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Home / LATEST NEWS LETTERS
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Dear Valued Client
We have had many requests from clients asking us to inform them when we add new lines to our web shop ,and to keep them updated on any possible future prices increases as there as been this year in Olive Oils due to bad harvest ,
So If you would like us to include you in our mail out please just drop us a line via e-mail at CAMISAFOOD@AOL.COM and we will gladly try and keep you updated.
Also if you have any recipies or helpful information you would like to pass on to other "lovers of fine food" please just email us and we will endevour to include them in the News Letter.
We aim to send out a News Letter every 4-6 weeks so rest assured we will not be filling your mail box with hundreds of emails every day
Yours
FRATELLI CAMISA LTD
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NEWS AND INFORMATION
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KEEPING AN EAR TO THE GROUND!!!!!!!
As we have been in this buisness since 1929 we have built up a well souced knowlege of all our products ,we vist the counties and places of production several times a year, both to check up on suppliers and to look for new products coming onto the Market.
As many of you already know we sadly had to close our last Shop in London Soho several years ago due to lack of space to expand and have since concentrated on our wholesale /import/distribution buisness supplying delicatessens all over the country from our wharehouse in Hertsfordshire ,
This web shop was started shortly after the closeure of our shop due to the many requests from our old and faithful customers and we are constantly adding new lines . But is you have any requests to see other products available on line please just drop us a line and we will endevour to add them to our on line listings.
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NEWS LETTER APRIL 2008
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NEWS LETTER FOR APRIL 2008
The news is not good on the food front, Prices of Grain especially Wheat has continued to rise on the world markets which is not only having a devestating effect on mainline products such as Pasta but also on biscuits and grissini. Infact everything thats contains flour !!
Not only that but animal feed has gone up which in turn is pushing pork prices up hence Salami and hams are increasing in price.
Now we have news that Rice is getting short and is rocketing up.
At the moment there seems no end to these increases and with every delivery from Europe also being effected by the Devaluation of Sterling in the last few months we are in for a year of food inflation of massive proportions.
Just think of the Exchange rate of Sterling against the Euro .A few months ago £100. got you 148 Euros now you will only get about 120 Euros
that is a devaluation of Sterling of nearly 20% and as a vast amount of our food imports come from the Euro Zone all those products are due to increase by at least 20% even before taking into account the products themselves increasing in price !!!
We at Fratelli Camisa are only increasing prices as and when we have to ,and NOT across the board in one go ,but only when we have new deliveries at the new prices , It goes without saying that if Sterling shoud go back up in value we will DECREASE PRICES .
On the Mail order front we are continuing to increase our customer base and sales month on month ,Delia's new book has also been of great help in introducing new customers to our on line web shop with many repeat orders .
Also in the last few months we have been repeatedly asked for whole cases of many items that we stock and with this in mind we have now started to introduce la few lines in Full cases at Special case Prices by doing this we can pass on savings directly to you. At the moment these lines are mainly Pasta and Olive Oils , both of which have long best before dates of nearly 3 years in the case of Pasta and about 18 months on the Olive Oils .
One customer has pointed out that "the way food prices are going he will be earning more by filling his larder up with long life items than the interrest he is being offered at his building society "
We will be adding more of these SPECIALS ITEMS By the CASE in the the next few weeks so please keep an eye out for them under our special offer section .
One new line that has proved very popular in the last few weeks has been the Mothers Garden Extra Virgin Olive Oil from Spain ,and we have sold quiet a few copies of the book that goes with it telling the story of the English family that is producing this fine Olive Oil which is also recomended by Delia Smith and Judy Ridgeway .
We are aslo looking to introduce a receipe section so if you would like to send us your receipe using items purchased from our shop we will feature it ,Just simple ideas will do , quick and easy meals for two say ,or even for deserts for that matter but trying to use REAL food as ingredients please .
If we get a good response we will pick a monthly WINNER who will get a £75.00 Discount on their next order , Runners up will also get gifts .
So go on just write me an e mail and send me your favorite receipe
Thats all for now will get back to you all soon .
Alberto Camisa
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NEWS LETTER FOR MARCH 2008
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NEWS LETTER FOR MARCH 2008
Firstly a word about my spelling mistakes , Yes thank to all those that have pointed these out but as I am a one finger typist and this program does not have a spell check and the phone keeps ringing etc a few spelling errors do creep in , and will try and correct them as soon as possible .But yet again some people find that it gives the site a bit of a personal touch. Will try and do better from now on..
