john torode opening the show

The final stop of the 2009 tour saw us at BBC Masterchef Live at Olympia in London. We came to this show last year when it was known as BBC Good Food London so we did have an idea about how popular the show was, but it still exceeded our expectations!

Each day the show was opened by John Torode and Greg Wallace – presenters of TV’s Masterchef series. Alongside this, there were demonstrations all day, every day by past winners of Masterchef and Celebrity Masterchef. This brought many familiar faces such as Wendi Peters, Liz McClarnon and our old friend Steven Wallis (Mastercehf winner 2007 who worked with us on the 2008 tour).

Our demonstrations, led once again by our very own Simon Woodhouse, went down a storm

Simon's Grilled Pork with Blackstick Figs

with every show being a sell out before lunch time! Simon prepared Smoked Salmon Crostini with Savoury Cranachan, followed by Grilled Pork with Blackstick Figs. Both recipies were fantastic, with many visitors commenting on how they will be trying to recreate these dishes at home – something they had felt wasn’t possible with some of the other demonstrations they had seen at the show.

We had many different products to offer samples of at this show. These included – pate with melba toast, mixed olives with feta

products we were sampling

cheese, peppadews with cream cheese, cheddar cheese with black pepper served with chutney, stilton cheese, mince pies with brandy butter and truly irresistable crisps and crushes. Once again we had the team from Head Office offering samples of Co-operative wines and we also had one of the suppliers of apples and the supplier of salads on the stand who were also offering samples of their products.

We once again had smoothie bike sessions running throughout the day which were a huige sucess, especially on the first day of the show as there were a number of schools visiting the show and who all enjoyed peddling their way to a smoothie.

Masterchef Live Team

This show was the last of the 2009 tour and what a fantastic time we have had!

me meeting and greeting

On behalf of Chris and Chrissie I would just like to thank everyone who has been part of our team for 2009 – the tour has been excellent and we have met some really nice people along the way!

I would also like to thank anyone who has taken the time to follow my blog and hopefully there will be more to come soon!

Bye for now!

Christine xxx

Brand Ambassador and tour blogger 2009

The next stop on our 2009 tour took us to the SECC in Glasgow for the BBC Good Food Show. This was the first  year we had been at this show, and it was a show which we all enjoyed.

Scottish Smoked Salmon Crostini with Savoury Cranachan

Simon Woodhouse brought two new recipies to this show and both were extremely popular and went down really well with all the visitors who watched his demonstration and tried a sample. He prepared Scottish Smoked Salmon Crostini With Savoury Cranachan and Truly Irresistible Aberdeen Angus Steak With Butternut, Apples and Onions and a Watercress Sauce.

As well as Simon’s recipies we also had a variety of different Co-operative products to give samples of throughout the show. These included Scottish Smoked Salmon with Cream Cheese and Oatcakes, Truly Irresistible Moroccan Topped Houmous with Breadsticks, Lockerbie and Mull of Kintyre Cheddar Cheeses, Smoothies, Truly Irresistible Raspberry Crush, Truly Irresistible Crisps and Scottish Shortbread.

Irina and Craig with the cheese samples

We also had the wine team from head office who gave out samples of Co-operative wine throughout the day.

The highlight of this show for me was meeting some very famous chefs. I met the Hairy Bikers and the one

me and the hairy bikers

 and only Gordon Ramsay!!!! They were doing demonstratons over the course of the 3 days as well as a

me and gordon ramsay

number of book signings.

This was a great show which we all thoroughly enjoyed and we can’t wait to go to London next week for the BBC Good Food Show.

Please come along and see us if you can!

Christine x

This event had a much smaller, more intimate feel about it and so the stand was much smaller in order to fit in to its surrounding exhibitors. We took pride of place in St. Anne’s Square Manchester for the weekend of the Manchester Food and Drink Festival, which actually ran for almost 2 weeks!

