Fresh start for food prices
THIS week sees the reintroduction of fresh food prices in Caterer after a gap of almost two years. Starting on page 24, you will find three pages of prices for beef, veal, lamb, pork, poultry, game, fish, fruit, salads and vegetables.
Our previous prices were criticised for being out of date and for not taking into account regional variations. To get round each of those criticisms we have teamed up with 17 specialist catering suppliers who are based in or around the wholesale markets in Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Glasgow, London and Manchester.
Most of the prices we print will be delivered prices which will be current for the week of publication - the only exceptions will be some of the fruit and vegetable prices which, although correct when we go to press on a Tuesday, can sometimes change markedly from day-to-day.
Meat prices are provided by suppliers who are members of the National Association of Catering Butchers (NACB). Code numbers printed next to the prices refer to detailed descriptions of cuts produced by the NACB which many caterers use for ordering purposes. For more details of the NACB codes telephone Caterer's information service (see page 5 for details).
More than 300 different products and cuts are listed on the new prices pages and some of these will change with the seasons. In addition, to celebrate the introduction of fresh food prices we are starting a new game in Caterer.
For a 22-week period beginning on 26 May you will have the chance to win a share of £11,000 in prize money by checking food prices against unique numbers on individual game cards. The game cards are being distributed with this week's and next week's issues and also in our sister publication Catering Update. Should you miss these cards, watch out for instructions on how to send away for one.
The prices pages are the first of a number of new initiatives planned for Caterer during the coming months. All the changes are designed to make the magazine more useful to you and your business.
Feedback from readers is the best way to make sure we provide what is wanted. So let us know what you think - we will be particularly pleased to receive suggestions for changes and improvements. In the meantime, we hope you find the new prices pages useful and good luck with the Price Finder game!