Well you are all probably aware of the New Book by Delia Smith HOW to Cheat , on the whole i think it came out alright and it contains many quick and simple recipies which taste good and are easy to prepare . Having said that i am totally against the idea of Tinned Mince meat or ready mashed potatoes ..I am sure we are all capable of going to the shops prefeably a Traditional Butcher buying some mince and putting it in small ready portions in the Freezer , or keeping a bag of potatoes in the garage or shed .Then SANTO CELLO as they would say in Italy to recomend ready grated Parmigiano is just not on . I have never yet tasted any that tastes any better than "saw dust" and is compleatly tasteless , It is no great problem just to have a small piece of FRESH parmigiano in the fridge which one can quicky grate or shave or eat on the cheese board . Keeps for ages too.
Rant over . The good side is that Delia has also picked many nice things for the larder such as the spices she recomends and of cause I cannot help but point out the eight items she picked from our web shop . Our Pasta features prodomently on the front cover hence the martelli photo on this months heading .( you can see these on the section headed by Delia on the products page )
Its been difficult to keep up with stocks especially with the Porcini Dry Mushrooms but we have now caught up with demand and can fullfill all orders ex-stock.
We have had a great response to this section of the web shop and especially to the special Delia offer containing all the our products recomended in the book .
Also the TV series is starting on Monday 10th March on BBC 2 keep an eye open for it as it promisses to be good.
Product news we have added a new Olive oil to our range by Mothers Garden , its really a nice Olive Oil and well worth a try .
Now for more serious matters.
The pound has continued to fall against the Euro and wheat prices are still going up almost on a daily basis , We have held all our prices for as long as we could but due to this continual fall in the value of Sterling against the Euro we have had to increase prices as stock arrives . Also Wheat / Grain prices are going through the roof and PASTA especially is up almost with every delivery we get from Italy. Just as a side note I was in Italy a short time ago and the price of BREAD in Parma was 3.95 euros per Kilo that works out about £3.08p per kilo . Surgest you take a look at what you are paying for your bread next time you visit the supermarket . It has crept up but they have all kept very quiet about it . Makes a packet of Pasta 500grams which feeds 4 adults look cheap in comparison .
The hope is that the Euopean central Bank is going to cut it's interrest rates and stop the fall in Sterling agains the Euro . Or is it all a plot to get sterling level with the Euro and thus next thing we know we are in the Euro zone by default. I must be getting cynical in my old age .
Thats it for now will get back to you all soon . Buon Appeito
Alberto
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NEWS LETTER FEBRUARY 2008
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LATEST NEWS FOR FEBRUARY 2008
DELIA SMITH IS BACK
As you have probably guessed from the photo this month Delia Smith is back , She is launching her new book
"Delia How to CHEAT at cooking" in which she teaches many short cuts on how to prepare good quailty meals when time is short.
We are happy to also note that she has chosen and recommends eight items from our range of products which as of the 17th February 2008 will be available not only from many fine delicatessens which we supply throughout the UK but also direct to your door via our web shop.
Each of the products chosen and recommended by Delia will carry a Delia CHEAT Logo to help avoid confusion when shopping .
The Interrest already shown and the enquiries we have already had by phone and e mails have already been enormous but we are afraid that we cannot divulge the particular products untill the book publication date on the 17th Feb 2008 , From which point we will have all the products that have been recommended by Delia under a special section for ease of selection.
From the interrest already shown we are expecting a large request for all the products and although we have plenty of stock and we will aim as per our normal service to deliver to your door any order within 24 hours ,please bear with us at this time if we are 24 hours late.
We are informed by Delia's Office that there is also a TV series starting in March to accompany the book which will be well worth watching. I think it will be on BBC2 .
On our part you will also see that under the Delia section in our web shop listing all the products we have put together the full selection of our products recommended by Delia at a special price with Free delivery to any Uk mainland address .
PLEASE CHECK BACK on the 17TH FEB to be the first to see these featured items and hopefully place an order for delivery at the same time as the book hits the high streets.
IN THE NEAR FUTURE we hope to be starting a recommended recipe section by Celebrity Chef Alex Mackay More info to follow soon.
