Supplier stories
More than ever we are really passionate about working with British suppliers, and some of them have remarkable histories and stories behind the brands. We’ve chosen some of our favourites to shine a spotlight on from ice cream to fresh meat.
Yarde Farm
At Yarde Farm, we have been crafting award winning luxury ice cream and sorbets in Devon for over 30 years, priding ourselves on making memorable moments through our dedication to creating the very best ice cream experiences. Our quest is to create deliciously indulgent ice creams and sorbets using the finest ingredients including fresh cream, clotted cream and real fruit.
Based in Plympton in the beautiful South Hams, we pride ourselves on producing traditional West Country ice cream, which can be scooped straight from the freezer at -18°C, giving your establishment an artisan ice cream with a unique point of difference. And what’s more, we are proud to be an artisan producer member of the Ice Cream Alliance, giving you total reassurance of our commitment to how proper ice cream should be made.
Simply Food Solutions
Managing director, Yaqoob Ishaq tells the story of Simply Food Solutions:
Simply Food Solutions formally known as Punjab Kitchen was founded by my father over 20 years ago after a hospital visit opened his eyes to the shortage of Halal options on offer to patients. Recognising this gap in the market, coupled with his passion for food, he set up a production facility specialising in making halal and ethnic meals based on my mum’s recipes.
As the company progressed, we continued to invest in the business and during another hospital visit to see a family member who had developed dysphagia, another bright idea struck him. With a new found enthusiasm and existing patient feeding experience, dad set out to create a solution that brought mealtime dignity and a range of quality texture modified food options.
Fast forward some more and we’ve expanded our range to provide solutions for all sectors, offering home-cooked style, ready to serve solutions and international dishes. All made in the UK with care.
Handmade Cake Company
In 1983, in kitchen of Diana Maher, an exceptional home baker, The Handmade Cake Company was born. She began baking delicious cakes for a local coffee shop, but the cakes tasted so good they were soon over run with orders. Their front room became an office, the garage was turned into a freezer and the family car was exchanged for a delivery van. Whilst Diana’s original recipes are still used for some of our best loved cakes, we now have a dedicated team who develop new and incredible creations. Our new bakes range from traditional to cutting edge but are always handmade and incredibly tasty.
We now have a thriving bakery in Berkshire which has AA grade BRC certification and an experienced team of bakers and finishers who take huge pride in what they do. Though the number of cakes we bake has grown over the years, our batch size remains relatively small, and we’re careful to stay true to our handmade promise.
Campbell Brothers
Scotland’s oldest traditional catering butcher.
Ethical sourcing, animal welfare, sustainability, provenance and traceability are all paramount to everything we stand for. Campbell’s story started over 100 years ago when a young Thomas Campbell took up his craft as a butcher in 1910. Over a century later, and his legacy still lives on in the Campbells name. It’s his passion for Scottish produce that has been passed on from father to son and brother to brother. And while we’ve grown as a business, our dedication to quality, freshness and craftsmanship is still what gets us up in the morning.
At Campbell’s, we bring more than just great quality, fresh ingredients – we bring four generations of knowledge and passion. And with more than a century of craft under our apron strings, we’re proud to say we’re more than just master butchers, we are masters of taste.
Hattingley Valley
From it’s birth as a farm diversification project back in 2008, The Robinson family have grown Hattingley Valley to become one of the leading wineries in the UK, based in rural Hampshire.
The 600 tonne, eco-friendly winery was purpose built under the guidance of our Head Winemaker and Director, Emma Rice. Emma took full advantage of Simon’s lack of industry knowledge to coax him into buying the best equipment throughout, so now we have one of the most advanced wineries in the world and Simon has a much smaller chequebook.
The only thing we take seriously is the wine making, the rest, we try and have a little fun with, so expect the unexpected, embrace the unconventional, throw off the shackles of tradition and join us in some rather remarkable wines. People used to laugh at English wine, they don’t seem to be laughing any more. Our classic reserve NV (48166) is available now through Bidfood.
Harfield Tableware
In 1961 two businessmen came together to form Harfield Components Ltd when a leading plastics raw material manufacturer, approached us with a new material – polycarbonate. It’s unique property of being virtually unbreakable lent itself to tableware and so our first product was created – the Harfield cup. We then went on to introduce a range of plates and bowls.
At this time our main business was contract work with the NHS but by the 80’s we had begun to talk to school meals organisers, and these discussions led to the introduction of the Harfield school meal tray. The overwhelmingly positive response to the meal tray led Harfield to re-focus it’s business towards increased collaboration with the school meals service. Consequently, we now have 50 plus products primarily for schools.
Step forward to today. Harfield is still an independent company, but we are a founding member of EPIQ. EPIQ is an alliance of European Producers of Innovative, Quality plastic products for the catering markets. Harfield’s products remain manufactured in the UK and marketed across the world.