The Pharmaceutical Journal Vol 267 No 7179 p904-936
22-29 December 2001

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Christmas miscellany summary

How to run a mouth-watering business

Pharmacist Margaret Allan has always had an interest in food. So much so that two-and-a-half years ago, she set up a catering and delicatessen business. Her love of food has obviously been reflected in the business and last year the delicatessen was voted one of the top 10 best fine food stores in the United Kingdom by The Independent and has also been nominated for a BBC Radio 4 good food award.

"Originally the idea was to set up solely an outside catering business," she explains. "Then a property came up in Hoole, just outside Chester, and it made us think about starting a delicatessen." And so, Margaret and her partner, Barry Sullivan, set up Sullivan & Allan Fine Foods. "The delicatessen is in a busy street full of specialist shops. People tell us that since we started the delicatessen, it has raised the standards of other businesses in the area," she says.

Margaret works in the delicatessen for two days each week. For the other three days, she works as a locum pharmacist. In the delicatessen, she is often asked for advice since some of her regular customers know that she is a pharmacist. This is mostly advice about gluten-free or low-fat diets.

However, she does not stock health supplements nor does she have any intention of doing so in the future. "There is a pharmacy a few doors away and I think that they should be sold through a pharmacy. It would not be appropriate for me to stock them in another outlet because I am not always there to give advice."

The delicatessen stocks a huge range of products, from 60 types of cheese, 10 types of pâté, a range of continental meats, 15 types of olives and assorted salads to quiches, pastry products and bread, all freshly baked every day. It also sells teas, coffees, pickles, jams, flours, nuts and cooking ingredients. Every day, the delicatessen sells a different flavour of fresh soup. "We usually make plainer varieties during the week, such as fresh tomato with pesto, and then more unusual ones on a Saturday. For example, roasted plantain, coconut, red onion and tamarind."

Margaret also runs an outside catering business. "It could involve anything from cooking dinner at someone's house and serving it ourselves, to a wedding for 150 people." The most unusual meal she has been asked to cook so far was for a Spanish flamenco evening. The business is the recommended caterer for Chester cathedral. In January, this will include catering for the Duke and Duchess of Westminster. So what has Margaret got planned for them? "The date is close to Burns night, so although it won't be a Burns night supper, the meal will be loosely Scottish themed," she says.

What is the food expert's favourite food? "I'm obsessed with tomatoes: a tomato a day keeps the doctor away. But pickled onions come a close second," Margaret says.