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JANUARY 2008 NEWS LETTER
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NEWS LETTER JANUARY 2008
Dear all
Its a case of do you want the BAD news or the GOOD news first ??
Well lets start with a bit of good news first .
the shortest day is now behind us and hopefully the coming year will bring us a better summer than in 2007. The year ended with a strong up take in both our wholesale division sales to the trade and a very big healthy increase in our mail order sales since we introduced over night delivery service.
Towards the end of November 07 we started to use biodegradable wheat chips in all our mail order packaging which has proved very popular especially has it simply disovles in water and flushed away rather than filling the council bins up .
Now for that BAD news.
We are afriad that 2008 will see quite a few price increases slowly feeding through ,some of which we have already had to implement. These increases are due to several factors all coming together at once .
One , the Sterling exchange rate against the Euro has decreased by just on 10% .This time last year we were getting about 1.50 euros to the £ ,Now we are lucky to get 1.34 euros to the £ sterling , Plus as we have all dicovered to our costs Fuel Prices have risen which as increased all our transport costs from Europe.
It gets worst There is also a wheat shortage and a milk shortage so prices of Pasta and Cheese have been steadly increasing over the last few months, you might have noticed that Bread prices in your local Supermarket have increased , for this very reason.
We have been told that the reason for the wheat prices going up is that Canada which is the main producer had a bad harvest ,together with an increased demand from the Far East and also is using wheat for Bio Fuels . This is also feeding through to other cerials such as Mais and rice which are all showing signs of increasing .Milk is getting expensive as well due to the fact that China is now buying ever increasing volumes and forcing the price up ,which in turn is pushing the price of all cheeses up .
Last summer was bad for all crops especially fvery bad year for Porcini Mushrooms ,these as you know are a wild crop and the harvest can vary greatly from year to year, The 2007 harvest was the worst for many years . hopefully the 2008 harvest will be better .
GOOD NEWS Olive Oil Prices are STABLE at the moment so we should be able to maintain 2007 prices (unless China starts getting a taste for it ) We will also be maintaining our minimum FREE delivery charges for the forseeable future and will be contsantly adding new products to our range.
We are also being featured in Delia Smiths New Cook Book "How to Cheat" coming out in Feb 2008 which will feature several of our exclusive products ,including Martelli Pasta which is on the front cover. The Book will also be available from our web site at a discounted price .
Thats it for now ,i am off to open a nice bottle of wine to try and cheer myself up a bit .
Alberto
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OCTOBER 2007 NEWS LETTER
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OCTOBER 2007
Well its been a few months since my last news letter so have a bit of catching up to do . Over the summer we travelled to Italy once again and spent some time with Fruttibosco our Village cooperative in the Village of Tarsogno, We have started development of several new lines which should be coming through early in 2008 so keep an eye open in the new year.
We are now well into the Christmas season and are expecting the first container of Panettone to arrive from Augusta of Milan any day now , these proved to be very popular since we started stocking this brand, Unlike some brands available in the super markets our panettone are made FRESH during the last week of September and are made with 100% Butter so are always nice and moist.
Last week Alberto Camisa attended a workshop organised by the Italian Trade commission in London at the Washington Hotel in Curzon street where several producers from Palermo Sicily were presenting there products, Fratelli Camisa already have the pleasure of being the importer and Distributor of MANFREDI BARBERA OLIVE OILS of Palermo Sicily and as you can see from the photos we have a large selection of these fine Extra Virgin Olive oils Of Note and for a limited time only we will soon have in stock the NOVELLO extra Virgin Olive Oil by Barbera, this olive oil is made from the very first olives picked in the season and has a wionderful fresh and fruity taste .
The olives are being collected as we write so we will not have it stock until the end of October , Please check under the BARBERA heading so you can see when it will be available. It realy is a truley exceptional Oil and well worth a try .
Our mail order division is going better than ever with many new clients shopping with us and more importantly returning, We always try and ship every order received before 3pm for next day delivery ,We have been mentioned in Rick Steins latest Book who recommends our Lugania Sausahes which we have now included on the web site .and we have been told that we will be mentioned in the next Delia Smith book coming out in the Autum ,where she mentions several of our exclusive products including her favourite pasta by MARTELLI .We will keep you posted as soon as we know more.
