Sir: I was disappointed to find your world cuisine feature (‘Carnival Time’, 17 November), was inaccurate in its mapping of the world cuisine landscape in UK retailers, making one significant omission.
The omission is Moroccan cuisine and Middle Eastern foods. My company’s brand, Al’Fez, which includes lines such as harissa, tagine sauces and falafel has significant listings in four UK multiples. Furthermore, every single multiple lists other branded or own label Moroccan inspired lines, including sauces, spices and dressings .
We estimate the ambient retail value of Moroccan and Middle Eastern foods to be £15m (excluding couscous), and as much as £50m including chilled foods. With celebrity chefs such as Jamie Oliver, Dean Edwards and Yotam Ottolenghi continuing to feature Moroccan and Middle Eastern dishes, increasing numbers of consumers are becoming exposed to these emerging cuisines. And Moroccan cuisine, encompassing Middle Eastern food, far outweighs Brazilian, Latin American and Vietnamese cuisines which were featured in your review.
Sam Jacobi, managing director, First Quality Foods The Editor writes – the Kantar ready meals data we used does not include a separate classification for Middle Eastern food, but we’re fully aware of (and have written a lot about) the joys of this cuisine. We focused on other cuisines because they are newly emerging.
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