David's AW News: From Sheffield with Relish… and Rainsticks

 Hey.. I hope you guys are doing well!

Greetings from Terminal 2 at Manchester Airport .. Because yes.. I'm on the way again.. It's pretty busy here, I had a job finding somewhere to work.

Last week I was telling you about my crazy trip.. through Kathmandu, Kolkata to Mumbia and to Sheffield.. If you missed it you can catch up here..

I found Queen Victoria in a Sheffield park… very like the statue in Kolkata where I was only a week ago. Strange really, because Queen Victoria never actually visited India — or (when I checked) Sheffield for that matter. Yet somehow her presence still lingers in both places. It reminded me how connected the world became during that Victorian era… Sheffield steel, Indian trade, railways, industry and empire all somehow woven together. One week I’m passing the Victoria Memorial in Kolkata… the next I’m passing a quiet statue in Endcliffe Park under Yorkshire trees. History has a funny way of following you around.

Well, it’s been an interesting week back at AW HQ in Sheffield. The timing was not ideal with the Bank Holiday in the middle of everything, so I didn’t get nearly enough time with the team… but we made every second count.

I managed to catch up and have lunch with some of the crew over the break, while the Snooker World Championship was in full swing at the legendary Crucible Theatre. Sheffield always has a certain atmosphere during snooker season — the cafés, bars and restaurants buzzing with visitors from all over the world.

I also took the opportunity to wander around a few local gift shops looking for ideas, trends and inspiration. I always enjoy doing that. Sometimes the best ideas don’t come from meetings or spreadsheets… they come from quietly observing what catches people’s attention in the real world.

Meanwhile, back at the warehouse, deliveries are on their way from India and Indonesia, including our shipments of Rainsticks and Pangi Seed natural sound products..coming soon! Holly has just made a new YouTube video all about them — and how retailers can really turn these kinds of products into display magic in-store. If you haven’t seen it yet… you can watch it here.

And everywhere I went this week — hotels, cafés, restaurants and even street art — I kept seeing the unmistakable Sheffield icon: Henderson’s Relish.

Growing up in Sheffield, “Hendo’s” was simply always there. You didn’t really question it. It sat on café tables, chip shop counters and kitchen shelves like it had always existed. But this week it got me thinking… how does a small regional product become genuinely iconic?

The story actually starts back in 1885, when Henry Henderson first blended the sauce in Sheffield. More than 140 years later, it’s still made in the city to a closely guarded family recipe.

What fascinates me is that Henderson’s never really tried to become a flashy global mega-brand. In many ways, it did the opposite. It stayed proudly local, proudly Sheffield and stubbornly authentic. The packaging barely changed. The recipe stayed secret. The brand became woven into the identity of the city itself.

And somehow… that authenticity became the marketing.

People in Sheffield genuinely feel like it belongs to them. Musicians, artists and local businesses reference it constantly. It became cultural, not just commercial. 

There’s probably a lesson in there for all of us. In a world where so many brands try to look bigger, louder and more “corporate”… sometimes the strongest brands are the ones that stay true to where they came from.

Meanwhile, things have been super busy at AW. So busy in fact that order processing times slipped back a little this week — apologies if you were affected. Thankfully, the team have been pushing hard and, hopefully, by the time you read this, we should largely be caught up again.

Now I’m heading off to Spain for a while to connect with Toni and the team there, check on the house, deal with some administration… and no doubt drink slightly too much coffee while discussing new ideas, new products and new opportunities for the months ahead.

At times like this, travelling between warehouses, suppliers and teams across different countries, I’m reminded how unusual our business really is. One day felt artisans in Nepal… the next rainsticks from Indonesia… then logistics meetings in Sheffield… followed by incense discussions in Málaga.

It’s never boring.

As always, thank you for your continued support, patience and partnership. We genuinely appreciate it — especially during the busy periods when everything seems to happen at once.

Until next week…

David and the AW Team.