As A Nation We Hanker For Good Food, Yet Do We Know What It Is?

As A Nation We Hanker For Good Food, Yet Do We Know What It Is?

   October 11, 2020       Vussey

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 Let Me Ask, Do You Dilly-Dally In The Deli?

I love them myself, always have, and I can’t resist walking into one wherever they are, but the problem I have is that I’m nearly always, if not always, disappointed.  They are never quite what I’m expecting, or hoping for. They never have what I want, and they never surprise me, which for me is the most disappointing thing of all. Frankly, I rarely dilly-dally, and if I do, it’s nearly always because I’m, dare I say, awkward as I have walked in there and am now going to have to walk out with nothing and it’s definitely not going to go unnoticed because invariably I am the only person in there!  That’s another thing about these deli’s here in the UK, they are nearly always empty. Just how do they continue to survive?

Keep Trying

However as a nation, we keep trying, we open up yet another, I always see one on the high street, and again get excited (what the hell for I don’t know), so I’m guessing the research must be there. 

In my opinion we all like to think we want to eat good food and we all like to think we know about good food, yet when it comes down to it, neither is true of the majority of the British.  If you have ever had the opportunity to visit a deli in any other county in Europe then you will understand where I am coming from. When you step into a deli here in the UK your heart starts to sink when you catch a glimpse, immediately upon entering, of those familiar products and you sigh under your breath, thinking to yourself, ‘here we go again’! 

The produce

What we are looking for when we go in is produce which is fresh, new, interesting, pure, tasty, unique and both local & international. What we see when we enter is a cabinet filled with exactly the same kinds of cheese we can source at the supermarket, only less of a selection. There are the plastic vacuum packed meats we can get anywhere, along with the usual suspects in the meat counter. We see bags upon bags of pasta of all shapes, sizes and colours, there are tins and jars which upon first glance might appear interesting, but which are in fact easily sourced from the specialist sections at any large store.  Boring! All so predictable and boring!

The cost

There is one thing I do find unique when shopping at these deli’s - that’s the price!  They purely overcharge for everything, I should imagine to pay for their overheads. These are invariably independent sellers, so If they’re selling the same goods as the supermarket, you can’t expect them to be able to sell it at the same price?  Exactly the reason why they need to offer something different - give the customer something unique and you’ll not only give them a reason to shop with you, but you can charge them accordingly as they can only purchase that product from you in that area. Be different. Be deliciously delicatessen for a change!

If you know of a good, different deli in your area which you would recommend, then let me know as I would love to visit them, be surprised and delighted, and if I am I will add them to My Recommendations.