Kate’s Bespoke Catering will donate one meal to local foodbanks for every Christmas dinner sold.
A north-east catering firm is on a mission to feed those in need after launching a new service to help ensure its survival.
Kate’s Bespoke Catering revealed its Christmas Dinner Delivered service will see the firm donate one meal to a local food bank for every one sold.
Based out of The Tasting Room restaurant in Inverbervie, Liam McKenna and his wife Kate have produced a three-course dinner with canapes for customers to enjoy, taking away the stress of cooking on Christmas Day.
Partnering with The Trussel Trust, the couple will donate Christmas dinner to food banks local to the areas customers purchase in, including Aberdeen, Inverurie, Angus and Dundee. They hope to reach their target of 250 donated meals.
While customers will also be supporting a worthy charity, Liam says they will be helping keep their business operating during these challenging times and in turn keep their staff in jobs and support their local suppliers. One meal can help support the whole community.
Running the business via The Tasting Room Liam and Kate have been offering takeaway from the venue, but say they are now trying to adapt to these ever-changing circumstances.
Liam said: “We’ve been using The Tasting Room to run takeaway, but most of our business has been stopped since March. There seems to be no end in sight. You really don’t know what is going to happen.
“In the current climate, we have to change the business to be sustainable. One of our ideas was Christmas Delivered. For every Christmas dinner sold, we’re going to donate a meal to The Trussel Trust – the people who help deliver the food banks in Inverurie, Aberdeen and Angus. They help organise quite a few across the country.
“There’s so many people out there struggling because of this having lost their jobs or being down on their luck. They are going to need a lot more support this Christmas than usual. By buying our Christmas dinner you’re also helping us sustain our business and staff, and helping the producers we use, too.
“Off the back of it you’ll be supporting the butcher we buy our meat from, our veg supplier and our wholesalers we use – the people who deliver and support us. It is just a big circle. People forget it isn’t just us or the pubs that are suffering, it’s those who supply us all, too. Everything down to delivery drivers. There’s so many jobs dependent on our industry.”
While Christmas may look different for a number of families this year who usually gather together at the festive break, Liam says cooking dinner on the day couldn’t be easier with their Christmas Dinner Delivered service which they have pre-prepared for ease.
He added: “It is very easy to cook and is already made which is the best part. All you have to do is finish it off and the instructions will keep you right. Even people who can’t cook will be able to pull it together. There will be people who won’t be able to spend Christmas with their families at big gatherings, so a lot of people will be cooking Christmas dinner for the first time, or for smaller numbers.
“We’ve got orders from Angus, Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire already. We’re also going to include Dundee, too, as being based in Inverbervie it just makes sense to offer this to numerous communities. Wherever you purchase the Christmas dinner from, the money for the purchase goes into the pot for the local food bank. If you buy it from Aberdeen, it goes to the Aberdeen food bank and so on.”
Completing their festive offering with a selection of cocktails, Liam says the addition will complete the full Christmas experience.
He said: “The cocktails are pre-made in pouches and all you have to do is empty them into a glass over ice and you’re done. People do like having a tipple on Christmas Day and the fact they are so easy to make is really appealing.
“We know that we will continue to create fantastic events once this is all over and everyone is ready to party again and are grateful for all of the support we have received from our amazing clients already. We are looking forward to Christmas and hoping that with 2021 just around the corner it will bring a year better than the one almost passed.”
The box is priced at £35 per person, with three courses, canapes and mice pies included.
Local deliveries of the food will be carried out on December 23 and 24. For those ordering nationwide, the food will be sent via courier and delivered on December 24. A full list of postcodes for nationwide delivery can be found here.
