Northern Enterprise Awards 2021

57 | Northern Enterprise Awards 2021 Cottage Foods (Yorkshire) Ltd was established in 1989 and since then has been servicing independent foodservice across the Yorkshire & Lancashire region. It has been recognised as the best wholesale food ingredients supplier in Yorkshire. It imports from several international suppliers, knowing the producer personally and offering its customers a difference in the product than standard ingredient wholesalers. In 2017, Alistair Cullen & Jennifer White purchased Cottage Foods, both have a long and varied history in food manufacturing. Their vision was to revolutionise Cottage Foods and the range of ingredients offered to its customers without losing the family feel in terms of excellent service and customer-first attitude. Today, its range offers over 1000 unique ingredients, all hand-picked based on their unique nature, freshness, and quality. Moreover, Cottage Foods is proud to service some of the region’s best restaurants, including Michelin Star Northcote, Skosh, Le Cochon Aveugle and many more. In a crowded marketplace, it has been Cottage Foods aim to stand out. Managing Director Alistair Cullen explains, “We keep the basics at our heart; great service, great customer engagement and fabulous product quality and uniqueness.” However, since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, the foodservice industry has been hit hard. Alistair explains, “It’s been important for us to support our customers where we can and to keep focused on great ingredient quality and choice. But, funnily, Covid-19 has given us opportunities to pivot our business and think more dynamically whilst using our size and scale to act quickly and work more closely with our key customers.” Covid-19 has been a real game-changer for the food industry and Cottage Foods as a business. “We have made changes to become more streamlined and digitalised as much of our business as possible to allow our Chef’s the ability to access our products on their phones and Best Wholesale Food Ingredients Supplier - Yorkshire understand our consistent innovation quickly in terms of ingredients,” states Alistair. The food scene in Yorkshire and Lancashire has been on the up for the last few years, and Covid-19 has not deterred this as many Cottage Foods customers are craving more unique flavours and products. “This has seen a huge rise of craft Japanese products in our business such as aged soys, misos and furikake. We continue to champion this ingredient change, and we are always hunting for new and innovative products to offer our customers.” Another trend showing up within the food scene, perhaps due to Covid-19, is how businesses like Cottage Foods source specifically for their customers. “This is a practice many ingredient wholesalers do not follow, but for us, it’s key, as it allows our customers to keep imagining and striving for the best dishes, knowing if there is something they can’t find, we will go and seek it.” For Alistair and his team at Cottage Foods, the North is considered an interesting and diverse place, and it holds a place in the firm’s roots, both personally and within the business. “We embrace our Northern heritage in how we deal with our customers and how we have faced the challenges thrown at us over the last year - with grit and determination to win.” On the food scene, with Cottage Foods being located in Yorkshire, it utilises its unique standpoint of being less crowded than a marketplace in London and focuses on enticing people to adapt, change and try new things. “Overall, this is something our customers embrace and pioneer in a lot of ways. The attitude from our customers allows us to keep searching for fabulous and unusual flavours and ingredients.” Another benefit for Cottage Foods as a wholesaler is the depth of ingredients available locally. The North of England has some fantastic craft ingredient producers right on its doorstep, from fantastic cheeses to exceptional meats. All these special ingredients allow Cottage Foods to offer local ingredients with ease. Although uncertainty reigns within the Covid-19 era, Cottage Foods is optimistic about its outlook on food service in the North. Alistair states, “We will continue steadfast on our mission to supply exceptional ingredients with exceptional service, and we will keep inspiring our chefs with craft ingredients from around the globe.” Company Name: Cottage Foods (Yorkshire) Ltd Contact Name: Alistair Cullen Web Address: www.cottagefoodsltd.com Contact Email: [email protected] Oct21659