local farming community who use the Bio-Fertiliser on farms in the area. The Bio-Fertiliser produced is cheaper than purchasing synthesised artificial fertilisers and so creates a saving for the farming community. The use of carbon neutral
fertiliser also passes on green credentials to these farmers as the sustainable
nature of the manufacturing of Bio-Fertiliser can be helpful in marketing farm produce and presents a unique selling point.

John Deane, Environmental Resource Manager and on site Plymouth University representative, reports, ‘We have endured the occasional problem through the commissioning process and it has taken some time to get the process to the point that we are happy, despite this we plan to implement further improvements in time to come.  We would like to thank our local community for bearing with us in a challenging but
productive first year.’