Well that's it for now , will try and write the next news letter with more news soon
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NEWS LETTER for MARCH 2007
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MARCH 2007 NEWS LETTER
This year March is a very busy time here at Fratelli Camisa as our wholesale division which is the main branch of our company is once again exhibiting at the International Food Exhibition held at ExCel exhibition centre in Docklands .This is the biggest Food exhibition held in the Uk once every two years.
Fratelli Camisa import and wholesale division as over the past twenty years will be present with a large stand showing and giving tastings of the wide selection of products exclusive to us . So for the next few weeks everyone is working overtime getting the stand ready to transport over to the exhibition site.
If any of our private mail order clients would like to visit the show please just click on the IFE 07 link at the begining of the products page and we will forward you Free Tickets so you can visit us on our stand and where we will be delighted to offer you tastings and a complementary glass of Pro Secco.
Show opens at 10 am on Sunday the 18th March and closes on Wednesday 21st March at 5 pm .
Some may have noticed that we have now expanded our cheese selection with many new cheeses including Fresh Italian unsalted Butter by Brescia Lat which are now available through our mail order department . Also expanded by popular demand is our Charcuterie Section with many more salami and hams on offer. Again if anyone feels we should offer a product that we do not currenty offer via mail order please tell us and we will endeavour to include it as soon as possible.
The lady in the main photo is Mrs Camisa senior seen here doing what she loves best, cooking for the family. Here she is making Gnocchi potato dumplings using our Molini Pasini Flour, it is only after MAMMA Camisa has tested out an ingredient that we include it on our web shop .
She is a Lady of many talents but her true love is cooking the old fashioned way using only traditional ingredients.
If you click on the MORE DETAILS you can see some photos of the Village high in the Appennine Mountains in Northern Italy where the Camisa family has its origins and from where we source our Wild Porcini Mushrooms from . The Village has a Mineral water Bottling Plant run by NORDA and a large co-operative called Fruttibosco who package all our Porcini Mushrooms and various other preserves in olive oil such as Sun Dried tomatoes and Baby artichokes ,but for a full list just look on the products page links.
In these photos you can see the villagers enjoying one of the many food festivals held throughout the year ,this one being held high on the Alpine pastures at over 3200 feet ,Wild Boar is being roasted the traditional way by reflective heat from a large wooden fire . And as you can see everyone is enjoying the food and wine in the shade of the pine forest before the evening folk dances and singing start up.
There are several family run hotels in the Village which is only a short taxi ride from Borgotaro Railway Station or about 50 minutes from Parma Airport
if you wanted more details please just call and we can give you more information on accomodation and travel to and from.
The best season to vist is between June and October ,when there are the most festivals and depending on the weather the Porcini Mushrooms grow.
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FEBRUARY 07 NEWS LETTER
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FEBRUARY 2007 NEWS LETTER
This month we have added several new lines to the web shop , These include several new olive oils by RAINERI of Imperia ,including an Extra Virgin Olive Oil made from 100% Taggiasca Olives plus a Ligurian Oil called Ponentino and a Organic Ligurian Olive Oil.
Also
we have expanded our cheese range that is available through our web shop ,with a range of cheeses by BRESCIA LAT whose cheese we now distribute in the UK . These include the old favorits such as Mozzarella ,cows Milk and Buffolo Milk versions, plus ready diced for pizza or salads .
We also now stock Fresh Italian white butter in 250g Packets plus a new range of Sardinian Pecorino cheeses more of which will be added in the next few weeks as these start arriving from Italy.
Also new is a 200g packet of Parmigiano Reggiano cheese as well as the ever popular 1 kilo packet.
Following many requests we have also expanded our Charcuteri range to include Coppa, Mortadella, Pancetta, and Cacciatore baby salami.
If your wondering who that good looking man in this months photo is ,I have to disappoint you and say its not me and all i can say is that he is our undercover researcher from Ireland ,and goes by the name of Filipo, he is seen here at a trade show in Parma tracking down new products for us. A warning to the ladies ,he has the gift of the Irish when he needs to sweet talk , so take care . On the other hand he is a very fine cook .
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NEWS FOR DECEMBER 2006
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DECEMBER 2006
I would like to thank everyone for their support during the last year ,Our mail order section has had our best year to date with orders up by a considerable amount and way bejond our expectations.
