Want to own your own café, but are nervous of going it completely alone?

We could have the answer... We're about to open up our award winning independent café business to a select group of aspiring café owners, through a new Taste Franchise Scheme.

So, how will it be different from usual franchise schemes?

Well, It'll be designed with you, the owner operator in mind. You'll feel you're running your own independent café, but with the back up of our support, finding suppliers, hiring staff, marketing your business and ensuring the till rings and the profits add up at the end of the day.

To discuss how you can be considered for the exciting initial pilot please just drop Richard a line at Richard.willis@tastesfresh.com

Our cafe has just been crowned the 'Best Sandwich bar in the UK' at the Sammies 2009 (the national sandwich association industry awards).

We beat off stiff competition from thousands of independent cafes all over the country, in order to scoop the gold prize, considered the ‘Michelin star' of the sandwich industry!

The judges, catering industry professionals from all over the UK, were hugely impressed by Taste's high quality, healthy food at affordable prices, imaginative and varied sandwich choices, and outstanding customer care.

If you were tuning in to Working Lunch on BBC2 on Thursday 30th April then you'll have seen Taste's Jill Sutherland giving her advice on how small businesses can weather the recession.

If you didn't catch it, never fear, you can watch the show on the BBC iPlayer. Taste features at the beginning, and then again 8 minutes in.

Phew! The heats were a adrenalin filled Master Chef style competition... but that didn't stop Taste owners Jill and Richard scooping the top prize at the South East heats of the Sandwich Design of the Year competition.

Their Wild Cranberry Rosti sandwich design wowed the judges, who thought their receipe was imaginative, exciting and delicious!

They go onto the finals on 21st May, and hope to win the overall UK title! Watch this space and keep your fingers crossed!

March has been a fantastic month for us here at Taste. To start with we made it into the South East heats of the Sandwich Designer of the Year Award. Then we were over the moon to hear that we'd been shortlisted for the Essex Business Awards - Excellent Customer Care category. And to put the cherry on the cake, we've just learnt that we are finalists for the coveted Independent Sandwich Bar of the Year Award!

Blimmey, our heads are spinning! It just goes to show that hard work and dedicated pays off, and we want to say a HUGE thank you to the wonderful testimonials submitted in our support by our lovely customers.

May is the month all of the awards winners are announced, so watch this space and keep your fingers crossed!

Our book, written to help other 'wanna-be' café owners to realise their dream, is out 5th March!

It's entitled 'How to Start and Run a Sandwich and Coffee Shop', and is published by How To Books.

Visit www.amazon.co.uk to see for yourself, or feel free to take a flick through our shop copy.

Rich and Jill.

Well now you can learn how. Owners of Taste Jill and Richard have created this self help book for budding cafe owners. Giving the inside track to starting, opening and running your own business, and packed full of their own real life stories and top tips of advice.

The book is published by How To Books and is due out on 5th March. Pre order your copy now by visiting Amazon.co.uk

You could also give www.925dream.com a try, and test drive being a cafe owner, by spending a couple of days with Jill and Richard, before you take the leap yourself.