Local pie wins 3-stars at Great Taste Awards 2023

Steve Manders opened his new business, The Wagtail Kitchen, in the winter of 2019.

He has beaten the challenges thrown at him throughout the Covid pandemic and creates some of the best pies you can taste!

His pièce de résistance is his Steak & Blackstick Blue Cheese Pie which has just been awarded 3-stars in the Great Taste Awards 2023.

This is no mean feat …

About Great Taste

Great Taste is the largest and most trusted food and drink accreditation scheme. It supports and promotes food and drink producers, large and small, giving buyers […]

When the Caterforce marketing team visited our Carlisle depot …

On Thursday 3 August, the marketing team from Caterforce paid a visit to our head office in Carlisle.

Caterforce is a buying and marketing group of which we are a proud member, and we’ve worked harmoniously with our colleagues based in Macclesfield for many years.

As part of getting to know each other to enhance and build a closer working relationship, the marketing team came along for an extensive tour of our offices, warehouse, bakery, butchery and foodstore.

They learnt about our 175 year-old history and were amazed how the business had flourished and grown in that time. We talked […]

A frozen Belgian adventure

On Monday 17th July, two of our buying team colleagues took a trip over to Belgium to visit a couple of our frozen produce suppliers.

Organised by Caterforce, the buying and marketing group to which we belong, the trip was an educational one so we can gain a greater understanding about production, supply and relationships between our businesses.

Charlotte Walker, Buying Manager, and Emelia Stewart, Junior Buyer were invited to visit the fields and factories of d’Arta and Clarebout, both producers of our own brand high quality frozen foods.

The first day involved a visit to d’Arta.

This […]

Pigs-in-blankets aren’t just for Christmas!

Once we started handmaking our own pigs-in-blankets back in 2017, we certainly couldn’t have predicted how popular they would become.

They don’t just sell at Christmas and we’ve come to realise that people love them all year round!

In January of this year, we found ourselves in the midst of a remarkable surge in demand. Sales from January to June were up 161% compared to the previous year; a testament to the growing popularity of pigs-in-blankets being everyone’s favourite at any time of the year.

The numbers speak for themselves:

* January to June 2020: 94 cases – 9,400 individual pigs-in-blankets

* […]

NEW and FUN!

EDIBLE STRAWS

Why not add a bit of excitement to your cold drinks?

Why choose an edible straw?

We have seven tasty flavours to choose from.

Click on an image below to order now.

or browse our full range here

310097C – LIME

These straws provide a burst of refreshing lime with every sip of your cocktails, smoothies or cold drinks.

Perfect for your traditional mojito.

310093C – NEUTRAL

These are unflavoured therefore add to them to a whole array of drinks!

Try in an ice-cream float for that extra bit of fun!

310096C – […]

A Refreshing Journey: Celebrating World Environment Day at Marlish Water

World Environment Day is a significant occasion that calls for global action to protect and preserve our planet.

On Monday 5 June 2023, three of our sales managers, Tim Crow, Maxine Whitfield, and Stewart Jack, embarked on an inspiring adventure to Marlish Water.

As a new supplier to us, Marlish Water is known for its locally bottled, high-quality waters in Northumberland.

Tim, Maxine, and Stewart arrived at Marlish Water’s picturesque location and were welcomed as part of a group with tea, coffee and pastries upon arrival. They were given a brief history of […]

Unveiling our brand new vans

In a world where business success is often associated with global expansion and cutting-edge technology, there is something refreshing about a local business investing over £300k to transform their fleet of vans into eye-catching symbols of innovation.

As part of a large investment plan for our business, we recently took delivery of seven brand new vans. In recent years, we have had to use hire vans as a way to expand our fleet to cope with business demand and now we are able to launch our own new vehicles.

Four of the new vans are being used by our Carlisle depot […]

Family Business Community North West Awards 2023

Wholesaler – winner!

We’re so excited to be award winners again after scooping the ‘Wholesaler’ category in the North West Family Business Awards 2023.

The glittering event was certainly a night to remember!

Held at The Concorde Conference Centre, Manchester Airport on Friday 19th May, Graham, David and Lizzie Jenkins attended the black-tie event to which distinguished names within the north west family business world were invited.

The awards evening brought together business leaders, entrepreneurs and industry experts to recognise the hard work, dedication and achievements of innovative and successful family businesses.

The awards were once again presented by food […]

Honouring long service and dedication

We recently recognised and honoured employees who have dedicated 10 or 20 years of their career to the company.

The long service awards handover took place in Carlisle, where employees from different departments gathered to celebrate their achievements and commitment to the company

The 10-year service awards were presented to four employees, while another four employees received the prestigious 20-year service award. The awardees met with Graham Jenkins, our managing director and he handed out vouchers as a token of the company’s gratitude.

Later Graham met with Alan Farish who is a driver and missed the original group together. Alan is celebrating 10 years’ service.