So unless you have been in Timbuktu you will know that this weekend I launched my flour blend…the world’s first wholegrain rice & gluten-free flour blend to be precise.
Although I am utterly exhausted I wanted to get down in writing how the launch went and what my impressions were of being an exhibitor at The Allergy & Free From Show rather than a punter.
The weekend was a mixture of highs and lows. An emotional rollercoaster that saw me beaming from ear to ear and walking down a London street sobbing.
First off, the highs.
For me, getting to meet some of you in person had to be one of the best things ever. Particular moments that stood out were:
- When a mum reader and her two children came by and one of her children had brought me fairy dust that she sprinkled on my shoulder. Oh WOW…you know who you are! You and your girls made my weekend.
- Being told by countless people that they had watched my review of the Zero Gluten Baker. I clearly need to be paid for this!
- Being told by one reader that she ate my homemade breakfast cereal every morning. Thank you for telling me that!
- One reader travelling a long way and overcoming great adversity to come and purchase three bags of flour. You know who you are. Thank you.
- Lots of hugs with amazing people.
- Someone, probably older than my mum, waiting for ages to speak to me and telling me that she followed my blog and social media channels.
- Being asked to do a radio interview for the Food Talk Show on Channel Radio.
- Speaking at the Gluten Free Gathering taster event, run by the ridiculously talented Kim McGowan
- Meeting some super lovely people who were exhibiting around me. The wonderful Bina’s Bakery (a gluten-free baker), Slightly Different Foods (an array of products for those on the low FODMAP diet with some incredible sausages), Liberty Cakes (wonderful gluten-free and other allergen free cake maker) and the Wow Cake Company (producers of some very scrummy gluten-free baking mixes) all of whom kept me sane throughout the weekend.
- Being helped on my stand by a very new, but dear friend who runs Hannah’s Heartbeat, fresh out of hospital, in pain, and with a bunch of flowers and a card. Thank you so much.
- The wonderful people from Super Grain Pasta helping me to unload all my flour and then take the extra’s back to my car and load it in. They even bought some batteries for my fairy lights when they visited Ikea. Wow. Thank you.
- Being approached by a gluten-free bakery in Abu Dhabi for a potential 5 tonne order!
- Being approached by a buyer from Hong Kong who wanted to export it there.
- Being supported by my wonderful husband and sister. Without you two I would have run home. Thank you so much.
There were some low points:
- Waking up in the middle of the night on Thursday in a panic with the realisation that I would need to sell 2 bags of flour a minute to shift the half tonne minimum order that I had at the show.
- Looking at my watch at 10.30am on Friday morning, half an hour after doors had opened, having not sold any flour and knowing that point number one was never going to be achieved.
- Sleeping fitfully, worrying endlessly about how I would ever get all the left over flour home. Something that I had not thought about before the show because I knew I would never attend if I did.
- Missing my children…
- Leaving my sister’s house on Sunday morning, sobbing and dragging my feet at the thought of having to try to sell more flour (I am not a natural sales person).
- Being endlessly ignored by the hoards of people running past my stand to either visit the toilet (opposite) or the Vegan show (right next door).
- People visiting my stand, letting me speak to them for ages about my flour, grabbing handfuls of my sample star biscuits and then walking off as they told me they were not even gluten-free.
- People diving at my biscuits and walking off before I could even give them a flyer. Did they know how long it had taken me to make them and the pain my fingers suffered for cutting out such tiny stars?!
However, all of the low points were over shadowed by the high points and once the car was loaded to the rafters with its maximum capacity I knew I was done.
My lasting memory will be of all the little children who visited the stand with awe in their eyes and joy in their faces. It is for them, and my own children that I entered this adventure, and as I think about them I have tears falling slowly down my cheeks.
If nothing else comes of this little experiment I can say that at least I tried to make a difference to the health of others who have to avoid gluten.
In the next couple of days I will be opening an Ebay or Amazon shop, linked to from here. If you are interested in buying my flour then I am delighted. Please drop by in a couple of days.