Mary, Me, Karl and Angela- The Team

The first day began with very fine rain and it was extremely cold throughout all three days, but we were not deterred. We were only a small team of 4 but we kept our  spirits up and enjoyed speaking to passers by about the delicious products which we were offering samples of. Over the course of the three days this included lemon curd muffins, double chocolate muffins, chocolate brownies, tropical smoothies and summer fruit smoothies. We also gave out money off vouchers for use in all Co-operative stores and promoting the three stores in Manchester City Centre. 

the smoothies

We also had a display of Co-operative products which all came from one of the city centre stores and people were surprised to learn that all these products were available in small stores.

 We had a few famous faces visiting us for samples including Anthony Cotton (Sean Tully from Coronation Street) who seemed to enjoy the products he tried.

We really enjoyed the Manchester Food and Drink Festival as it was very different to what we were used to on the larger County Shows. It was smaller and more intimate and we enjoyed the whole atmosphere of the event.

karl giving out smoothie samples

We have a bit of a rest now until our next stop which is the BBC Good Food Show in London.

I can’t wait!

see you there

Christine x

Caro giving out samples

This was the second time we had taken the Roadshow to Westmorland and what a fantastic show it was! This show is only on for one day and a good day was had by all! The sun was shining, and everyone was in high spirits.

children on the Plan Bee stand

There were many schools in attendance at this show as a large number of them close for the day and bring the children, which meant Plan Bee and the Smoothie Bike were in high demand!

The cookery demonstrations throughout the day were presented by Simon Woodhouse who prepared Spiced Elmwood Chicken with Homemade Bramley Apple Chutney along with our favourite Barbequed Fruit Kebabs. Every session was full and Simon received many compliments…with one gentleman having never tasted curry before, commenting how nice it was and that he would definately be having it again!

The sampling at this show consisted of tomatoes, Truly Irresistable cookies and shortbreads, Truly Irresistable crisps, fruit crushes and cider, all of which went down well with the crowds and sold out in the shop by the end of the day!

This was  a great show to end the tour of county shows with and we were all sad that the outdoor leg of the tour was over for another year. However, we still have the two Good Food shows to look forward to and I hope to see you there!

Bye for now!

Christine x

Brand Ambassador and tour blogger 2009

our samplers with a range of the products

Simon Woodhouse in the kitchen

This was our second time at the Dorset County Show and this year there was a lot less mud than we had the year before!! This time the weather was lovely and encouraged people to come to the show! In fact, we had many vistors returning who had been to the stand last year. They commented how we had improved with notnonly the addition of the Plan Bee unit, but our professional approach to food sampling.

Simon Woodhouse prepared Prawn Pasta Arrabiatta and Barbequed Fruit Kebabs which went down a storm with all audiences over the course of the 2 days.

We sampled Truly Irresistable Mature Cheddar Cheese, tomatoes, Truly Irresistable crisps and Tillington’s cider.

woody the one man band

Woody the One Man Band was a regular vistor to our stand and even gave us a few performances! He was fantastic! He really attracted the crowds and put a smile on everyone’s faces.

Brand Ambassador and tour blogger 2009

The show was a three day show. We were welcomed by rain which turned the foot paths into bogs.! However this did not put the public off. Everyone donned their wellies for what turned out to be a fantastic show.

Our executive chef Simon Woodhouseprepared a beautiful dish of Chicken on Broad Beans with Fennel, followed by Barbecue Fruit kebabs. The demonstrations were very well received , with every session sold out . There were people who had visited us last year who joined us again for Simons culinary expertise.

Sampling of locally grown Tomatoes took place everyday which people loved and were even tempted to buy. The smoothie bike sessions were always well attended by children and adults alike.Plan B was found to be very popular with local bee keepers who had heard of the campaign.

We have a long break now until our next show in September at the Dorset County Show on the 5th & 6th, see you there!

Brand Ambassador and tour blogger 2009

The next date on our tour was the Royal Welsh Show. This was the biggest show of the tour and one of our personal favourites!

We had local chef and hotelier Gareth Johns preparing two delicious recipes in our roadshow kitchen – the first being Welsh Beef Tagliata, and for desert a Welsh Slapan. Both these dishes went down extremely well with all the visitors who were lucky enough to taste them. They also liked the fact that they were prepared using welsh ingredients.

