Category Archives: Cooking

Global Cocoa Market: Europe stands as the largest cocoa beans consumer – way ahead of North America and Asia Pacific regions

Global Cocoa Market Y-o-Y Growth Analysis by B2B, 2017 and 2028

DUBLIN 2, Ireland, 23-Oct-2018 — /ERP FOOD & BEVERAGE NEWS/ — A recent study by Fact.MR on the Europe cocoa market brings interesting insights to the fore. The comprehensive report by Fact.MR tracks cocoa production and consumption across key European markets. The report is available for direct purchase, however, a sample of the report has been made available by Fact.MR at

https://www.factmr.com/connectus/sample?flag=S&rep_id=44

According to the report, Europe stands as the largest cocoa beans consumer – way ahead of North America and Asia-Pacific regions. Europe has seven of the top ten chocolate consuming countries in terms of per capita. Netherlands, France, Belgium, and Germany are the key importers as well as consumers of cocoa. While food and beverages remains the key sector using cocoa, the demand is also growing in pharmaceutical, cosmetics, and personal care industry.

Cocoa Powder Outsells Butter and Liquor Variants

The Fact.MR study opines that cocoa powder demand has been growing at a faster pace in the region, over cocoa butter and cocoa liquor. Fact.MR estimates that cocoa supply has been in surplus in Europe since past several years, owing to a straight growth in demand. The stakeholders in the European cocoa market most importantly the manufacturers of finished products, are gauzing the consumer sentiments well, and hence keeping their inventory levels satiated.

The comprehensive study is available for direct purchase, get your copy now at https://www.factmr.com/checkout/44/S

One of the key factors driving the European cocoa consumption is the blend of tradition and innovation in the cocoa products processing. Europeans prefer chocolate in the form of both bars and drinks. European consumers are not only concerned about their intrinsic health, but also have a great concern for their skin. This factor has kept aloft the demand for cocoa butter in the European cosmetics industry. Because cocoa is edible and its taste is liked by the European masses, its application in lip balms is not uncommon. Besides, the European cosmetics companies are also increasing the number of their products such as body lotions and facial creams having cocoa as an ingredient.

European drug shelves crowd a range of nutraceutical and health supplement products with cocoa. Chocolate is one of the most identical flavor to European neutraceutical consumers, due to which the demand of cocoa in this industry. The research works on cocoa has stated the favorable impact of cocoa in the cardio-metabolic diseases, which motivates the European medical advisors and consultants to encourage their customers and clients to use cocoa based pharmaceutical products. These factors are likely to provide an impetus to the growth of Europe cocoa market.

Besides, individual fondness of cocoa, there are several activities that further aggravates the interest levels of stakeholders in this industry. Food and beverages trade fairs in Europe are one of the prime drivers of cocoa demand in the region. Finland is one of key countries organizing such events, which includes Wine, Food & Good Living, e-Commerce and Shop Tech, and Gastro Helsinki. In Wine, Foods & Good Living exhibition, there are significant number of stands for beverages cocoa. The e-Commerce and Shop Tech exhibition trade fair brings the industry stakeholders at a common place to web a mesh of planning heads. Gastro Helsinki is a trade fair that focuses on bringing hotels, restaurants, and catering industries on a discussion platform. Some of the other trade fairs and events promoting cocoa and chocolate in Europe include Salon du Chocolat (France), Intersuc (France), Sial (France), Chocoa Trade Fair (Netherlands), Eurochocolate (Italy), and BioFach (Germany). These events have helped rejuvenated the interest and thus demand for cocoa and cocoa products in the region.

About the Report

Fact.MR’s report on cocoa market offers a pragmatic and comprehensive analysis that are influencing demand and supply in Europe and beyond. The research study tracks the consumption and production of cocoa in Europe. An in-depth analysis on the product and business strategies of key players has been included in the research study.

SOURCE: EuropaWire

Smoking, Obesity And Lack Of Activity Named As Global Killers

Research published in leading medical journal The Lancet suggests that a lack of exercise can be as big a killer as obesity and smoking.

According to the study, approximately one third of adults do not do a healthy amount of exercise, and it is suggested that this could be causing 5.3 million deaths worldwide each year – the equivalent of one in ten deaths – from related illnesses such as breast cancer, diabetes and heart disease.

Nutritionist Caron Leckie, who works for the UK’s largest provider of chef prepared meals and delivered diets, Diet Chef, comments: “In my experience the weather has a big impact on activity levels, certainly in the UK, and many people use it as an excuse to stay indoors and watch television, rather than getting out and about.

“In addition to this, thousands of our customers have jobs which see them sitting down at a desk for up to nine hours each day. It is logical that this sedentary lifestyle can be conducive to obesity.”

Ms Leckie also added that Diet Chef is “working hard to help people to lose weight with our calorie-controlled diet” and that as a company they are also “working closely with a personal trainer to offer advice and tips on how to move more, no matter what your age, weight or health status.”

It is recommended that adults should do a minimum of 150 minutes of moderate exercise each week, this equates to just over 20 minutes per day.

According to a report by the BBC, “researchers said the problem was now so bad it should be treated as a pandemic”.

Ms Leckie’s top tips for motivation to exercise include:
1. Add An Activity
2. Try Something Different
3. Find a Positive Each Week
4. Take up a Hobby

Read her full list of tips on the Diet Chef blog.

