Masseys More than just another village Shop

We’ve always made a point of providing a personal service for our customers, and last week we found a new way to do that. And we’re thrilled with it.

One of our customers gave us his weekly shopping list – the list of groceries that he would usually be driving to Waitrose to buy. He asked us if we could fill that order – and we managed to get all but a few items (which will be in stock next time he asks). His order was packed up and delivered to his door on Wednesday evening.

After we had delivered it, I went onto the Waitrose website and priced every item – like for like – and discovered that not only did he get his shopping personally picked, packed and delivered,  he also paid £6.63 less for his shopping. If you add in the cost of a drive to Waitrose, at 40p a mile, that increases his saving a further £4.48 to a total of £11.11.

Even we were pretty impressed with that.

In fact, I was so impressed I decided to see what we could do on a different list – a smaller, every day basket of shopping:
1 litre semi-skimmed milk
1 litre grapefruit juice
6 eggs
1 loaf of medium sliced white bread
250g button mushrooms
225g cherry tomatoes
500g Utterly Butterly
1 medium head of broccoli
600g green beans
1 medium cauliflower
1kg carrots
Brussel sprouts
700g clementines
8 apples
700g new potatoes
1.2kg butternut squash

Here’s how the second sample worked out:

Waitrose price including travel cost: £34.81

Masseys price including £1 delivery charge £25.21

Total saving on this sample shop £10.60

And for those who like to shop at Tesco – the saving from shopping at Masseys would be £2.52.

I think this is a rather nice example of how shopping locally can help save the planet as well as saving money.

What do you think?

Photo credit: Alan Cleaver

Posted under Food ideas

The Barber family’s website tells us that they have been farming and making cheese in Somerset since the early 1800’s.

They only use traditional cultures to make their cheddar – each blend imparting its own slightly unique flavour characteristics. Barber’s 1833 is always matured for a minimum of 24 months providing cheddar with a powerful intensity and unrivalled complexity and depth of flavour.

Here are some quick warming cheddar recipes you might like to try:

Hot Cheddar Stuffed Mushrooms

Welsh Rarebit

Macaroni Cheese (You may want to try our Italian pasta with this – it’s the real thing)

Posted under Food ideas, Recipes, Shop news

I’m  a bit behind with my writing this week – which means Marc has already sold out of his Cheese of the Week and has had to re-order.  His second delivery has now arrived so you can pick up a tasty wedge of Wensleydale & Cranberry.

This cheese is described as “festive” and is a “Creamy white Real Yorkshire Wensleydale cheese carefully combined with the delicate fruity succulence of pure, sweet cranberries.”

Here are a few recipes you might like to try:

Festive Wensleydale & Cranberry waldorf salad

Roast butternut squash with honey and Wensleydale & Cranberry cheese

Wensleydale & Cranberry parcels (perfect for Christmas get-togethers)

Our latest special offer

Stock up with lemonade while we have it on special offer. Price dropped from £1.42 to 99p.  Only while stocks last.

Dates for your diary

• Don’t forget St Andrew’s Fair on Saturday. It’s a Whittlesford tradition that’s not to be missed.

• Robert Skelton’s second talk on climate change will be held at William Westley School at 6.30pm on Sunday December 6th.  If you missed the first talk and want to catch up,  you can download it here.

Posted under Food ideas, Recipes, Shop news

There’s a common perception that small local shops are more expensive than the supermarkets. In most cases, sadly, this can’t be denied. The supermarkets just have more buying power. BUT, beware sweeping statements and assumptions like this that may in fact lead you to buy lower quality at higher price-  just because it’s from the supermarket.

Last week we thought it would be a good idea to let people know a bit more about our eggs. We’ve had our eggs delivered from the same farm for the last 5 years. We get free range eggs  direct from the farmer so we know where they come from and we know they’re top quality. But best of all, because we source locally, they are cheaper by far than all the supermarkets. Even the big guys.

Today Marc had some fantastic feedback from two customers who buy our fruit and veg boxes. We make them to order with exactly what you want – available next day.  Once we started telling people that our eggs are cheaper (and better) than the supermarkets, that got people thinking. Two customers who regularly get their fruit and veg from us each took a visit to the ubiquitous Tesco-monster this week, and they both came back with the same message:

“Your fruit and veg is much better quality – and it’s about 10% cheaper”

Added to the fact that the order is made up to suit you, and it’s right on the doorstep, what more could you want? Better quality. Better price. Right on the doorstep.

(Oh, and don’t forget – we can get quite unusual veg too. I love making pasta  and risotto with wild mushrooms in season. Very easy to get. Just ask Marc.

Photo credits: Veg: Alex Lomas, Mushrooms: Nicdafis

Posted under Shop news

Dolcelatte is a soft blue veined Italian cheese, made from cow’s milk.  According to the food dictionary at Epicurious.com, Dolcelatte is

“difficult to find but is sometimes available in specialty cheese shops”.

And this week, available in limited quantity at Masseys.

The cheese, which takes two to three months to produce and age, was developed for the British market and is sometimes referred to as Gorgonzola Dolce.  Its name translates from Italian to ‘sweet milk’ in English.

A few recipes with Dolcelatte:

Toasted Blue Cheese and Caremelised Onions Sandwiches

Penne with Dolcelatte

Dolcelatte Chicken in Port (This would be mouthwatering made with Marc’s succulent bacon)

Why not try one of these for the weekend? Come in and get your Dolcelatte before it sells out.

Hot reminder:

Don’t forget Duxford is hosting an Art Exhibition tomorrow from 6pm until 10pm. I popped over to have a look earlier today and will be back tomorrow to get some early Christmas shopping done.

Posted under Food ideas, Recipes, Shop news