Deli owners use their 'loaf'

Jun 6 2008 by Jane Hall, The Journal

Jane Hall takes a look at a new delicatessen with a twist that has opened in Newcastle.

EVER heard of the LOAF principle? No? Neither had Mike Woods until he had a eureka moment, not in the bath like the great Greek scholar Archimedes, but fittingly within sight of water.

The 43-year-old was running by the North Sea, when the four letters that make up LOAF popped into his head.

The acronym fitted perfectly the ethos by which he and partner Jane Meynell wanted to run their new food enterprise: local, organic, artisan and Fairtrade.

With the snappy consumer friendly slogan in place, now all the pair needed was a business name. Time for Jane to undergo her own eureka episode, appropriately also while out exercising along the coast.

The 29-year-old was mulling over names while cycling behind Mike on one of his many running expeditions to St Mary’s Island at Whitley Bay, North Tyneside. “Everything is an ‘and,’ “ Jane says. “Slug and Lettuce, Pitcher and Piano, but somehow Jane and Mike or Mike and Jane sounded really naff. I started thinking about what we were going to sell, but was still struggling for a name.

“Then there I was, pedalling behind Mike towards St Mary’s Lighthouse, and I thought, ‘ah ha, Olive & Bean.’ So that’s what we’re called.”

The name does indeed sum up what Mike and Jane now sell, although there’s more to Olive & Bean than, well, olives and beans.

Recently opened at the top of Clayton Street opposite what was the Green Market but is now a building site as Eldon Square in the heart of Newcastle is re-developed, Olive & Bean is an upmarket delicatessen and coffee shop.

But following the LOAF philosophy, everything from the bread to the sandwich fillings, coffee, tea, soft drinks, cakes, preserves and biscuits is either locally produced, organically grown, from an artisan seller or fairly traded.

It’s all a long way from Mike and Jane’s previous working lives. Mike joined the supermarket sector on leaving school at 18, first at what was Presto which became Safeway, before that company was itself taken over by Morrisons.

It was while running Safeway in Guisborough, Teesside, that Mike met Jane five years ago. She then left to become a sales manager at Debenhams at the MetroCentre, Gateshead.

Until recently, the supermarkets have not been known for either their support of local, artisan producers or the Fairtrade movement.

But it’s a route that Mike had begun to take in his own life some years ago. So when he decided he no longer wanted to be part of the Morrisons food family, he knew what he wanted to do.

Now living in Hadrian Park, North Tyneside, with Jane, but originally from Whitley Bay where his ex-wife and two children, Daniel, 17, and Sarah, 15, still live, he says: “I knew I always wanted to run a business on my own and I knew I was capable of doing that. I was looking for my next move and had always harboured a desire to do something a bit different. The supermarket industry in this country isn’t what it once was.

“Jane and myself had been abroad and had seen the good food that is available at the markets and cafes. Then we were in London and were amazed at the high quality of the delicatessens in the capital. That is where the idea came from for Olive & Bean, but Jane and myself wanted to put our own stamp on it, so that’s where LOAF comes in, sourcing locally, organic, artisan and fairly traded produce.

“It’s something we try to follow in our own lives. We have both seen how badly the supermarkets are doing the ethical thing. But it’s not just about supporting producers in developing countries, it is also about supporting local suppliers in our own small way and about offering a quality product to our customers.

“They always say there is nothing new in retailing, but we believe Olive & Bean offers a genuine twist with the LOAF theme.”

To be fair, Mike is not the first to use the LOAF tag. Christian Ecology Link also has its own LOAF principles tied in to a food campaign, but using different criteria, for example animal friendly rather than artisan. But when it comes to food, LOAF is such a simple and obvious epithet to follow. The mystery is it’s taken until now to come into being.

As Jane points out: “LOAF is about better quality and knowing when you go to eat or buy something that it has helped the local economy or has been produced in smaller amounts. If you pick an artisan product it is usually also a great product.”

Olive & Bean is more than just a delicatessen. Yes, there are plenty of luxury goods to buy and take away, but you can also eat-in. A pine table offers seating for up to 12 people. Smaller high legged tables provide other seating, although it is Mike and Jane’s plan to eventually run a counter the length of the picture window which fronts the light and airy shop with its wooden flooring, exposed brick walls, original cast iron columns supporting the high ceiling and honeysuckle coloured walls.

Aware the walls currently look bare, Mike also plans to offer local artists the chance to exhibit work.

The first few weeks of opening have thus far proved Jane and Mike were right to leave behind their old lives and put their faith in their dream.

Business has been brisk as the Eldon Square re-development brings shoppers back into an area of Newcastle that had fallen out of favour. “When we first saw this place it had been empty for about two years,” Mike said. “Before that it had been a cheap discount fashion shop. But we believe this end of Clayton Street has great potential with all the work going on in Newcastle – and that’s good news for us and all the producers we can get on board.

“We can provide a great shop window for local producers looking to get a foothold in town.” It has to be said that Olive & Bean does not at present boast an extensive local offering. Hexham-based Fentimans botanically brewed soft drinks are in the chiller cabinet, along with Artisan Foods from Blaydon, makers of the Beckleberry’s range of luxury ice creams and handmade patisseries.

Salad Days, the makers of quality sandwich fillings based in Consett, County Durham, also supply Olive & Bean while oatcakes and biscuits from the famous Village Bakery at Melmerby in Penrith, Cumbria, are also for sale. Cumberland ham from another famous Penrith name, Woodalls, who supply meat by royal appointment to the Queen, is also available on the deli counter.

But both Jane and Mike want to stock more local produce. Beer is definitely on their list of local ‘must-haves,’ along with cheeses.

“We know we need to build on the local,” Jane says. “We have gone for the sure fire bets at first to get customers through the door, but we want to expand our offerings.”

Mike adds: “We would love to hear from local producers. If they think they can help us then that is fantastic. In return we can open good food up to a wider audience in the middle of Newcastle.”

The couple are both keen supporters of The Journal’s Taste North East England buy local, use local, eat local campaign launched at the end of January this year.

“It is the correct moral way to go forward,” Mike says. “We want to support our local producers, otherwise we will end up not only with homogenised food we don’t know where it comes from, but high streets that look the same wherever you go.

“I think the Grainger Market in Newcastle is a great example of a place that is supporting local producers and retailers. It adds to the economic diversity of this city and adds something positive to all our lives.”

We can provide a great shop window for local producers looking to get a foothold in town