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Chris Smith, The Diabetic Chef Joins “Living Well” Diabetes Eduaction Cruise Hosted by Diabetes Daily Post (DDP)

Novi-based Diabetes Daily Post announces on June 29, 2012 that it has join hands with Chris Smith to educate diabetes patients on nutrition, diet, and diabetes cooking on Royal Caribbean Cruise which sails on January 7, 2013 for a 6 day Caribbean cruise. Other participants are Jorge Prada, MD, an Educator and Diabetes Researcher, Susan Sloane Pharmacist and Certified Diabetes Educator, a member of American Diabetes Association board of director and Charles Liu, Clinical Pharmacist with special interest in Type 2 Diabetes. With Chris Smith’s participatiion, DDP’s education program lands itself as one the most comprehensive and dynamic diabetes education program offered in the North America. The participants will receive a broad and comprehensive education including a diabetes-exercise session and onboard two-mile fun walk for diabetes to raise funds for the American Diabetes Association and go home with usable recipes and cooking methods to control their diabetes better.

“Diabetes is a cause for many other metabolic diseases such as heart and vascular diseases and stroke. Complications include loss of eye sight, kidney failure and amputation. Recent study showed a 62% reduction in diabetes-related health care costs if a comprehensive interdisciplinary diabetes education is implemented. Diet control is one of the most important facets in controlling diabetes and this is often neglected or ignored. We are very fortunate to have Chirs onboard to drive home on this point. Chris is known as one of the most caring and talented chef. He educates and motivates: he is completely at home with the subject of type 1 diabetes and type 2 diabetes. His passion comes from being a diabetic patient himself.” says Charles Liu R.Ph, MBA, DDP’s Cruise Education Coordinator and spokesman.

The Diabetes Daily Post a/k/a/ www.diabetesdailypost.com based in Novi, Michigan was created in 2011 to educate, enrich, and expand the knowledge of Diabetes. Its goal is to keep you informed about the latest news and drug innovations, provide health tools for diabetes management, motivate with triumph personal stories and talk about key opinion leaders who have worked on the elusive cure for Diabetes. The Diabetes Daily Post offers its “Living Well” Diabetes Education program both on cruises and in major cities.

Chef Chris is a Certified Executive Chef with over 20 years experience in the culinary field. With his focus on healthy cuisine, Chef Chris is an authority on diabetic nutrition and food preparation. He has been featured in TIME Magazine, USA Today, CNN, Web MD, Southern Living magazine. National television appearances include “DLIFE” and “Taking Control of Your Diabetes”. Chris is Novo Nordisk“Diabetes Academy” National tour speaking to both public and corporate audiences on the importance of cooking healthy and maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Chef Chris’s cookbook: The Diabetic Chef’s Year Round Cookbook along with Cooking with The Diabetic Chef, are published by The American Diabetes Association. Both cookbooks provide simple tips, cooking techniques and a wide range of easy to prepare recipes the whole family will enjoy!

If you’d like more information about this topic, please consult
www.diabetesdailypost.com Search cruise or click
http://diabetesdailypost.com/type-2-diabetes-travel-tips-how-to-book-a-cabin/

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Diet Chef to sponsor ITV Daybreak’s ‘Step into Summer’ Programme

Weight loss diet plan provider Diet Chef has announced that it will be sponsoring the ITV Daybreak ‘Step into Summer’ programme this month.

From Monday 25th June 2012 to Friday 29th June 2012 Diet Chef will be giving the Step into Summer campaign its seal of approval. As the creator of one of the most successful calorie controlled meal plans in the UK, Diet Chef recognises that weight loss efforts are much more successful with a combination of diet and exercise, and so will be lending ITV Daybreak’s Step into Summer a helping hand.

Diet Chef has sponsored the ITV Daybreak’s diet initiatives in the past and is happy to be doing so again for 2012. Step into Summer will contain a range of hints and tips for diet and exercise, helping those that appear on the show and viewers at home to fight the battle of the bulge this June and achieve their beach body.

ITV Daybreak’s Step into Summer programme will feature a group of mums who will receive key fitness hints and tips to help them and viewers of the show to shape up for summer. The live show will also include a number of healthy food ideas that viewers can pick up on to make appropriate changes to their eating habits throughout the summer.

Diet Chef’s marketing director, Liz Dale, said: “Diet Chef is a specially designed calorie controlled meal plan that has helped thousands of men and women to achieve their weight loss goals since the company was originally founded.

“In total, we have assisted over 70,000 customers throughout the UK, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland and we have also branched out into the German market. We are proud to be sponsoring ITV Daybreak’s Step into Summer project in an effort to help people to get to and maintain a healthy weight.”

Diet Chef was founded by Kevin Dorren as a way to bring affordable and delicious diet foods to the UK public. Mr Dorren recognised the difficulties associated with dieting when going it alone and realised how much easier it would be if dieters had their own personal chef to prepare portioned meals that were calorie controlled and healthy.

For more information about the Diet Chef delivered diet options, visit www.dietchef.co.uk now.

