Half Priced Vacuum Storage and a Little Help from Zelda

Well, one day it had to happen, and happen it did, at some point on Wednesday evening.

I’d written this weekly newsletter, and on Thursday, the day for finalising it, before it gets a going over from Paul (logic) and Andi (spelling and punctuation), it had disappeared. I searched high and low, but could I find the wretched thing? No, I could not!

Interestingly (for me ) I remained calm and composed about this loss. No self-blame or recriminations, just an acceptance of the situation. Historically, this has not typically always been the case.  I have, over the years, learnt that the more I’m able to forgive myself for my mistakes, the better I can understand them in others.  Making me, I hope, a better parent, leader and person as result.

Some readers of this email may be relieved at having less to read.  You may be one of these, whilst others may be disappointed that I’m a bit thin on the ground this week. You may be in the latter camp? If so, then please accept my apologies. 

I told a friend about my plight, and about 15 mins later she’d sent me a proposed draft that even included a couple of things which actually had been in my missing original. So, I thought I’d put her version in here, unabridged and thank her very much for her kindness. 

But she’s a bit of an odd sort, and gets sort of twitchy if I so much as mention her existence, let alone name her. So, not wanting to annoy her further, I’ll refer to her as Zelda (about as far away as I could get from reality, as Zelda is a fictional character in a computer game that my son Jonathan sometimes talks about).

So, Zelda, thank you and here is what she wrote:

“I don't want to say much this week - except maybe apologise again to those of you who haven't yet got your scraper(s) - we did not expect such a flood! (EDIT They are back in stock in Cobham and online and will be in Reigate this afternoon.)
The little I will say, is how amazingly proud as a father I was last week.  My daughter Jeanne, who runs the Cobham shop and is my co-director, set off last Wednesday on her own to the Housewares Awards Dinner at the Royal Lancaster Hotel, Lancaster Gate.  I find awards evenings overwhelming (Edit: not sure that’s exactly the correct adjective, but I’ll live with it) and here was a daughter of mine attending one, voluntarily, and on her own.  She looked wonderful and chatted to many, showing much better group social skills than I usually manage and was delighted to find many of our suppliers in attendance. 

Here she is with the Le Creuset and John Lewis crew.
For such a small company, it was really special to be nominated in a number of awards categories [Best Sales Person, Best Website and Best Training] and that has to be down to our philosophy of always trying to make sure our customers buy the right thing for them, and our unusually generous guarantees. From our very first journey into 'Investors in People' in 1998, we have sought to have expertise on our shop floor and value those who work with us.”

So, thanks very much Zelda, a bit effusive maybe, I wouldn’t have blown our trumpet quite so much. But, as I didn’t write it and I felt it improper to alter …. what can I say, I’ll just look the other way, and try not to blush too much.

Since I wrote last week, my little brother (he seems to dislike this term of endearment for some reason, maybe it's his diminutive size, a smidge under 6 foot or his age, 6 years younger, that gets his goat, who knows) Jim and my sister-in-law Babs came down from Liverpool. And we had a very jolly time. 

As a bit of nostalgia I suggested that we went to the remains of the Roman Villa at Bignor (Sussex), that our parents last took us to over 50 years ago. This we did and to my delight it hadn’t changed a lot.

In fact, of course it hadn’t changed at all in the last 2000 years other than gradual excavations exposing more of the original villa. It was first discovered in 1811 by the then farmer, Mr Tupper, and has been in the same family ownership ever since. That I found myself walking on mosaics that 2000 year ago Romans and locals had walked on, gave me goose bumps. I should say here, the decorative mosaics are roped off to protect them. Afterwards, we repaired to a friendly hostelry in the Fittleworth area, to refuel. A lovely weekend of mutual fondness, friendship and conviviality (digs of age and height apart). 

 To product 

This week I’m doing a half price offer on a very good range of vacuum sealing storage that we are going to cease stocking.

This may sound strange, but its is now being sold by competitors at prices that we can’t compete with, and so I felt it better to move on. On principle, I don’t feel comfortable flogging you stuff that you can easily find 20 -30% cheaper elsewhere.

Fresh and Save is made by the German company Zwilling, who own brands such as Henckels, Staub and Demeyere amongst others.

So, you may be assured that, like those three, you are buying a quality product.

Here is what Em Hay (Reigate shop manager) had to say about it when we first stocked the range. 

15 JANUARY 2022  

Em Hay

Reigate Manager

I have surprised myself at the change of heart on this range of products. Andrew was waxing lyrical, after seeing them at the Zwilling stand at Exclusively Housewares Show last year. Back then I loved the idea of minimal waste but I said to Andrew I thought it a high price to pay and (rather smugly) I said that we, in our house, didn’t have much food waste, so it wasn’t something I could justify spending money on. 

Ah how things can change.

Since buying the pump, and a box of the medium vacuum bags, I have completely rearranged our fridge at home, cleaned out the sludge in the salad drawer and installed a dedicated cut, fresh herbs box.

I’ve also bought more bags and boxes, as I’ve discovered what my particular needs are when it comes to avoiding food spoiling.

And yes, we do actually waste food, sometimes because we’ve made something so yummy we can’t bring ourselves to share, or to gobble it all up. So we treasure it and then it dries out or goes mouldy – Andi’s delicious chai carrot cake slices with spiced cream cheese frosting comes to mind.

So here’s what we’ve been doing with the Fresh & Save so far:

• We keep sliced ham for sandwiches in a small vacuum bag, instead of using clingfilm and once a pack of bacon is opened, we pop it in a reusable vacuum bag.
• I use a small box for mozzarella, the stuff that comes in a bag of liquid, because sometimes I don’t need to use two balls of cheese but haven’t found a good system that stops it drying out, until now.
• I pulled up too many carrots at the allotment 3 weeks ago and have saved the glut before they go to liquid stage by having a large box on one side of the salad crisper drawer.
• Great for coffee fans because you can keep the freshness in a bag or box and record on the app how old the beans are.
• Babette would have like this next angle and that is getting a bargain at the supermarket. She loved finding reduced price ingredients and creating something wonderful, for less. This system allows me to pickup veg that’s about to go out of date and get lots more life out of them.
• It’s easy clean the bags and boxes (once you know how), the bags can be turned inside out for a good hot soapy scrub or they can go in the dishwasher, dry inside out and then invert for the next use.
• The app is very flexible, you can either use all the functions or pick and choose, or not use it at all, so you’re not forced into doing the full recording thing every time.
• Next purchase will be a box for the bread flour I buy for sourdough making, I like Shipton and it’s so natural that weevils love it too. Remove the air and they can’t take up residence

So I’ve shelled out some money, I’ve found out that I do have room in my life for an easy way to organise the fridge, amongst other uses.

And, as long as it's easy and fun to vacuum everything in the kitchen, I’ll eventually save money instead of feeding the kerbside food waste bin.

This popped into my inbox the other day, and while considering what it meant and whether I agreed, I realised the one certainty was, that it had got me thinking.  Maybe it does the same for you …..  

“We are what we care about. We are not the things that we do.” Simon Sinek

I trust you have a pleasant and peaceful weekend.

Warm regards

Andrew

Andrew Bluett-Duncan
Director