BBC Food & Farming Finalist

Having made it to the final three in the Best Local Retailer category, an incredible feat in itself, we were announced as runners up at the Good Food Show on the 28th November, 2012. Judges Arthur Potts Dawson of the People's Supermarket and Simon Parkes of Radio 4's Food Programme visited the store at the beginning of October to find out what we are all about and were impressed with what they found. Find out more about our Best Local Retailer 2012 nomination.

What’s happening in-store

Did you know we have 2000 lines in the store?

We have expanded our meat offer & we aim to have a good selection at all times, at competitive prices. We also have our own  brand dry goods.

We stock flavoursome, award winning quality meat from Lovaton Farm, South Tawton, Okehampton. All from traditional & native breeds of beef, lamb & pork, with the animals enjoying outdoor living for as much of the year as possible.

The Lovaton Farm team is committed to wildlife friendly farming & sound animal husbandry. Try their beef steak (braising, rump, burgers), topside joint. Lamb mince, chops, shank & sausages.
Find out more at www.traditionallyrearedmeat.co.uk

We have increased the number of pork products we sell from the Free Range Farmer in Seaton- pork belly, chops, loin steaks, honey roast ham more types of bacon ... apple smoked.

We have different pack sizes of chicken from Otter Valley poultry eg chicken thighs (2, 4 or 6), chicken fillets (2 or 4).

We have introduced a range of Real Food Store branded larder essentials that offer excellent value for money including oats, muesli, nuts, dried fruits, sugar (demerara, muscovado), tinned soups from Suma, Clipper teas & healthy snacks (Kallo rice cakes, sesame sticks.

We are also working on making the link between the café and the store- it is surprising how many of the café clientele do not realise that the café & store are linked. We are encouraging café customers to shop for their groceries after they’ve enjoyed their meal! You will start to see displays of store goods & interesting messages linking café to store. You will also notice that the volume of treats & ‘fancy goods’ have been reduced giving more space to staples.

Marketing the Real Food Store
Not just local & ethical, our products offer excellent value for money our
staples in particular- veg, eggs, milk, bread. We are now reaching out to new customers with this message. We have a great leaflet about the RFS & Emma’s Bread, the in-store artisan bakery. Would you to help us drive sales & raise awareness of the store? Please come in & ask staff for leaflets to put in your work place or a public venue. Let staff know where you will be putting them. We want you to know about our excellent value on a range of staples & other items from our veg to eggs to honey roast ham from the Free Range Farmer.

REAL FOOD VOLUNTEERS
We need you! Would you like to volunteer for specific tasks at specific times & be part of the action at RF? (Food preparation at the take-away counterstock room or shelf-filling) Key shift is between 8-11 am; some afternoon work too). We would love to hear from any members who would like to join a rota. You will receive training, discounted shopping & lovely food & drink after your shift. Please write to volunteer@realfoodexeter.co.uk
You will hear back from Les Bright, RFS member who is our member volunteer coordinator!

The Real Food Store is the first Exeter city centre outlet to offer a full range of fresh, local, seasonal & fairly traded groceries on a daily basis. The Store is also Exeter’s first community owned food business; Hundreds of local people invested their money to make this venture happen.

Now in our 2nd year of trading, The Real Food Store is delivering on its mission to support the local food economy and provide sustainable growers and producers with an outlet for their fantastic products- all for direct retail to the consumer at excellent, honest prices.

The Real Food team wants to make food shopping enjoyable and relevant. Many of our customers want to engage with the story behind food. How food is grown and made, how to cook with some of the lesser known vegetables and the incredible taste of our local and regional produce are just some of the topics that many of our customers want to have a lively dialogue about. Much more than a shop, we are delighted to see that the RFS has already become something of a hub for the community: the Café is a popular meeting place with a great food offer that is also a great space for catered parties and events- it also features exhibitions of work by local artists. The Store is the home of ‘Emma’s Bread’, an artisan bakery making real, hand crafted breads and cakes from scratch every day. Worth lingering for all this- but if you’re in a hurry you can grab something of the Real Food taste at the Take-Away counter and go! Come and see for yourselves. Check out www.realfoodexeter.co.uk