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Diet Chef Warns Football Fans That EURO 2012 Can Seriously Damage Your Health

If you don’t want to end up looking like you’ve swallowed a football…

The hotly anticipated Euro 2012 is finally here, and with it comes trips to the pub, barbecues and beer with the lads – great fun but a calorific disaster. Just three beers, a takeaway pizza and sharing crisps and dip with your mates can add up to a massive 3,500 calories – more than your recommended daily intake of calories in just 90 minutes. And that’s the equivalent of putting on 1lb in weight watching just one match – if your team makes it to the final, you could easily put on half a stone just watching nine hours of footie.

Add to that the fact it is summer which means lots of flesh on show and you really could be in trouble. To help keep you on the straight and narrow and make sure you look good on the beach, down the pub or in the back garden, Diet Chef, the UK’s leading provider of calorie-controlled diet plans, has put together a weight loss diet plan for men, consisting of a custom-filled men’s hamper full of goodies to help you lose that weight but still have a filling meal.

Packed with delicious ‘man-food’, you can still have a proper meal but lose weight into the bargain – the hamper contains curries, chillies, pies, sausages, hot pots and meatballs, you really won’t feel like you are on a diet at all.

The 28 day Diet Chef men’s hamper is only £210 for 28 days worth of food, so just£7.50 a day meaning you’ll save £s as well as lbs. Specially designed to be tailored your individual calorie needs, Diet Chef will ensure you’ll be burning more than you eat to achieve a healthy sustainable weight loss and achieve that beach body.

So why not give it a go? Find out more about diets for men and about our easy portion control diet plan options – you’ve only your belly to lose!

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Diet Chef Launches In-Home Fitness Plan To Help You Shape Up For Summer

Blitz your way to a perfect beach body. The clocks have gone forward, spring has sprung and it feels as though summer is well and truly on its way. However, for women (and men) up and down the country those first rays of summer sunshine are joined by a familiar sense of trepidation; the dread of swimwear, specifically the bikini, and baring all (including those lumps and bumps) on the beach.

Home delivery diet brand, Diet Chef, is making it easier than ever to gain that summer body confidence with its Beach Body Blitz Summer Diet Hamper. Delivered directly to your home or office, the 28 day hamper priced at £240 includes chef-prepared main meals, snacks, lunches and breakfasts (subscriptions available from £195). To complement the calorie controlled eating plan, Diet Chef has come up with an easy 20 minute exercise plan created exclusively by top personal trainer, Kyle Andrews, which is availablewww.dietchef.co.uk/beach-body-blitz

Kyle says: “I’ve created a basic exercise regime that aims to strengthen, shape and tone the body in tandem with the Diet chef meal plan. The programme has been created with the beginner in mind and so all exercises can be carried out from the comfort of your own home – it really is that simple.”

Beach Body Blitz Workout Programme

Equipment: Exercise mat (optional), dumbbells (or substitute with a tin of beans or bottle of water from your kitchen cupboard)
Frequency: 3 x 20 minute workouts per week
Repetitions: 12-15 (of each exercise)
Circuits: 2-3 / no rest between exercises or circuits

1) Warm Up – walk on the spot for 60 seconds while clapping your hands above your head and behind your back
2) Jog on the spot for 10 seconds then walk for 10 seconds, repeat 5-8 times
3) Standing Squats – feet hip width apart, sit down to 90 degrees, stand back up (do not lock your knees)
4) Russian Chair – lean with your back against the wall, sit down to 90 degrees and hold for 20-60 seconds
5) Dumbbell Bent Over Rows – bend over and place one hand on the arm of a chair, lower the weight down until your arm is straight then pullback up
6) Dumbbell Shoulder Press – standing or sitting, push the dumbbells above your head then lower to just below your armpits (do not lock your elbows and breathe out when you push)
7) Lunges – take a big step forward lower your body down until your trailing leg nearly touches the floor, push off the front foot back to where you started then alternate legs (do not let your knee pass your toes)
8) Dumbbell Bicep Curls – standing up straight with your arms down by your side keep your elbows still and lift the weight up to your bicep
9) Tricep Dips – place your hands behind you on a chair or step. Keep your bottom close to your hands, sit down to 90 degrees then back up (do not lock your elbows)
10) Dumbbell Side Bend – standing up straight, reach down one side of your body as far as you can and then the other (do not twist your core)
11) Basic Crunches – lying on the floor with your legs at 90 degrees and your hands on your temples sit up and stop just before the small of your back comes off the floor. Lower back down until your shoulder blades touch the ground
12) Reverse Crunches – lying on the floor with your legs at 90 degrees then slowly bring your knees into your chest and gently lower your back down and repeat
13) Back Extensions – lying face down with your hands on your temples, slowly lift your upper body off the floor and back down.

Make sure you’re not stiff the day after exercising by completing your programme with these simple stretches:

1) Quad Stretch – holding on to your foot, pull one leg into your backside
2) Hamstring Stretch – with your legs straight, reach for your toes
3) Calf Stretch – stand with the balls of your feet on a step, legs straight and allow your heels to drop down
4) Lats Stretch – reach above your head and lean over to one side then the other
5) Chest Stretch – with your hands on the small of your back (palms of your hands turned in) push your elbows together
6) Triceps Stretch – bend your arm above your head and use your other arm to pull the bent arm towards your head
7) Rear Deltoid Stretch – place one arm across the body and using your other arm, pull into your body
8) Neck Stretch – gently lean your head to one side and use your hand to gently pull in the same direction
9) Lower back – lie on your back and pull your knees into your chest and hug them

The Diet Chef Beach Body Blitz Summer Hamper is perfect for anyone with a busy lifestyle, the diet and exercise plan is very simple to follow and all of the meals are easy to prepare. For more details or to sign up to a trial, visit http://www.dietchef.co.uk/

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Help Dad Shed The Pounds This Father’s Day With A Diet Chef Custom Male Hamper

Has your dad got the XXL factor? Is he more likely to be found watching the footie rather than having a kick about?

