29 July 2010
Our Dave and Mike have been up to sunny Norwich visiting one of our favourite stockists in the area, Rainbow wholefoods. They had a great day out meeting lots of nice Norfolk folks. Mike was excited to learn that Norwich has more churches per head than any other city in Europe and that Horatio Nelson went to school there. Dave was excited to learn that it’s also home to some of the finest roast pork baps money can buy (at a stall in the old Norman market apparently).
Is Dave excited about a) Norwich, b) Rainbow Wholefoods, c) his pork sandwich, d) all of the above?
All good stuff and we thoroughly recommend a visit. One word of warning though – avoid wearing yellow clothes during the summer months. Mike spent the whole day being attacked by frisky thunder bugs who thought he was a big juicy hunk of pollen. Not a happy scenario for Mike or the no doubt disappointed thunder bugs.
Left: Close up of Mike's arm Right: Macro shot of Mike
Another interesting thing we found was this sign and this man. If you have any clue to what it means and why the chap dressed as Mr Del Monte was peering through a little telescope then please let us know.
Cause for Concern?
23 July 2010
Someone wise and famous once said that the sweet smell of success was the same as the smell of Brighton. Those of you that have been to Brighton might find this a strange analogy but we thought, as the weather was nice, we’d head down to the south coast and get a whiff for ourselves.
It was also a good opportunity for us to find some new places to stock our gum with Brighton being full of great little cafes, wholefood shops and the like.
It was a busy morning and we’re pleased to say you can now buy Peppersmith in Infinity Foods, The Grocer and Grain, Sunny Foods, Fiveways Fruits, Moksha Caffee, the Brighton Coffee Company, Il Caffe Felice, Cocoa, Temptation and a few other nice independent stores.
Other things we saw out and about and liked…
Some fine Smurf themed street art
A place selling only vegetarian shoes (we’re not sure whether those made of fish were ok or not)
A shop that sold old postcards (which our Mike was certain meant the postcards were already written but we’re not sure we share his romantic notion)
Some bacon flavoured gum (which really has to be smelt to be believed)
All in all an enjoyable and successful smelling day out.
16 July 2010
Peppersmith : Available to appear on local radio stations everywhere
As you’ll have heard us say before, we know that gum litter is a big problem. And as a company that makes and sells gum it is our responsibility to do what we can to tackle it. So we were very pleased that in the last week we’ve had two opportunities to spread the word about responsible chewing.
First up, in what seems like a cruel twist of fate, at about the same time as Jonathan Ross was interviewing David Beckham, his brother Paul was interviewing our Dan. Disappointing for Paul, exciting for us. Dan was on the BBC Radio London Breakfast Show talking gum litter with Paul and Gaby Rosalin and you can listen to him trying not to say anything stupid here.
Later the same day we were off to City Hall to meet Boris for his Gum Summit. The Mayor is on a mission to clear up London by the 2012 Olympics and gum litter is top of his list. He’d gathered together local authorities, makers of gum and people that have clever ideas for preventing or clearing up gum litter to discuss what we could all do to cure London of its “self inflicted impetigo” as Boris called it. From our point of view the answer is a combination of things, including education as to why littering is bad but also really importantly to provide practical solutions to make responsibly disposing of gum easier, like our wrappers and the smart GUMDROP bins. So the key thing to making a real difference will be everyone involved working together – and good on Boris for kick-starting that process. We’ll keep you up to date with how we get on.
In other City Hall-related news our Mike reckons that he heard the organisers of the event say that the fire alert system at the Mayor’s office has a ladies voice when there’s a minor emergency and a man’s voice when all hell’s breaking loose. We however are almost certain he dreamt this so don’t panic too much if you’re there and the male voice comes over the tannoy.
8 July 2010
Griff's facial hair; excellent. Our Mike's photography; rubbish.
Our Mike and Dave recently ventured out of London for a trip to Bristol; home of curious accents, Derren Brown and one of our favourite stockists, Friska. Griff and Ed run the place and you can tell they put a lot of love and care into their little restaurant. Not only do they use fresh regional produce but everything is also ethically sourced. What’s more they even take time to try and educate the young folk about eating healthily and the importance of supporting local producers. Their great food and great ethos mean we’d highly recommend a visit if you’re in the area.
P.S. In between much Homer Simpson-style gurgling noises and lip licking, our Dave asked us to mention that anyone going must try the Thai chicken skewers. Judging by the crazed look in his eyes we reckon they’re pretty good.
2 July 2010
If you like both tradeshows and coffee then last week you’d have been foaming like a freshly brewed cappuccino if you’d have been hanging out with us. Yes it was this year’s Caffè Culture tradeshow, home of the 2010 World Barista Championships and perfect place for us to sell some gum whilst learning about the art of making the perfect cup.
The highlight for us was meeting all the Baristas from around the world who were there to compete. Bert from Belgium (below) was there for the notoriously tough Cup Tasters Championship. Contestants have to taste 8 sets of 3 coffees and in each set spot the odd one out. Sadly despite an admirable performance he was beaten by Hector Gonzalez of Guatemala who achieved a perfect score in a time of only 4m11s (which is pretty darn good by the way). But Bert’s fetching hat, unconventional facial hair and coffee-themed body art meant he was definitely a winner in our eyes.
A special mention also to the Japanese Barista champion, Shimokawa Yasuhiro. A charming man who was particularly interested in our strange English gum…
Another good thing to come out of the show is that our Dave learnt the vacuum siphon method of brewing up (see below). The standard of our office coffees has gone through the roof although sometimes we’ve lost the urge after his 3 hour preparation time (mainly due to trouble getting in and out of the Kimono).