Thank you again for all your support. Wow. What a launch. Now I must concentrate on Pickle’s upcoming birthday this Wednesday!
lisa says
Hi Vicki,
I am so blessed I found your website as a Coeliac sufferer.
I live in Brisbane Australia.
Where can I buy your flour from over here.??.
All your recipes look amazing I am going to try your ginger biscuits this week ..
Thank you for your wisdom and patience been an amazing baker ..
Such a inspiration you go girl .
Blessings
Lisa from down under.
Vicki Montague says
Hi Lisa, what a lovely message! At the moment I am selling in the UK. I have no idea how to sell it anywhere else. I can look into the cost of posting it out to you but because it is so heavy I’m guessing it wouldn’t be worth it. So sorry. I hope you enjoy the recipes none-the-less. Take care and have a lovely day.
Val Milner says
I so need to get my hands on your flour !!! I have wasted so much time and money trying to create and eat an edible gf bread, then practically crying when I’m left with a tasteless soggy bath sponge with a volcanic rock exterior ! Being an enthusiastic home baker, ‘normal’ bread being my favourite, I was literally gutted when told recently I’m coeliac ! I have a cupboard full of wierd and wonderful flours and mixes and have spent days trying to create something edible I can eat now and again. Even the birds don’t eat my failures !! I’ll keep checking e-bay and Amazon !! x
Vicki Montague says
Hi Val, that is how I felt! My flour is now stocked with Honest Eats, an online free from shop run by a lovely lady who I wanted to support rather than Ebay or Amazon. If you go to my flour page you will find the link. Let me know how you get on!
Kirsten says
Oh my gosh Vicki I am literally on the verge of running up stair to wake the girls up (Eme with fairy dust and Tess, star struck by actually meeting the real life Free From Fairy!) to let them read this post….you’ll understand if I don’t and overtired children in the morning is enough to quash my exuberance….but notwithstanding that you are a star and we all wish you every success with this venture!
I can honestly say that you and your site have been a massively supportive crutch that we have leant heavily on in our transition to GF after an extremely unexpected diagnosis two years ago…and without your coverage of the whole rice debate I’m pretty certain it would never have crossed my radar and the twins would still be one of the many ceoliacs eating an unhealthy high amount or arsenic! The girls have followed your videos in particular and I genuinely think that it’s help them ‘normalise’ their differences, and for all of those things I am forever grateful. They were so excited to meet you and have done nothing subsequently but tell everyone that they have met you (some of the gluten grazing muggles are a little confused but play along nicely!)
I am sure that you will make a success of this, and will help you along in any way we can!
Vicki Montague says
Oh Kirsten…you made me cry. Again! Thank you so much for leaving such a lovely comment. I can do this. I can do this. I just need encouragement from people like you and some positive self talk!
Kate - glutenfreealchemist says
You did amazingly well Vicki. It was lovely to see you at the show and I am so proud that you have followed your dream when so many of us don’t. Miss GF loved you (and your sister) too!
I am really looking forward to opening my bag of flour and testing it on some of your amazing-looking pastry recipes (yep…. the e-book is downloaded!).
It was always going to be a very emotional weekend, but it sounds as though you had some really good interest and that’s a fantastic start to the next stage of your adventure. Good luck xx
Vicki Montague says
Thank you so much Kate. It was such a joy to meet Miss GF. What a lovely little girl you have brought up. Let me know how you go with the flour! I’m scared x
Kim says
Well done Vicki! So glad you embraced this adventure and got so much from it! Thanks for including me in your highs and for taking the time to talk to my guests and for your generously! I look forward to seeing your journey continue! Keep in touch Kim
Vicki Montague says
Thank you so much for asking me to speak at the event. We certainly need to stick together! Anything I can do in return then let me know…
Lucy says
I ???? that you are doing this and cannot wait to try your flour. I hope your eBay shop is a success!
Lucy x
Vicki Montague says
Thanks so much Lucy!