Perth’s iconic European Foods immersive new Marketplace

A renaissance for Perth’s iconic European Foods is central to an ambitious shift to a custom designed wholesale space in Osborne Park, putting food experience at its heart. The European Foods Marketplace is a modern continental market offering a vibrant experience for food lovers, the hospitality and food service industries alike.

The new flagship location will allow the European Foods family the opportunity to showcase the full extent of flavours, trends and innovation in their speciality food and beverage portfolio; one of the most impressive in Australia. The Marketplace has been designed to be immersive and tactile, with samples, masterclasses, specialist coffee, cheese and wine tasting, trade education, a café and the largest cheese room in Australia on offer.

The new location will deliver a major increase in parking and ease of access with its convenient Osborne Park location and opening hours of 8am to 6pm Monday to Saturday.

Cherished by Perth’s food service, hospitality and food loving communities for almost 60 years, European Foods was formed as the wholesale arm of The Re Stores. When John Re founded the business back in 1960, he couldn’t have foreseen the impact it would have. A reputation for specialist quality, unique heritage products and a respect for long standing relationships saw them go from strength to strength. European Foods is now one of Australia’s largest importers and distributors of speciality food and beverages and supplier to Perth’s top restaurants.

The Re family have been at the centre of the business since it began and with its sale in 2018 to the Yukich family’s Y Group of Companies, its legacy is set to continue. The Yukich family bring with them a history of their own generational family business based in the Swan Valley and maintain a close relationship with the founding family.

A CLOSER LOOK

Experience and Design

The vision for the new European Foods Marketplace was to honour the European Foods legacy but bring it into a vibrant new era; creating the best food experience possible for visitors.

Designed by Fremantle based WORK.SHOP.DINE, the team set out to create an experiential environment, presenting the bulk items in an artisan style without losing sight of the business being a wholesaler. Inspiration was global, with the design team taking cues from spaces such as Longos (Toronto), Eataly (New York, Turin), Spitalfields Market (London). The result is a multisensory experience, allowing customers to see, smell and taste.

Innovation and technology driven, the Marketplace is modern and intuitive, divided into distinct spaces: the main market floor, Cellar, Cheese Room, Coffee Tasting, Chiller, Cafe and the Cucina, and a dynamic masterclass, workshop, event and demonstration space. Customers can taste and sample their way through the space and benefit from the experience of food and beverage specialists and curators.

Considerable investment has been made in technology; from state-of-the-art refrigeration to fast-track point of sale systems. Sustainability initiatives also flow, from core logistics to age old ideas, like free cardboard boxes at the checkout. The new site will make access simple and stress-free with an increase in parking and accessible ramps and paths.

To benefit from wholesale pricing, existing customers, ABN holders, Chef’s Club and Italian Club members can sign up to Marketplace Membership on entry. Other customers can purchase foodservice items with all prices clearly marked.

Speciality Food and Beverage

The European Foods Marketplace is a curated showcase of quality speciality food and beverage with a focus on European heritage flavours to meet the demands of the Australian food industry’s ever-changing palette; with cheese, coffee, wine, liquor, chilled and frozen produce, premium artisanal and specialist items, dry goods and pantry staples and much more.

A belief in provenance and quality have led European Foods to secure long standing distribution deals with the some of the best producers and suppliers in the world. Internationally recognised brands include San Pellegrino, Baci Perugina, Callebaut Belgian Chocolate, Barilla, Bibo, Cecilia, Pradera Cheese amongst others.

The Liquor Offering

The Marketplace showcases the uniquely sourced specialty liquor brands in a dedicated Cellar. The wine portfolio includes a cellar of award-winning Australian wines, Italian Prosecco and organic Spanish wines. Industry leading liquor brands include Beluga Vodka, Limoncello, Amaro Montenegro, and other specialist aperitifs and culinary beverages.

The Cellar will also host both Sommelier and Vintner events to promote European and Australian liquor offerings to the trade.

The Coffee Experience

The Marketplace coffee experience, Caffè Gusto, has been designed to be Perth’s finest trade specialty coffee tasting experience, underpinning the business’ position as one of Australia’s longest continually operating privately owned coffee businesses.  John Ferrari, grandson of John Re, has stayed in the business as COO of Coffee and Beverage, working with new owners, the Yukich family, whose specialty coffee interests already include FiORi Coffee and Crema Coffee Co. The wealth of knowledge between them carries through to the Marketplace experience; a unique mix of tasting, blending, workshops and training as well as coffee and equipment sales.

The Tasting Room Café offers a taste of selected blends in a setting that puts the diverse coffee portfolio front and centre. It’s fast becoming a destination coffee spot.

Key specialty coffee brands at the Marketplace include Silvana Finest Quality Arabica, FiORi, Crema, Braziliano and Mono Origin.

The Cheese Room

Dubbed the “Cathedral to Cheese”, the Cheese Room is Australia’s largest specialty cheese display. There’s 60 square metres of custom-built cheese heaven engineered from 3m tall glass panels — double-glazed and heated to ensure no condensation.

The vast selection of over 250 cheeses is curated by a specialist team. Set to inspire, they have worked hard to seek out the best of European and Australian producers. Their formidable experience is backed up by an on-site specialist, able to offer advice, on everything from selection to storage. Cheese masterclasses will also be available: think cheese and wine matching; how to create the perfect cheese board; and the secrets behind a great raclette.

European Foods’ investment in a three-temperature supply chain, allows the business to offer dairy fresh, unfrozen cheese with the benefit of an optimum shelf life.

The selection includes fresh unripened (bocconcini, mozzarella, cottage, creamed etc); bloomy mould and mould ripened (brie, camembert, etc); washed rind; blue; semi hard (cheddar, pepperjack, raclette etc); hard (parmigiana, gruyere etc); grated/shredded/sliced; alternate milks (goat, sheep etc).

Key brands include Pradera Cheese, Agriform Italian Cheese, Fromi French Cheeses, Emmi Swiss Cheeses and Blue Cow.