Date Posted:27/04/2023
Whittlebury Park Hotel cooks up a storm for launch of Towcester
Community Larder Cafe
Whittlebury Park Hotel in Northamptonshire has announced its partnership with Towcester Community Larder in support of the charity’s newly launched Community Café, designed to support vulnerable members of the community and those on low incomes as well as reduce food waste.
After a successful initial trial run, the partnership will see chefs from the four-star countryside hotel taking surplus raw ingredients provided by the Community Larder and transforming them into healthy and delicious meals for the Community Café, based in Towcester.
The Towcester Community Larder is a membership programme run by volunteers that provides access to surplus groceries from the big chain supermarkets at heavily discounted rates to reduce food waste. The organisation works closely with FareShare and SOFEA to distribute the surplus food from supermarkets and businesses. They have three weekly sessions, with over 200 families and individuals shopping at the Larder each week.
The Community Café is a warm space where members of the community can meet and socialise while enjoying freshly prepared food, from lime drizzle cake to swede, celeriac and roast garlic soup, all free of charge. Chefs at Whittlebury Park will adapt their recipes on a weekly basis depending on the available ingredients.
Charles Sargeant, Managing Director, Whittlebury Park, said: “This project highlights the tremendous good that can be achieved when you adopt a joined-up approach to the way that we use precious resources such as food and energy. By making use of food that would otherwise be discarded – and combining that with the skills and knowledge of our chefs – we have been able to demonstrate what’s possible with a sustainable - zero waste - ethos.
“In working with Towcester Larder, not only are we supporting our local community and helping people to reduce their shopping bills, but by reducing food waste we are also supporting our farmers and growers – and positively impacting the wider environment.”
Katie Steele, Towcester Larder Coordinator, said: “It’s fabulous to be working with Whittlebury Park to give our ‘larder leftovers’ a new lease of life and turn them into delicious food for the community to enjoy. Not only does it save food from waste, it gives our members recipe ideas for ingredients that are available at the larder. It’s a win win! It’s an exciting collaboration and we’re looking forward to seeing it grow and develop over the coming months.”
Craig Rose, Executive Head Chef, said: “We are very proud to be involved to be supporting such a wonderful initiative for the local community. To be able to utilise the vast skills of our culinary team supporting the larder makes us proud every single week.’
For more information, please visit https://www.towfood.org.uk/