If this sounds all too familiar, why not abandon the customary gift of calorie laden treats, like chocolate and alcohol and opt for a healthier Diet Chef hamper to help shed those extra pounds. With the hamper delivered directly to your dad’s door, it surely does beat wading through the gift boxes in your local department store.

We all know how hard dieting can be, but with Diet Chef counting the calories and a variety of your dad’s mealtime favourites, like Chicken Tikka Masala, Shepherd’s Pie and Beef in Ale it really is simple …So no excuses dad!

The 7 day male hamper is a snip at £65, providing a 1,500 calorie a day diet (including breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks). Specially designed to be tailored to his individual calorie needs, Diet Chef will ensure he’ll be burning more than he eats to achieve a healthy sustainable weight loss. With all the work done for him he will be back to his former glory in no time.

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London Mayor Visits Forman & Field

One of the UK’s oldest and best respected fine food vendors, Forman & Field has always enjoyed providing for discerning palates. With this background, the company was thrilled to receive a visit from the London Mayor, Boris Johnson.

Attracted by the unmistakable quality of Forman & Field’s organic foods, catered meals, hampers and gift baskets, Johnson was pleased to wander round the Fish Island premises.

With the London Olympics coming up, Boris Johnson is keen to do everything he can to ensure a great experience for both visitors and residents of London. As well as providing a great selection of produce for those looking for something special for the events, Forman & Field is providing all the smoked salmon for the meals the Olympic competitors will enjoy in-flight on British Airways’ business class menus.

From classic British dishes such as three-bird roasts – that’s a pheasant in a chicken in a goose – to an all-in-one hamper Christmas wouldn’t be complete without, Forman & Field brings a taste of luxury to many Londoners’ lives. Proud of their reputation for sourcing and selling the very best in traditional British cuisine, they also provide delicacies from across Europe and around the world.

During his visit, Boris Johnson was happy to look around the premises, which includes a smokehouse for salmon, packing and processing facilities, and business offices.

Forman & Field for Everybody
Anyone who wants to investigate the Forman & Field premises is welcome to drop by to Fish Island, which is close to the buzzing commercial and transport hub of London’s east end. A more simple and convenient way to explore their offerings is via their website, which includes a gift basket range, luxury products, and good quality basics for any table.

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Snackoholism – A very British addiction

Forget cigarettes, alcohol and even drugs, there is a new addiction sweeping the nation – snackoholism. We were brought up being told not to eat between meals but now it seems that we literally cannot help ourselves, we have become a nation of snackoholics with 4% of Brits actually admitting to being addicted to snacking and finding it impossible to quit.

No sex please, we’re peckish A survey by home delivery diet, Diet Chef, has uncovered some shocking truths about British snacking behaviour – not least that more than one in ten of us (12%) would rather snack than have sex. It seems our need to snack is taking over our lives as 6% of us even admit to snacking in bed pointing to the fact that for some Brits, romance really is dead.

A third of us (34%) would rather give up alcohol than snacks and 13% of smokers said they’d rather kick their nicotine habit than give up their chocolate, biscuits and crisps.

As a nation, the number of snacks we are consuming has reached colossal proportions. Our snack of choice is crisps, 61% of Brits admit to eating at least one packet of crisps per day – some as many as five or six packets a day – this equates to a staggering 48 million+ packets of crisps being consumed every day by the adult population of the UK. Add to this 45 million+ chocolate bars and the 78m biscuits and cakes we eat every day and it is no wonder we have an obesity crisis on our hands.

One in 10 of the people surveyed have either a burger, a pizza or a portion of chips as a snack every day showing we no longer understand the difference between a snack and an actual meal. Yet only 14% of the people surveyed knew how many calories something as basic as an average portion of chips contained.

Diet Chef’s nutritionist, Caron Leckie, comments: “Our survey shows the extent to which snacking has got out of control, most of the people we surveyed said they snack out of habit or boredom which shows people are eating without thinking, not out of necessity. The Diet Chef programme provides all your meals and one snack per day and controls your calorie intake so you are guaranteed to lose weight.”

Caron’s 10 steps to avoiding snacking:

It can be difficult to curb or change snacking habits as there are many different components involved – sometimes we snack out of hunger, boredom, cravings or just pure habit. Identifying our snacking ways and preparing ourselves is the first step to snacking success. As the saying goes failure to prepare is preparing to fail.

1. Identify what – whether you want to cut down on or cut out your snacks you need to know truly what you are snacking on – it’s actually quite common to snack without even realising what or how much we are having. Keeping a food diary can help you identify your snacking reality, and using a BMI calculator can help to ensure you know how many calories you need to be consuming each day.

