If your idea of Belgium food is moules et frites, waffles, beer and chocolate, think again.
The Flanders’ Finest Flavours event, hosted in central London this week, turned that notion on its head.
Instead consider a mushroom-based seafood salad and sweet potato croquettes, low sugar chocolate plus non-alcoholic beer, spirits and aperitifs.
Showcasing 23 Belgium firms, Flanders’ Finest Flavours highlighted several key trends not least the move to healthier food and beverage products with both non-alcoholic drinks and reduced sugar product lines.
The drive to offer cleaner labels and showcase local produce was apparent too but there was also a handful of quirkier ingredients to surprise and delight the palate.
The event was a platform for new and established firms with a scattering of enterprising new start-ups but complemented by multi-generational family businesses. In short, there was something for everyone.
Representing the new generation of suppliers and ticking both the non-alcohol and sugar-free boxes was Odett. The Belgian company was set up three years ago by Murial Nuyens and produces a pretty pink aperitif made from raspberries and rose petals and purely natural flavours. The company has just appointed a distributor for Belgium and France and is looking to expand its export business. The bottles are packaged in beautiful paper wrapping, which can be personalised on the front and include messaging for key events like Mother’s Day and Valentine’s Day on the reverse.
Opius, also established three years ago, showcased its three-strong non-alcoholic spirts range. The offer includes Nigredo, with notes of roast coffee and caramel (shortlisted in the IWSC’s 2023 Low and No Spirits category); Albedo with anise and herbal top notes and Amaro with citrus aromas and a bitter aftertaste.
Roman Brewery, a 14th generation business and Belgium’s oldest family brewery, showed its range of beers including a Pilsner, Abbey Beer, an IPA, a new alcohol-free option plus Adriaen Brouwer, an organically brewed range which is named after an artist who was born in the company’s home town of Oudenaarde.
Spirits By Design presented its small batch tailor-made spirts at the event and featured some unusual flavours including a vodka produced with real caviar; Meyer’s Gin Gold, which is made with Flemish white asparagus; and L’Homard gin, which is macerated with wild lobsters and said to be the perfect match with a tomato juice for a spicy bloody Mary.
Sea buckthorn is the inspiration and special ingredient in Duno’s alcoholic drinks. The orange berry grows in sand dunes, hence, the name and it’s native to Belgium too. The range includes a liqueur to drink neat or with a mixer and a Campari-style bitter to mix with bubbles for a fizz. There’s also a sea buckthorn beer and a jam. The brand is sold via restaurants/bars, distributors and smaller retailers and delis.
Keeping with the unusual, Dame Jeanne showed its brut beer produced with Champagne yeast, which is aged for three months; plus a new non-alcoholic drink made with barley and wheat yeast plus apple, cherry, granita and chilli peppers.
Elsewhere, Gili presented its alcohol-free elixirs available in 700ml 500ml, 200ml and 60ml (shot) sizes. There are three varieties: ginger, lemon and honey; wasabi, lime and basil, which is sweetened with agave; and turmeric, orange and elderflower.
Owner Enzo Mazza emphasised the spiciness of the products and that the availability of larger bottle sizes was more sustainable than smaller shot formats. Further, the waste from the ginger and lemon in the drink’s production is used to make a tea.
The same flavours are also available in RTDs, mixed with sparkling water.
BonMush, a fifth generation company from Ypres, which was founded as a supplier of meat products, is now pursuing a plant-based journey with its plant-based seafood salads made from locally grown oyster mushrooms and a rapeseed-based mayonnaise.
The brand is stocked by leading retailers in Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany and produces private label as well.
Balance produced its first no sugar added chocolates 28 years ago and hasn’t looked back. Ten years ago the brand company added an organic Fair-trade offer, Chocolates from Heaven, and the brand is now on sale in 44 countries worldwide including Holland & Barrett in the UK.
