Every year we find some amazing new products as well as old favourites. With the likes of Genius, Schar, Doves and Tesco all offering their products with discounts, in some places hefty discounts (£1 for newburn sandwich thins!) you are sure to snap up some bargains. Take just £20 with you and you are likely to get at least 2 bags full plus samples. These food fairs are worth the trips, often so much cheaper plus it is great to find new products which you always get at these events.
It's hard to choose what our favourite parts of the Allergy show were this year, so we'll try and do a top 10 of our top parts of the show and which brands we think you should give a go. If you are going tomorrow make sure to check these out. If you're not, make sure you check them out online or in shops.
A quick note worthy point, Tesco free from where exhibiting a new product... gluten free lemon meringue pie!
1. Cocoa Libre
I've had Cocoa Libre chocolate a few times from Holland and Barrett, they do cute little Penguins and Reindeers at Christmas, they also do a variety of other chocolate which is gluten and dairy free. They aren't particularly cheap but it is quality chocolate and they make great gifts, they are so cute! Only a small stall but worth a visit even if you only sample the choccies!
http://www.cocoalibre.co.uk/
2. Alevra
Always on the lookout for new breads to try and the samples at this store caught my eye, the bread was lovely and fluffy so I just had to buy some of the bread mix to try myself. They also do a gluten free flour blend which, going by the samples, makes some very delicious cakes. I think the bread mix from these is definitely one to keep and eye on though.
https://alevraglutenfree.com
3. Free From Italy
This stall had some amazing Italian products, the wraps which were vegan, gluten free and free from all the top 14 allergens caught our attention and at £2 a pack we had to grab some, I've not yet tried them but they seem more like proper wraps than some other brands. They also had a range or authentic Italian pastas all gluten free, focacia, baguettes, gnocchi, they had a wide variety of delicious products and the price was reasonable too.
https://www.freefromitaly.co.uk
4. Lovemore
Personally, Lovemore are some of the best biscuits around, their digestives are the closest to digestives I've had, honestly I nearly missed them today but they caught my attention at last second. They had some great offers, 3 items for £4, 4 for £5, 5 for £6 and so on (I can't remember the rest). We got 5 boxes which included their fab digestives, Oreo type biscuits and jammy rings, all of them are so nice but much more expensive when you find them in shops, so great offers from them.
http://www.lovemorefoods.com/
5. Nairns
Like Lovemore, Nairns never fail to have great offers at the fairs. They had their usual 3 items for £5 and if you spent over £7 you got a free storage tin. The offer applied to everything including oats, the new breakfast biscuits, crackers, flatbreads and biscuits. Again some of the nicer biscuits and I am in love with the new breakfast biscuits so was certainly pleased they had those!
http://www.nairns-oatcakes.com/
6. PizzaExpress
Pizza Express weren't selling anything but they were giving out pizza and dough balls all day so that's enough to earn them a spot on here. Free pizza so you can try them out if you have never been to one of their restaurants before. Who can say no to free pizza! (That would be me because I couldn't get near the stand!)
https://www.pizzaexpress.com/
7. Willow Cottage Kitchen
This is another small stand but go take a look, even if you just go and admire the cakes, they specialise in novelty/special occasion cakes and some of them on show were amazing, they did have samples of cake to try too, but I was happy enough to just admire the artwork of the cakes, one to bare in mind if you need a special occasion cake for sure!
http://willowcottagekitchen.co.uk/
8. Schar
I'm hit and miss about adding them to the top 10 but here they are, the positive - they were selling waffles and hot food from the bus and hut to actually eat at the event. The downfall they weren't actually selling their bread or products to take home which was a bit of a let down, they were giving out free baguettes and crackers that were in the free goodie bag but other than that there were no products to buy and take home.
https://www.schaer.com/en-uk
9. Wow Cake Company
A company I have kept up with on twitter for a while and finally got to try their cake mixes. Honestly, both me and my Mum nearly died and went to heaven when we tried the carrot cake sample, we couldn't resist the other cake mix either, amazing cakes and one I think could give the likes of Delicious Alchemy and Glebe Farm (neither of which had stands this time) a run for their money.
http://www.wowcakecompany.com/
10. The Gluten Free Kitchen
Having had their frozen custard tarts and chocolate tarts from Waitrose it was fab to be able to get some more of their products from here including muffins and also mince pies. They did have the products usually sold frozen being sold fresh so there were a lot of delicious pastries on the go, definitely one to go and try and grab some mince pies for xmas!
https://www.theglutenfreekitchen.co.uk/
There were so many amazing stalls I can't mention them all but there was also fish and chips on the go, stalls selling spices, Indian stalls, people selling frying pans and spiralizers too. Lots of samples going about too. Always beware that not all stalls are gluten free though (one in particular that caught my attention was a muffin and meringue stall, only meringues were gluten free not the muffins) so make sure you check. And check out the Doves Kitchen too, some great demos going on there!
Finally since it has been mentioned at least 5 times to me, no there is no doughnuts being made, Feel Free who were selling them went into administration earlier this year so obviously they aren't there, you'll have to make do with fish and chips and lots of cakes!