2. Identify where – once you know what your snacks are, you need to consider where you are most likely to snack. Is it in the office? Passing the vending machine? Or at home? When you know where you snack you can focus your efforts on clearing out your snack drawer in the office or the snack cupboard at home.

3. Identify when – then think about when you are most likely to get the urge for something – at night in front of the TV? Late afternoon? Or it might be emotionally related – whenever you’re stressed, lonely, bored or feeling down. Knowing when you snack gives an indication of what may trigger your snacks – is it mid-morning? Are you having a sensible breakfast? Is it when you’ve had a bad day? Your snacks may be more emotion-related than hunger or boredom – when you’ve sussed out your snacking patterns, you’re ready to confront them.

4. Find a healthier alternative – there are always alternatives, if you are craving chocolate try a low calorie chocolate drink or instead of crisps try some popcorn – a healthier option means although you are snacking, it’s guilt-free.

5. Distract yourself – occupy your mind with other things – go for a walk, phone a friend, cleaning/ironing, read a book, take a bath, paint your nails – try a few things and see what takes your mind of those snacks.

6. Avoid tricky situations – prevention is better than cure so if you are tempted at lunchtime when you go to the shop, remove the need to go to the shop with a packed-lunch, take everything into work with you. If you associate having a biscuit with a cup of tea or coffee, cut back on the amounts you are having.

7. Cut the portions – if avoiding the situation doesn’t help you can make anything instantly healthier by cutting the portions – this way you get a little of what you fancy, just in a smaller package. Understanding portion sizes is an essential part of losing weight and maintaining your ideal weight.

8. Fill up on fruit and veg – we should be aiming for at least 5 a day so if you feel yourself reaching for a snack, try make it fruits or vegetables packed with nutrients and this will keep your hands and belly full till mealtime.

9. Make small changes – sometimes trying to tackle everything at once can mean we end up with too much on our plate (literally). If you snack in the morning and evening – pick one to start with, or if you like both chocolate and crisps – again just pick one. If you deprive yourself of everything that you like and is habitual, it’s much harder and likely to end in a cycle of deprivation and bingeing.

10. Don’t forget drinks – cutting your snacking is typically aimed at cutting some calories so don’t forget drinks will count too. Whether it’s a fizzy drink, orange juice or the mid-morning caramel latte – they add up so choose a healthier alternative like green tea or water helping to cut your calories and also keep you hydrated as thirst can often be mistaken for hunger leading you to snack.

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Diet Chef Comes to the Rescue of the Fat Blue Line

Home delivery diet brand, Diet Chef, is coming to the rescue of the British bobby, to help our boys and girls in blue get their weight problem under control. Until now, police officers were given a fitness test when they joined the force and their fitness was not tested again, but this is about to change.

Following the news that two-thirds of police officers are obese or overweight and face pay cuts, disciplinary action and even the sack if they fail new annual fitness tests, Diet Chef is offering all police personnel a lifeline. Starting today, a special code containing the numbers 999 will be issued to all police stations and will offer police staff a 20% discount off their first monthly Diet Chef hamper order. Currently only 35% of British police officers are deemed to be a normal weight and 1% are classed as morbidly obese.

Diet Chef, providers of delivered diets to make losing weight easy, will send each police officer a hamper full of its chef-prepared food for dinner, soups for lunch and granola for breakfast, along with some healthy snacks. All meals are carefully calorie-counted to average less than 1200 or 1500 calories-a-day so our boys and girls on the beat will be burning more calories than they eat to achieve a healthy, sustainable weight loss. With Diet Chef they are guaranteed to lose weight, pass their fitness tests and keep their jobs.

Diet Chef founder, Kevin Dorren, comments: “Diet Chef has a proven track record of thousands of happy customers so we know we can help everyone, including our police force, lose weight and feel so much fitter.”

Inspirational weight loss success stories from Diet Chef customers can be found on the website.

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New meal kits now available from Diet Chef

Diet ready meal retailer Diet Chef has recently unveiled its new meal kits, which can be used when following the company’s easy eating plan. Those on the diet can use the recipes and ingredients included in the meal packs to create a delicious dinner when they want a chance to cook for friends, or simply to have a night off from the chef-prepared ready meals.

Diet Chef is the UK’s largest delivered diet service with over 80,000 customers. Customers are able to go online and choose from a wide range of over 100 meals and snacks. The diet includes everything you need for breakfast, lunch and dinner to ensure a calorie controlled meal every time. Snacks are even included for those hungry moments in between. All the meals are developed by Alan Mathieson – an experienced executive chef who is passionate about flavour and healthy food.

The company’s new meal kits give customers the opportunity to take a night off from the plan, but without the risk of lapsing. Many dieters would like to enjoy the feeling of being able to cook a meal for themselves every now and then, and the meal kits now make it easy to create something special.

The meal kits come with all of the cupboard ingredients needed to cook with, including measured pots of spices, oils and sauces. All that is required is the fresh ingredients, such as meat and vegetables. The current meal kits that can be bought are chow mein stir fry, sweet and sour stir fry, madras curry and tikka curry.

Gillian Hope of Diet Chef said: “Right now, we have four meal kits available to buy from the website, each of which has been developed by our chef and nutritionist. We are very pleased to be able to offer a solution for many peoples’ dieting difficulties and hope that our new meal kits can provide that little bit of extra variety to help keep people on the right track.