Okono, from the Japanese word ‘to perform’, showed its range of low sugar chocolate and bars designed to help consumers lower their sugar intake and achieve a Keto lifestyle/diet. All the products are vegan, gluten-free, soya-free and lactose-free and sold through boutique stores and pharmacies in Belgium and with online players and retailers in export markets.
Ganda, a Belgium company named after the old name for the city of Ghent, presented its range of cured hams and beef and emphasised the cleanliness of its product labels as well as the curing time. The only ingredients in the cured hams are pork and seasalt, for instance.
The range includes Ham, Angus beef, Wagyu, Wild Boar, Rubia Gallega and Simmental plus an Ardennes Ham produced with Grand Cru. The company supplies restaurants, supermarkets and speciality shops in Belgium and is targeting similar operations in the UK. The company has also produced a book about ham which includes a number of recipes too.
Belfond was also keen to drive home the clean ingredients and natural processes behind its range of stocks.
According to the company’s Frederiek Balliere, Belfond makes traditional stock out of high-quality ingredients, without salt, flavour enhancers or preservatives, which are aimed at hobby cooks and professionals.
The company also offers a range of broths, Broth Way, a drinking broth that combines convenience with health benefits.
Pastry specialist Maitre Andre showed its three-pronged product offer. It comprises fresh pastry on the roll including butter, vegan, sweet pastry and pizza dough options, which are aimed at the foodservice market plus small pastry producers; Chevrefeuilles, a goat’s cheese-based tapas range in small and larger formats and aimed at foodservice but also available in a packaged tray format for retail; and Quiche, available with vegetable and non-vegetable flavours in both retail and on-the-go packaging.
Belberry showed its attractively presented range of jams and preserves plus complementary products including fruit vinegars, ketchups, jams for cheese and preserved lemons, which are the top selling line.
The Belgium company exports to 50 countries worldwide and has a presence in the UK in garden centres and fine food shops.
De Aarddappelhoeve presented its Potato Chef brand featuring sweet potato and potato convenience products. The focus was a new premium range of sweet potato croquettes which can be cooked in the oven or an air fryer and can be supplied fresh or frozen.
The company supplies Belgium’s leading supermarkets including Colruyt, Spar and Delhaize plus Aldi in Belgium and the Netherlands.
Jan Verlinden has reinvented his family’s home-style lemonade business, Ritchie’s. While the brand disappeared in the 70s and the Verlinden’s brewery closed in the mid-90s, it’s now firmly back on the map – the company sells more than 5 million bottles a year.
“I’ve brought back my favourite drink from I was a child,” Verlinden says.
Ritchie’s has reproduced the iconic 1950s bottle design but updated the recipes to reflect today’s taste requirements.
The range includes orange with a hint of vanilla, grapefruit with a touch of pineapple, lemon with a splash of raspberry, lemon and ginger plus a cola and a cola zero, which use apple and lemon juice for acidity and are claimed to be Belgium’s only natural cola products.
The range has a real retro appeal and draws on Belgium’s rich comic book culture – Verlinden worked with a local artist to create the drawings which support Ritchie’s branding. The brand is already on sale in independent retailers and coffee shops where it appeals to those businesses who have worked hard to differentiate their food offer and want the same for their soft drinks offer, Verlinden says.
Hoenshof is a family-owned winery based in the east part of Flanders, which is run by university professor Dr Ghislain Houben and his son Jeroen. Jeroen founded the business in 2018 having been inspired by his father’s keen interest in viticulture and has expanded the business from 6.5 to 38 hectares. The company also works with local farmers who now grow grapes for the business since they are more economically viable than apples and pears, reports Jeroen’s cousin and the company’s commercial manager Simon Loos. Hoenshof focuses on young, fresh and fruity wines with a lower alcohol content and includes an organic wine in the line up with the rest of the range converting to organic status in the next three years.
The company sells mainly to restaurants in Belgium and targets a younger, 20-45 year old consumer group, says Loos. The brand has a modern label design featuring a chicken – Hoen is a Flemish word for chicken, which provides a definite standout feature. As Loos says: “Everyone remembers when they drink wine with a chicken on it.”
