When you are a self-proclaimed chocoholic who loves any type of strawberry treat, getting the opportunity to working with a company like Berry Scrumptious is an absolute dream come true.  Makers of a delicious array of chocolate covered strawberry gifts, Berry Scrumptious literally nurture and handpick the strawberries straight from their family farm in Aberdeenshire.

The founding couple Claire and Ross Rennie have also diversified into producing luxury chocolates and most recently have produced their own version of Rocky Road called “Rocky Farm Road” (inspired by the stony tracks leading up to their farm). There are also plans in motion to bring out a range of toffee with three new flavours in production, Raspberry Chocolate, Fudgeberry (milk chocolate, raspberry and fudge pieces) and Strawberry & Black Pepper.

Berry Scrumptious efforts haven’t gone unnoticed either after they walked away with a 2013 Bronze Grampian Food Forum Innovation Award in the category of Retail Product, companies with less than 25 employees for their Berry Fudge. The company has also been entered into the Scotland Food & Drink Excellence Awards, which it hopes to be shortlisted for the Confectionery and Snacking category.

Highland Fayre is delighted to be working closely with Berry Scrumptious as a key supplier and intend to use a wider range of their goods for the 2013 hamper season. Examples of gift hampers which include Berry Scrumptious products are our Taste of Grampian and Lochnagar Hampers. 

Not got a spare eight hours to show your Dad how to redeem an iTunes voucher? Sick of seeing another gift going into the “man drawer” to never see the light of day again? Or perhaps an Ian Rankin novel is just not screaming world’s best taxi service.... eh I mean Dad! What ever your gift giving dilemma don’t lay in despair this Father's Day, at Highland Fayre we have a wide range of luxury gift hampers to suit all dads.

Last week we decided to take a short break from our gift hampers and try our hands at a bit of bread making. The Highland Fayre kids immediately got into the spirit of things.

<<<<<<< Check out their bread making shenanigans.

Also share this post and we will try and tempt them into the kitchen again. For more information on Highland Fayre Hampers visit our website and follow us on twitter @GiftHamper and Facebook.

The Thainstone Centre in Inverurie plays host to the 14^th annual Taste of Grampian Food Festival on Saturday 1^st June 2013. This one day event will see approximately 14,000 visitors discovering and sampling the highest quality food and drink the North East of Scotland has to offer. We are also proud to announce some of our suppliers will be in attendance. Local companies Cocoa Ooze, Ola Oils, Walkers Shortbread Ltd and Berry Scrumptious will all be showcasing their products and engaging with the public on the day.

Growing year on year, the Taste of Grampian 2013 is set to be the best yet with the introduction of a new sea food pavilion. Carol Fowler (Organiser) told Highland Fayre that the inspiration for this new addition came from Harrods Sea Food Kitchen in London. “The pavilion will be used to highlight the important contribution that Grampian's seafood sector makes to the economy as well as promote the extensive range of fish and shellfish which are landed at towns along the coast and processed here.”

As well as this, the public will get a chance to marvel at the extraordinary cooking skills of celebrity chefs Simon Rimmer & Nick Nairn, plus watch cooking demonstrations by the Two Fat Laddies and award winning cook and food writer Lady Claire Macdonald.

The day plans to have something for everyone, so while mum is ogling Simon and Nick, dad can head over to the motor show with the kids.

However, if you can’t wait until then why not visit our website and get your hands on one of our Aberdeenshire inspired hampers. It will certainly give you a taster of the delights that are in store for you on the 1^st June.

A man who has gone from strength to strength in the last four and a half years is Cocoa Ooze owner Jamie Hutcheon. Since starting as a 17 year old budding entrepreneur out of his parent’s kitchen, Jamie has built a highly successful luxury chocolate brand that caters for weddings, corporate events and parties, as well as tickling the taste buds of the local community in its bustling coffee shop

Offering fresh new products to the local and national confectionary markets, Cocoa Ooze looks nowhere near close to stopping its innovative ways as it has just brought out two new ice cream flavours (chocolate truffle, and White Chocolate raspberry) and is in the process of bringing out a summer range that will include a cocktail inspired flavoured chocolate.

Last month Jamie went back to where it all began as a trainee chef at the Marcliffe Hotel and Spa. This time however not to prepare three course meals but in fact to take home the Judges Choice Award at the GFF Innovation Awards. Cocoa Ooze has also been shortlisted for a further two awards at the Grampian Awards for Business Excellence for “Encouraging Entrepreneur of the Year” and “Entrepreneur Supporter of the Year” were the finalists will be decided on the 7^th May 2013.

The future certainly looks bright for Cocoa Ooze as Jamie told us that he plans to open up another coffee shop in Aberdeen, in addition to having more chocolaty tricks up his sleeve that he is currently working on with local suppliers.

Not being short of a few chocoholics here at Highland Fayre we are definitely looking forward to seeing whatever mouth-watering treats that are in store and including them in our hampers over the coming months.

Keep up the good work Jamie and we wish you all the success in the up and coming awards. 

JDRF, a leading charity devoted to supporting medical research into curing type 1 diabetes, came one step closer to achieving its goal after it raised a whopping £136,000 on the 23^rd March 2013 during its 8^th annual Gala Ball. The extravagant Shanghai themed ball held at the Marcliffe Hotel and Spa Aberdeen saw 280 guests in attendance as well as BBC and ITV’s very own Dougie Donnelly as hosting the night.

The night was filled with inspiration and entertainment as guests heard from 11 year old Rachael Pyper (diagnosed with type 1 diabetes a year ago) and Professor John Petrie (a leader in a vital research project to reduce the risks of type 1).

Highland Fayre was also fortunate enough to be a part of JDRF’s massive achievement by donating a Luxury Gift Hamper as one of the Star Raffle Prizes held on the night.

JDRF would like to say a huge thank you to its sponsors ASCO, TAQA Bratani Ltd, Apache and Hydrasun.

A big well done to JDRF from us here at Highland Fayre and we hope to see that total increase again next year!

Master Chef winner and real foodie Liz McClarnon took delivery of her Highland Fayre hamper and was delighted with the contents that included an array of wine, chocolates, biscuits & c

ake. Liz (who has her own foodie blog where she dishes up a weekly serving of foodie trivia and recipies http://www.lizmcclarnon.com) tweeted shortly after recieving the hamper

He tweeted a few days ago when he finished enjoying all the goodies, "just finished off my lovely Highland Fayre gift hamper they sent me for Xmas. Was an awesome treat!"

Britain's Got Talent finalists, Stavros Flatley, have announced that they are running a competition on their Facebook page, to win a Highland Fayre Luxury Gift Hamper. The hilarious duo were so excited they even made a video for their 1.7 million Facebook fans! LOL!!