A new South Lakeland family business, Brandreth Foods, held a community lunch on Monday 22nd January for over 100 invited guests to celebrate the launch of the new firm.
Three years in the making, Brandreth Foods creates high quality, handmade frozen meals and delivers them weekly to customers’ doors.
The new business was inspired by owners Mel and Scott Walmsley’s real-life experience with Mel’s beloved grandmother.
The couple witnessed first-hand how the home care team who looked after Mel’s grandmother were under so much pressure that leaving her with a homemade hot meal was almost impossible.
Drawing on their combined 30 years’ experience in catering, Mel and Scott knew they could make a difference by helping to feed people around Cumbria – satisfying appetites and lifting spirits along the way.
With a range of nostalgic dishes including desserts and sides, plus generous portion sizes, meals are frozen for customers’ convenience.
Orders can be made online or by phone for weekly deliveries around Cumbria.
Mel and Scott work exclusively with Cumbrian suppliers and producers, with sustainability a key factor in the process.
Scott said: “We’re passionate about food, where it comes from and who supplies it. With Brandreth Foods, we want to harvest all that’s really great about Cumbria.
“Not only does Brandreth want to be the local alterative to national suppliers, we want to do things better, by putting community and charity at the heart of who we are, using local produce and the best we can find in eco packaging.”
Mel said: “The launch of the business has been three-years in the making and we’re very grateful to all our friends, family and regular customers who’ve tried and tested all the dishes over that time, providing invaluable feedback to get us to this point.
“Everything we produce reflects our commitment to being local and providing fantastic meals that people love eating.
“We’re proud of being Cumbrian and want customers to be part of our family, sharing the pleasure of food that matches home cooking – keeping them coming back for more!”
The launch community lunch at Netherfield Cricket Club was organised by Mel and Scott with support from local charity, Carer Support South Lakes.
Cheryl Duckworth, the charity’s business development manager said: “Mel and Scott are a great friend to our charity and are passionate about people and community.
“We feel that their new business venture, Brandreth Foods is a vitally important offer and service that will benefit many people in the local community. We reached out to the unpaid carers that we support along with our fantastic network of volunteers, supporters and local organisations to invite them along.
“The response was amazing. It was a pleasure to be at the launch and to see Brandreth Foods being so warmly received, alongside so many people coming together to enjoy great food and good chat in a lovely venue.”
In use since the 13th century, a brandreth was traditionally a tripod placed over a fire on which a cooking pot could be hung.
Mel and Scott also liked the name because of the reference to nearby Brandreth Fell.
