A family-run fishmongers hopes to bring the “finest quality produce” when it opens its new deli in Felixstowe – celebrating the best of Suffolk food.
The Felixtowe Fishmonger has been run by Hannah Branch for nine years in Crescent Road and now her team are opening up a new deli in the former solicitors next door – following the controversial closure of the town’s Marks & Spencer after 80 years.
More: Shops closing early and drop in customers blamed on M&S closureThe new business, named Felixstowe Fine Foods and Deli, will stock Suffolk’s finest produce and shine a light on some of the county’s amazing food suppliers.
Speaking of the new venture, Hannah said: “We love this town and we really think it needs something like this.
“There hasn’t been a deli in Felixstowe for around 16 years and now with M&S closed people really miss those finer things that you can’t get in your ordinary supermarket.”
A range of Suffolk brands will be stocked in store, such as The Pickled Jam Company from Hadleigh, Betty & Miller from Haverhill, Hadleigh’s Daphne’s Cakes and Suffolk Food Hall’s Choose Spice.
Customers will be able to browse through a selection of Suffolk hams, jams, pickles, oils and award-winning pork pies – with Hannah hoping they will pop in after a trip to the fishmongers.
The deli was planned to open a couple of months ago, however just weeks after signing the lease the coronavirus pandemic hit the country, putting the new business on hold.
Now the team has decided to “continue full steam ahead” in getting the deli up and running for its “wonderful town”, hoping to open during the week of June 15.
“We had been sitting out in the courtyard at the back of the fishmongers when we half jokingly said ‘wouldn’t that make a nice deli’,” Hannah explained. “Six months on and here we are.”
A small room towards the rear of the deli will be filled with vegan and gluten-free alternatives, catering for the increasing numbers of people who follow a plant-based diet.
Hannah says it will be filled with “hand-crafty” products created by small local suppliers, with dips and dressings made by people in Suffolk and handmade pasta from a woman in Woodbridge.
The deli will be open six days a week from Monday to Saturday, 9am to 5pm, and will be run by two full-time members of staff and a couple of part-time employees.
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