“At Diet Chef we understand how difficult it can be to resist temptation, especially when it comes to curries, Chinese takeaway and other convenience foods, but with our meal kits customers can now recreate these amazing meals without coming off their diet,” she added.

The new Diet Chef Meal Kits are available to buy online now, priced £30 for a 12 pack, with each kit containing enough ingredients to create a delicious meal for two people.

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MyDish Celebrates Bonfire Night with More Interesting Recipe Ideas

Bonfire night is here and for those who plan to host a party, there is undoubtedly lots of planning and preparation to do.

Although the focus and meaning of Bonfire night may have changed in recent times, it is still one of the UK’s oldest celebrations and remains historically important right around the nation. Families and friends up and down the country continue to unite on the 5 th of November to watch thousands of pounds of fireworks light up the night sky.

MyDish, the UK-based online community recipe site, seems to be a constant supporter of UK events that unite people and communities, while providing opportunities for food lovers to indulge in what they love best. After all, this is the foundation that the unique social media platform was built on.

Founded in 2007 by Carol Savage, MyDish.co.uk went on to win the backing and investment of the popular business entrepreneur, Deborah Meaden. Since then, MyDish has risen in profile and now, in its 4 th year, is a leading online social networking community for recipe ideas and food lovers.

Containing a huge number of recipes and recipe ideas, the MyDish catalogue seems to have experienced rapid growth, with its active online community always contributing to its extensive pool of culinary delights. It is MyDish’s scope for interaction and user-generated content that ensures the site always has something new to offer, making it a great resource on festive occasions like Bonfire Night when people like to eat, drink and be merry.

‘Toffee Apples’ and ‘The Perfect Bonfire Night Sausage Recipe!!’ are a couple of the Bonfire night specific recipes that have been uploaded by MyDish community members. Whether they are good quality or not it is for the users to decide—MyDish allows its members to vote on the recipes they think are most worthy of being shared amongst the rest of the community.

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On Friday September 30th MyDish.co.uk Will Be Turning To Its Baking Recipes In Support Of The Macmillan Cancer Support Event The ‘World’s Biggest Coffee Morning’

Established in 1990, the Macmillan Cancer Support’s ‘Coffee Morning’ event quickly grew in popularity and soon became known as the ‘world’s largest coffee morning’. Last year alone saw 43,000 people get involved in this great cause helping to raise over eight million pounds.

Cancer is still a huge health risk for the UK population with statistics showing 1 in 3 people suffering from the illness at some point in their lives. These individuals require financial, emotional and medical support which Macmillan attempts to address and provide.

It is for this reason and many others that the founder of MyDish.co.uk, Carol Savage, is a big supporter of the charity and will be baking her favourite recipes for the Coffee Morning this coming Friday. Donning the chef’s hat and sourcing her favourite baking recipes, Carol will be baking her best cupcake recipes and selling them to support the Macmillan trust.

Asked about the Coffee Morning event Carol Savage said ‘Cancer is something that affects us all in some form or another.  My Mother-in law Maureen died of Leukeimia and she inspired me with her recipes to start MyDish.co.uk. Cancer is a very real illness that is just too common and we should do what we can to help and offer support .A few cupcakes here and there is not much to ask’

Making even the smallest donation can still make a big difference.  £25 alone can pay for the cost of a Macmillan nurse for an hour, helping to provide essential medical, practical and emotional support for cancer sufferers.

£51 can purchase a liquidiser for someone who can unfortunately no longer eat solid food as a result of their cancer treatment. These services and many like them are just some of the essentials cancer sufferers need and the Macmillan trust helps provide them.

If you need some recipe ideas this coming Friday then visit MyDish.co.uk.  Home to thousands of good recipes, MyDish.co.uk has hundreds of baking recipes and cupcake recipes ensuring that everyone can find the perfect baking recipe for the Coffee Morning .

You can add your own suggestions if you feel the MyDish.co.uk com munity would benefit. In addition to this you can also see loads of great recipes on MyDish that have been donated to Macmillan by big name celebrities. Check out Eva Longoria’s lovely Churros and Gwyneth Paltrow’s gorgeous Pancakes. Alternatively Judi Denchs’ delicious Rum and Chocolate Fudge may be more to your taste.

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Kenny Cooks For the Fair

The acclaimed TV chef, Kenny Atkinson, is showing his support for a country fair in his home village of Darlington.

The event is being held at Grange Community Centre in Hurworth Village near Darlington on the 17th September and Kenny will be doing three cooking demonstrations throughout the day.

The chef, who has his name above the door of the village’s five star resort’s restaurant, The Orangery at the hotel golf and spa resort Rockliffe Hall, is well known for his winning dishes on various TV programmes, such as BBC Two’s Great British Menu. And like his appearances on the BBC’s popular weekend cooking show, Saturday Kitchen, Kenny will be showing his cooking skills to the crowds at the fair, which is being organised by Hurworth Parish Council, and will advise how to create his signature dishes in a series of live cooking demonstrations.

The lucky spectators at the front of the stage will then get to taste Kenny’s gorgeous dishes, which are expected to be made up of one stunning dessert and two fish dishes.

The fair is the first one to be held in the village and is hosted in conjunction with Hurworth Community Association and Saint Theresa’s Hospice.

