Joy Whalley is the food buyer for Bermuda's Marks & Spencer and does a wonderful job providing Bermuda with delicious UK foods along with a fantastic selection of international wines.

"What I enjoy the most about working here is finding out what customers like and meeting customers everyday,'' she said in a very pleasant, gentle voice.

Mrs. Whalley is perfect for her role with customers as she has such a positive and friendly aura about her. She is also knowledgeable about all of the attractively packaged items and very kindly explains about things that go well together.

For example, I asked which curry seemed the most popular, and she guessed the chicken and suggested a special rice on hand and the Indian mini poppadums to go with it. I was glad that I asked her advice as it made a nice, easy, delicious evening meal for my family.

She mentioned that anyone buying 12 bottles of wine receives a 10 percent discount and free delivery. Deliveries are made to the West on Monday, Wednesday and Friday and made to the East on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday.

The wine list is varied with bottles from around the world at good prices. I eyed the French ones first and spied a dry French white, Blanc de Blanc for about $11 and a Pouilly Fume for $20.

A bottle of Australian Chardonnay sells for $10 and up. The New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc was about $15. Each month there is a wine of the month with a nice discount.

Also on hand was Portuguese Port fortified and matured in oak for five years, Napoleon Brandy, Scotch whiskey, and fine sherry.

Available also is Smithfield's Best Bitter Ale, brewed in Britain, known as `The ale drinker's ale'. It is known to be a beautifully crafted and matured; four of these big boys cost $15 but each one is 500 ml.

They offer a rather gourmet selection of rich coffees from around the world, Colombian, Italian, Costa Rican, French fresh ground and even instant cappuccino. The prices ranged from $8.50 to about $4.

There is also Assam, Kenyan, Ceylon and Earl Grey teas from $3.25 to $8.

Nearby was a shelf of little chocolate teacakes to make any tea time more fun.

Mrs. Whalley would he happy to create a gift basket with Belgian chocolates, cashews, cheese biscuits and a bottle of wine. Baskets are done year round to customer specifications and you can get a nice one for around $30 if you go easy on the wine. If you like you can bring in a basket and they will arrange for you.

The food shop, located in the back of the store, is usually a bustling section. The stock moves rapidly and Marks & Spencer is known for its fresh items.

"One of the biggest challenges in the food section is keeping the merchandise around for customers,'' Mrs. Whalley said.

Joy Whalley is the food buyer at Marks & Spencer and has a task keeping up with their quick turnovers! She makes shopping a treat as she is so kind, helpful and knowledgeable.