Western Morning News (Saturday)
Double the celebrations for Devon food service
ABURGEONING home delivery food service based in Devon is celebrating its first anniversary with added excitement, following a prestigious regional award.
Devon Farm Kitchen, which gives one hundred per cent of its profits to the Rowcroft Hospice in Torquay, has been presented with a gold medal from the Taste of the West Awards, in the online retail category.
The social enterprise specialises in delivering a mouth-watering menu of soups, starters and mains throughout South Devon. Since it was established a year ago, it has gone from strength to strength and now delivers across a huge area stretching from Tavistock to Teignmouth and Exminster, Salcombe and the whole of Dartmoor.
More than 17,000 handmade meals have been delivered to date, fulfilling an important service for local people, particularly the elderly and vulnerable, who may be unable to prepare healthy meals for themselves. All profits from Devon Farm Kitchen go to towards supporting Rowcroft Hospice in caring for patients with life-limiting illnesses, and their families.
General manager, Joe Bradshaw, commented: “We’re over the moon. The Taste of the West awards recognise the very best food and drink producers across the South West.
“The judges described our website, communication, delivery and the quality of our meals as ‘excellent’ and after a year of trading this is a fantastic achievement for the team here at Devon Farm Kitchen.
“We’re so proud of everyone who worked so hard to make this happen. We’d also like to thank our amazing customers for their incredible support in purchasing our deliciously satisfying frozen meals and helping to raise vital funds for Rowcroft Hospice.”
The meals are handmade in small batches by Devon Farm Kitchen’s own chefs in their Torquay kitchen using the finest produce sourced directly from Devon’s farmers, fishermen and other local producers. They are also delivered on ceramic plates, returned to the delivery driver, in cardboard packaging that’s one hundred per cent carbon neutral, fully compostable and one hundred per cent recyclable.
Commenting on their meals, the Taste of the West judges said: “When delivered, the quality of the meals was excellent, we had six different main meals, one soup and three desserts. They all looked well presented, the real plate was a nice touch, and we really enjoyed all of the food we ordered. All of the meals were great value for money.”