The family day out which opens at 10:30 has been sponsored by Rockliffe Hall, a well-known hotel in Darlington, alongside Sherwoods of Darlington, Borderfields, and Thomas Watson Auctioneers and the fair promises people all ages fun throughout the entire day.

Kenny says:“This event is the only live demonstration I am going to do this year and it gives the people of Hurworth and further afield the chance to see me cook some of the fantastic signature dishes that they can eat at Rockliffe Hall, without being on TV, and hopefully this will will draw quite a crowd to the first Hurworth country fair. I really want to get involved in the local community, as it is now my home and I’m keen to give something back.”

More information can be found on the Hurworth Country Fair at: http://www.hurworthcountryfair.co.uk/

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Co-operative Launches Competition for Budding Sandwich Designers!

The Co-operative is offering the unique chance to create and design a sandwich that will go into production and on sale in Co-operative Food stores nationwide.

From 1 August 2011, shoppers and budding product designers of any age can visit The Co-operative’s Good with Food website to submit their idea for a new limited edition sandwich, their list of ingredients and say why they love their culinary creation.

The shortlist for the potential new Co-operative own-brand sandwich will be selected from entries submitted by 20 September 2011 by a panel of in-house foodie experts, and the winning sandwich will be announced in October and will go into production in early 2012. The winner will also collect a cool £1,000.

Earlier this year, The Co-operative was named Convenience Sandwich Retailer of the Year at the British Sandwich Awards for the second year running. There’s a Co-operative Food store in every postal area in the UK, so the winning sandwich could potentially be enjoyed by millions of UK customers!

Ideas for the new sandwich could be inspired by a creation that shoppers have already tried and tested at home, or by an unusual combination of ingredients that entrants have discovered work well together. The ideas could range from marmite & marmalade on a bloomer or a sausage & mash wrap to pastrami & pickle on tomato bread to banana, cream cheese & chutney on rye.

The Design a Sandwich competition will run alongside The Co-operative’s Favourite Food awards, in which customers* can vote online for their favourite Co-operative own-brand product in a variety of categories, with the overall winner being announced in September. Shoppers taking part in the voting will be entered into a prize draw to win £50 in Co-operative vouchers.

Visit www.goodwithfood.co.uk/favourite on 1 August 2011 for all details.

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Most Sustainable Product Award for Co-operative Fishcakes

The Co-operative has scooped the “Best Sustainable Product” award at the SuperMeat & Fish awards for the second year running.

The SuperMeat & Fish awards aim to reward excellence in supermarket retailing of meat and fish – at both store level and in manufacturing.

This year, the accolade was awarded to The Co-operative for its premium Truly Irresistible Cod & Minted Pea Fishcakes. Firmly aimed at the indulgence sector, the fishcakes are a rich blend of naturally smoked cod, white cod, British mashed potato and Jersey cream, surrounding a minted mushy pea sauce centre and coated in a crispy and crunchy breadcrumb.

In keeping with The Co-operative’s highly developed sustainability credentials, the cod is line-caught from a responsibly fished source and is naturally smoked in Scotland to ensure the finest quality.

The Co-operative’s Responsible Fish Sourcing Policy, launched in 2008, is a unique method of assessing the sourcing of fish, and was developed by The Co-operative along with its partner suppliers and leading NGO’s, taking into account both environmental and ecological issues. It applies to all Co-operative own-brand fish, including canned and frozen, products containing fish and even sandwiches.

Readers of The Co-operative Magazine can also make their own delicious gourmet tuna fishcakes at home, following one of the many simple, quick and healthy recipespublished in the Food and Drink section online.

The Co-operative has long been associated with the Fairtrade movement, with responsible retailing, ethical living and much more, and as well as this award, the implementation of its Elmwood standard across its range of own-brand fresh pork and sausages earned it the accolade of Most Improved Supermarket, as voted for at the Welfare Awards 2011.

The Co-operative also won a Good Dairy Award in recognition of its good work supporting British workers to date, and of its pledge to join a milk producer scheme in August.

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Big Poppa Smokers Launches New Site developed by HATHWAY

Big Poppa Smokers launched a completely reinvented online presence and social commerce website designed and developed by HATHWAY, a San Luis Obispo-based web marketing agency. Serving as Big Poppa Smokers’ lead digital agency, HATHWAY created bigpopppasmokers.com as a cooking community with an eye-catching design and full e-commerce functionality.

The driving force and personality behind Big Poppa Smokers is president and CEO, Sterling Ball of Ernie Ball, Music Man fame. Over the past few years, Ball has taken his passion for cooking and transformed it into a successful online business.Bigpoppasmokers.com features American-made grills, smokers and BBQ accessories as well as unique social commerce features such as a recipe share and cooking tutorials.

“We are thrilled with the new site, said Sterling Ball, otherwise known as Big Poppa. “I think it’s beautiful. We’ve got rave reviews. The store is working well and all the stats are up. We’ve improved significantly in the last month since our new site with HATHWAY went live.”

HATHWAY worked with Big Poppa to create an e-commerce site that not only offers its users a place to purchase grills, smokers and BBQ accessories but also a community in which they can exchange cooking and grilling ideas and recipes. Both HATHWAY and Big Poppa creative teams worked to translate Big Poppa’s love of cooking and community across the entire user interface. Built with a mash-up of open source software platforms, Joomla and Magento to create a seamless and beautiful user experience.