Gareth Johns in the kitchen

receiving the award at the Royal Welsh show

This was one of the shows where unfortunately we were not blessed with fantastic weather for all four days. The first couple of days saw us sporting our plastic ponchos and braving the elements whilst promoting the demonstrations by Gareth Johns, handing out goodie bags and sampling the ‘truly irresistable’ products from the Co-operative!

ponchos and wellies were needed at the Royal Welsh Show!!!

The next stop on our tour is the New Forest and Hampshire County Show…see you there!

Christine x

Brand Ambassador and tour blogger 2009

There seems to be a trend emerging….as once again at this show we won the award for best trade stand! This was a FANTASTIC achievement as we had already won this award last year, so it was great to see that our standard had remained just as high and that we were indeed still the best stand at this show!

Again, Simon Woodhouse prepared ‘Grilled Elmwood Chicken on Fennel and Broad Beans’ and ‘BBQ Fruit Kebabs’ with all the demonstrations being full to capacity, and everyone enjoying the samples they received. A special mention I think is needed for the beautiful strawberries which we were sampling on the pods over the three days. These strawberries were locally produced and tasted fantastic, causing a buying frenzy in our shop!

We had a great arial photo taken at this show, of all the team on the stand…I will post it as soon as possible!

Although the forecast had not been at all good, we were very lucky with the weather at this show. The rain seemed to hold off apart from the odd showery burst.

We seem to have been very fortunate so far throughout this tour as the weather has mostly been nice (apart from Belfast and the Bath and ‘Wet’ Shows!). Lets hope I haven’t just jinxed it for us when we take the Roadshow to Wales next week!

See you there

Christine x

This show was very significant as it was the last ever Royal Show to be held at the showground in Kenilworth. However, we suceeded in making it a very memorable show as we won not one - but two awards here! We won second prize for ‘Most informative Trade Stand’ and the Gold award for the best trade stand overall!

Simon Woodhouse our executive chef prepared ‘Grilled Elmwood Chicken on Fennel and Broad Beans’ as well as the ever popular ‘BBQ Fresh Fruit Kebabs’. Both dishes were very well received by all with many people returning to watch the afternoon demonstrations as they were so impressed by what they had seen in the morning!

Again, there was a huge interest in the Plan Bee unit, especially from Bee Keepers who also had a stand at this show and were keen to learn more about what The Co-operative were doing to help the plight of the bee.

There was, as ever, a huge crowd for every smoothie bike session we had throughout the show with both children and adults alike enjoying peddling their way to a smoothie!

This show was a landmark for us on this tour as it was the final Royal Show and has been one of my personal favourites so far!

Anyway, there isn’t much time to rest….. we are off to Yorkshire in 2 days!

See you then

Christine x

The next stop on this years roadshow was the Royal Highland Show in Edinburgh and what a fantastic show it was! Despite us not having the best weather for this 4 day show, it was overshadowed by the great time we had!

The main highlights of this show were the many special visitors we had onto the stand. On day one of the show we were visited by Richard Lockhead MSP Cabinet Secretary for Environment and Rural Affairs. He was particularly interested in the Plan Bee stand and asked many interesting questions and gave some very positive feedback. The next day we were joined by Professor Charles Milne - Food Standards Agency Scotland Director, and Assistant Director Lydia Wilkie. Again they were highly impressed by Plan Bee as well as many other aspects of the Co-operative.

However, the most important and most impressive visitor we had (and by visitor I mean quickly drove past the stand in a car!) was the Queen! She visited the Royal Highland Show on day two and we were all priveliged enough to see her!

As usual, Simon Woodhouse’s recipe’s were a huge success. He prepared Spiced Scottish Elmwood Chicken with a quick Bramley Chutney along with his trademark BBQ fruit kebabs. These dishes were given great compliments, as well as the products which we were sampling at the front of the stand. These included delicious Truly Irresistable Scottish AVA strawberries, shortbread, millionaires shortbread, Truly Irresistable crisps as well as Whisky which we sampled each evening.

Our next show is The Royal Show at Kenilworth… hope to see you there!

Christine x

Brand Ambassador and tour blogger 2009