What is the common point between a foie gras from Ernest Soulard, a yoghurt from Jean-Yves Bordier, an extra virgin olive oil from Marco Bonaldo or a fined-aged cheese from Herve Mons ? Perfection of taste, soil, origin, rarity and passion are the common points for these French masters, says Stephanie Duriez, owner and founder of Secretsfinefood.com. They are also the main criteria for her fine food selection.
GN Focus talks to Duriez about her company, its core values and how its delivery model has changed during Covid-19.
What is the ethos behind the Secrets Fine Food brand?
The core values of the Secrets Fine Food brand are taste, origin and quality. Our aim is to propose a selection of high quality food sourced from the best “terroirs” in the world. We are very transparent in terms of origin of our products.
How is the brand helping the cause of local farmers and food producers here in the UAE?
As soon as the Covid pandemic started in the UAE, we collaborated with Greenheart Organic Farms who was shifting its production planning to a more retail oriented output, and proposed our cooperation to support and guarantee sustainable supply of organic vegetables to the UAE population. We also strengthened our existing relationship with some food-service distributors, while the foodservice industry was very badly affected, to ensure their stocks are properly reoriented toward the retail market.
More than ever in the Covid era, customers love tracking the source of their food. How does Secrets Fine Food enable this for its clients?
First of all, origin has always been part of the DNA of Secrets Fine Food. Since I started the company in 2013, I have always been mentioning the origin of each and every product in our e-commerce website. Indeed, I do believe that the origin is one of the most important criteria of quality. Moreover, thanks to our direct imports, we can guarantee the origin of the products with official documentation.
How have you tweaked your home delivery model to meet customer needs during the Covid phase? Will it evolve in a post-Covid world?
Since the start of the company, Secrets Fine Food’s distribution has always been organised through home delivery service. With the Covid phase and the surge of orders, we have immediately implemented even more demanding food-hygiene protocols in the premises, to the staff, and in our own vans. We have listened to the customers’ needs and requirements and adapted our offer accordingly with even higher quality fresh produce.
Thanks to our direct imports and my close relationship with local suppliers and producers in the European market, we have been able to react and adjust the offer very quickly. We will continue in that direction of meeting the UAE’s high-quality food expectations thanks to enjoying very close relationships with the finest producers.
Visit www.secretsfinefood.com