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Poll from The Co-operative says 94% of people think family meals are important

Results from the latest poll carried out by The Co-operative Magazine have revealed that nearly all of respondents – 94 per cent– believe that sitting down together as a family at meal times is important.

The question – Do you think it’s important for the family to sit down and eat meals together? – was asked online and received an almost unanimous ‘yes’: a rare and resounding majority from the loyal readership.

Research has found that those children who sit down to eat with their families at meal times are much less likely to be overweight or to experience weight likely to follow a healthy and balanced diet full of fruit and vegetables.

The Co-operative Magazine serves a large online readership with daily news and features on the latest health and nutrition topics, family issues, travel and leisure, and much more. It also provides hints and tips on choosing healthy meal ideas, how to cook Italian food, and ways to keep kids healthy and happy.

New poll questions are regularly available to answer online in all sections of the online magazine, from travel and leisure, health and wellbeing, and food and drink, to family and finance, ethical living, and house and home. Readers are encouraged to read the news and features, listen to the podcasts, and leave their comments and helpful hints for fellow readers to benefit from – the magazine aims to be informative, interesting, visually attractive and interactive.

The Co-operative online magazine allows readers to interact with each other and The Co-operative Group, find useful information and travel guides quickly and easily, find out about the latest Fairtrade policies and much more – join the thousands of people who have already made The Co-operative magazine part of their daily routine.

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Students’ One Big Idea Hits Supermarket Shelves

A product designed by budding entrepreneurs from a Hertfordshire high school has hits supermarket shelves across the UK.

The pack of ethical plasters, designed by three female students from Bushey Meads School, so impressed bosses at The Co-operative Group – and original Dragon, Doug Richard – that it’s going on sale in almost 1,700 Co-operative food and pharmacy outlets.

One Careplast plasters are the result of a nationwide competition to design the next One product for Global Ethics, whose products also include One Water and One Eggs, to fund community projects in Africa.

A Level students Emmie Rayat (16), Taylar Leak (17) and Deryn Hertz (17) beat hundreds of entries to design a product that could be sold in the UK to help those most in need in Malawi. They came up with a children’s plaster pack of funky animal-print plasters, sales of which will fund medical kits and bicycle ambulances in Malawi, where rural communities might be up to 15km away from the nearest health centre and medical supplies are often unavailable.

Bicycle ambulances enable healthcare volunteers to travel huge distances on otherwise inaccessible roads to reach patients in remote villages. They take an average of 25 patients a month to hospital – including pregnant women. The medical kits ensure that first aid treatment is available promptly to communities of around 1,000 people.

The talented trio will see the projects for themselves on a trip to Malawi later this year, courtesy of The Co-operative.

Emmie Rayat said: “We’re delighted that our product is going on sale in so many Co-operative outlets across the country. We were shocked to discover that the life expectancy of someone living in Malawi is 43 years, which is younger than some of our parents and incredibly young compared to people in the UK. We’re looking forward to the trip to Malawi and to seeing the communities that have benefited.”

Peter Marks, Group Chief Executive of The Co-operative Group, which has annual sales of £14 billion, helped judge the competition. He said: “The students certainly did their homework and showed real enterprise. They pitched their idea perfectly – from the animal designs on the plasters to the powerful messages on the packaging, it all linked back strongly to funding medication, staff and other health care in Malawi.

“I’m sure the One plasters will prove popular with our customers, as they bring together two key elements of The Co-operative Ethical Plan – inspiring young people and tackling global poverty.”

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The Latest Camping & Outdoor Leisure Barbecues from Cadac At BBQBarbecues

Strengthening their online presence even further BBQBarbecues this week announce their latest addition to the ever expanding e-commerce site with the popular South African Cadac range.

Cadac has been at the heart of South African lifestyle for more than 60 years and is a brand that has been woven into the fabric of every South African home. Cadac is constantly striving to make outdoor adventure more enjoyable through innovative thinking, continuous research and new product development, and as a result is at the forefront of developing solutions and products that meet changing expectations of the consumer globally.

James Pickering, Product Manager of BBQBarbecues commented: “Cadac is one of the most trusted and recognized brands in South Africa and we were very pleased to add another quality range to the website. This year is proving even more popular withportable barbecues it seems, as more and more consumers are taking their holidays in the UK and enjoying outdoor adventures” Mr Pickering went on to say “The weather beyond about a week ahead stretches even the most experienced weather forecaster but with June’s forecast set to be a hot one we are predicting a big growth in sales to rival the ones we witnessed in April”

Cadac offer a timeless range of Patio BBQs and outdoor leisure Barbecues catering for evolving lifestyles and the growing worldwide trend of people seeking ways in which to make the most of Summer living. People need an easy, affordable and universally accessible way to get more value from their precious Summer moments.

Scott Morris, E-commerce Manager of BBQBarbecues said: “Cadac’s wide range of products fulfils the needs of the customer and it is a pleasure to be able to market and sell their range. Due to our combination of online experience, product sourcing capability and the way in which we market these products, these are very exciting times for our business”

BBQBarbecues is the sister company of the ever expanding Plumbworld empire which now has an astonishing 35 different websites specializing in everything from bathrooms and tools to wood burning stoves and barbeques.

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