Just Another Blog…. … or Is It?
Every week, I sit down to write this blog and think to myself ‘time to find something interesting to say’. I feel that writing a weekly blog is like hosting a dinner party for a bunch of strangers - you’ve got to pick a dish that won’t offend anyone’s palate or trigger an allergy, but will be liked by all.
Now, if you are a creative genius, a hard-hitting investigative journalist with a scandal to share, or someone who lives a rockstar lifestyle, life might hand you plenty of juicy stories on a silver platter.
Me? I spend most days doing the same old, same old. So, when a week goes by without an ‘out-of-the-ordinary’ event, I’m left to think of an interesting topic.
I could always write about the global circus starring Donald (no, not the duck) and Elon Mush - but I definitely don’t want this to get political (unless it’s moaning about parking or the Borough Council – and I’ll leave that for another day). So, today, it’s all about the shop (not revolutionary I know!)
New In This Week
I like to think our shop is like a treasure trove of wonderful goodies, we have around a thousand different products mostly from local legends and small producers. But of course, we still get customer requests for items we don’t usually stock. But if I thinks it sounds good, we make it happen.
Last week’s shopping requests included: Truffle Nuts “I love truffle nuts – if you stocked them, I would always buy them”, Flavourhead Tea “the Fruity ones”, mushroom pate “like the one we had at Christmas”, Summerdown Peppermint Tea “it’s the only mint tea with real flavour”, and dark ginger chocolate biscuits “for our weekly team meeting”.
All of these are now on the shelf waiting for you to try them.
And then there are the “are you serious?” requests. Kopi Luwak coffee (yes, I had to Google it, too – and no, definitely not stocking it!) and Alpaca jerky-which, believe it or not, isn’t a joke – I mean alpacas are soo cute!
Plus we have the usual flurry of new beers from Elusive, Phantom, Siren, Renegade and Double-Barrelled.
It'll Soon Be Mother’s Day, Sunday 30th March....
As you wander our shop, you’ll discover loads of goodies perfect for that special someone.
With Mother’s Day peeking around the corner, why not treat mum to a bespoke hamper? It’s thoughtful (include a couple of things you know she’ll love and it simply shouts “I put some thought into this!”), is assembled in minutes, and comes in at great value (around £25, £40-£50 if you add in some wine or gin). After all, Mum deserves the best, right?
And I think we all know that Mum’s love for a good gin might actually have a little something to do with, well, you.
Website
I mentioned last week that our website, philsgoodfood.co.uk , has been acting up lately – it still working but maybe a bit slow. Fear not; the digital facelift is happening and the upgrade will be completed by the middle of next week. Watch this space….
Saturday Tasters
Cheese is back on the menu this Saturday for our tasters – we have a couple of different Snowdonia cheeses for you, paired with delightful crackers of course. Please drop by on Saturday, sample some, and let your taste buds do a little happy dance.
And, It Keeps Going...
Welcome to the next (legendary, in my humble opinion) instalment of my ongoing series, “Why Shopping Locally is Not Just a Good Thing, but a Necessary Thing” – Here is Reason Number 6:
6. Crisis Defence.
Recent years have taught us that our food chain is as fragile as a soap bubble. Just cast your mind back to lockdown, or Brexit (our favourite French winery no longer exports to the UK at all), or world-wide tariff tussles, we’ve seen empty shelves and even epic loo-roll battles.
In these moments of chaos, local shops aren’t just a convenience - they’re our frontline defenders, ensuring we never have to face the apocalypse without the essentials (or cheese and wine- actually they are essentials!)
A Big Thank You for Your Suggestions!
A huge shout-out to everyone who suggested products for our shop – please keep the ideas coming – there are hampers available as prizes for the best suggestions Most of them we have actually tried in the shop before (organic veg, bread, pies etc) but we just don’t have the footfall in town to make a lot of these ideas viable.
One brilliant idea though was a monthly delivery service of local gin or beer - because who doesn’t love trying something new every month? This one might happen over the next few months – please leave a comment with any thoughts on this (or anything else).
Please keep those suggestions coming, and let’s keep making this shop as delightfully unpredictable as ever.
That’s it for now – it seems to be warming up, so enjoy the sunshine, grab a biscuit (or two), and I’ll catch you next week for another round of shop shenanigans.
Take care and Have a great week !
Cheers!
Phil
Phil’s Good Food in Wokingham, 2-4 Broad Street, offers a range of high-quality, ethically sourced products, from local honey to world-class cheeses, indie beers, wines, chocolates and much more. Our beautifully curated hampers make the perfect gift, or you can handpick your favourites, and we’ll create a bespoke hamper just for you!
We don’t deal in mass-produced plastic nonsense!
www.philsgoodfood.co.uk