gR6NK

8. Organic Food
Fortnum & Mason has never overtly promoted our involvement with organic food. However, we carry many organic
products in our departments, most notably our fresh food areas where we stock many organic raw protein products,
charcuterie products and cheeses.
We generally work with small scale producers where time and tradition are respected and even where products are not
certified as organic, the production ethos is in line with organic production.
We do, however, recognise that we have a number of gaps in our assortment for organic options and we are excited about
the work we are doing with an organic food brand to introduce a new range of organic products to sit alongside our own
label assortment.
9. GMOs
We have been GM free since 2002 and do not stock products which contain hydrogenated fats. The palm oil which we
use is sustainably sourced. We are scrupulous in our insistence that as far as possible our goods are free of chemicals and
we are working toward being NAFNAC in our confectionery department.
Case study – product
Fortnum & Mason Honey
A plan to put beehives on top of a building in the
middle of Piccadilly might seem like a flight of fancy.
But ever since a colony of bees took up residence on
Fortnum & Mason’s rooftop, they have been happily
producing a truly delicious honey – so good that these
rather exclusive bees have created a waiting list for
their produce.
Fortnum’s Sweet Grocery Buyer Jonathan Miller
designed the extravagant beehives himself, giving each
a distinct architectural style – Roman, Mughal, Chinese
and Gothic – as well as a coat of eau de nil paint and
some rather elegant gold details. ‘I knew that if we were
going to produce our own honey, the hives just had
to be something special,’ explains Jonathan. ‘I wanted
something distinct and fun but utterly in keeping with
Fortnum’s. I decided to use different styles, but all
classical ones, the sort that a good Georgian architect
would have understood. One result is that the bees
have got plenty of space. By bee standards, these are
palatial residences.’
It had long been Jonathan’s goal to have bees producing
honey on the spot, as it were, rather than brought in
from the countryside, and the plan finally took shape
in the summer of 2008 when the bees produced their
first crop.
The honey, called simply Fortnum’s Bees, was a
lovely pale, toffee colour with a soft consistency, a
light and delicate flavour and a pleasing finish. That
first crop tasted of the Oxfordshire countryside,
where the bees had been staying before they were
transported to London. The second crop, the result
16
of their forays into London’s parks and gardens, had
subtle traces of chestnut and lime, giving it depth and
freshness. The bees have a radius of around three miles,
which encompasses St James’s Park, Green Park and
Buckingham Palace, as well as any number of private
gardens. Gardens in London are often planted with a
dazzling array of exotic flowers, which means that the
honey’s flavour is quite unpredictable, and changes with
every crop.
The bees should produce two crops a year, but are
very sensitive to the weather; in 2009 a spell of wet
weather discouraged their efforts and a second batch
never appeared. So Jonathan is eagerly awaiting this
year’s late crop, as it will have an entirely different
flavour, infused with late summer blooms rather than
the tree blossoms of spring.
Not every honey lover can get on to Fortnum’s
rooftops to see the hives for themselves, so on their
behalf, Jonathan installed a beecam, which has attracted
a considerable following. One camera is positioned
to track the bees as they fly in and out of their hives;
the other captures the view from the hive across the
City to the iconic Gherkin, whose shape is remarkably
similar to the finials decorating the hive roof. This
particular view rather nicely contrasts the simplicity of
a hive full of bees, doing what they have always done,
with the steel and glass of a brand new building – a
human hive, if you like. Jonathan admits that it is rather
pleasant to go up on to the roof and see the bees at
work – it gives one a sense of equilibrium, amongst the
disorder and noise of the city.