We started our mail order after many requests from customers that used to frequent our shops in BERWICK STREET Soho and CHARLOTTE STREET .After closing the shops in order to concentrate on our WHOLESALE division we were contacted by many faithful private customers asking us if we could supply them directly , hence the MAILORDER web site was started .
So far after a slow start we have increased on our mail order deliveries year on year , with the vast majority of customers ordering time and again.
We have endevoured to keep prices as low as possible without compromising on quality . This year we have added many new lines such as ROMITA PASTA , DONNA CARMELLA Tomatoes , New BALSAMIC VINEGARS , VON MUHLENEN Award winning Swiss Cheese, and our own range of AUTHENIC PASTA SAUCES ,just to name a few.
We are always keeping an eye open for new QUAILTY products ,and if you want to see a product on in our webshop that we donot currently stock please let us know and we will do our best to track it down and include it as soon as we can.
We also get a large number of e-mails asking for advice on cooking and the history of certain products and how best to store them , therefore in the last few weeks following a suggestion from a customer we have started by adding a COOKING HINTS & RECIPE section which as time goes on and time allows we will be expanding.
This year also we have been taken aback by the amount of orders from the Christmas Lines section , especially for the ranges of PANETTONE AUGUSTA and the FIORE Cookie ranges , and have had to disappoint many as we ran out in the first few days of December of some of the lines .
Please please next year PLACE YOUR orders EARLY so that we can reserve your chosen item for you.
Well now i would simply like to thank you all for visiting our pages and hope that you have found our Web shop of interrest and take this opportunity to wish you all a very happy CHRISTMAS and a PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR for 2007 from us all at FRATELLI CAMISA LTD.
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NEWS LETTER NOVEMBER 2006
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NEWS LETTER for NOVEMBER 2006
Dear All
Last summer we travelled down to Southern Italy to visit the medieval City of Foggia and as usual and is our want knocked on a few farm gates
and found a Farm Called FATTORIA DONNA CARMELA near the town of San Giovanni Rotondo a few kilometers from Foggia
They grow and pack their own tomatoes , and once we had tasted them and found them to be as Tomatoes should taste sweet and tasty and not like tomatoes available in supermarkets which to be very frank taste of nothing but water we knew that we had to start stocking them.
So after a few months of getting lables and transport problems sorted they have finnaly arrived and have now included them on our web shop .
We hope you will give them a try. The price is very good at only 1.75p per 520gram Jar
they are all jarred with NO PRESERVATIVES in just plain water ,the Cherry Tomatoes are particular in that they are soft skinned and very sweet and are therefore ideal in salads. Unlike the so called fresh tomatoes avavilable in the supermarkets which are tastless and are as firm as bullets !!!!!
The Plum peeled Tomatoes are also very sweet and tender and are just wonderful to used when making tomatoe sauces and again contain NO PRESERVATIVES but this time have a tiny bit of basil added .
Give them a try and you will be back for more garanteed. !!!!
>B>Just a last word about PANNETONE Christmas Cakes , Which can be found under the CHRISTMAS 2006 LINES LOGO on our products page .Please donot delay in placing your order for these as stocks are already running low. Just place your order and in the notes let us know when you would like delivery to avoid disappointment.
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NEWS FOR OCTOBER 2006
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NEWS FOR OCTOBER 2006
NEW this month is a new range of Italian Flours from Italy by MOLINO PASINI
We have just started importing a range of Italian Flours for Pasta and bread making as well as a ready mix for making potato Gnocchi
Also the full range of Italian Christmas specialities have just arrived including the full range of Panettone cakes by Augusta as well as
a selection of italian biscuits and Torron bars
Please be aware that Panettone Cakes tend to sell out quiet early so to be sure of your order please just reserve your order in advance
and simply add in the comments your prefered delivery date.
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NEWS JULY 2006
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NEWS LETTER JULY 2007
NEW BALSAMIC VINEGARS
JUST ARRIVED FROM ITALY NEW RANGE OF YOUNG AND AGED BALSAMIC VIENGARS BY ANTICHI COLLI OF MODENA ITALY
TO FIND THESE NEW VINEGARS ON THE SITE
PLEASE SCROL DOWN TO THE VINEGAR LOGO AND THEN CLICK ON ANTICHI COLLI
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