Food 4 You diversifies in the face of Covid-19 challenge

22 April 2020

Food 4 You is a catering events company based in Taunton and has been trading for well over 20 years.

2020 was to be their best year ever – over 150 weddings, Glastonbury Festival, the Royal Bath & West Show plus many other similar events. So as 2020 unfolded the magnitude of the Coronavirus situation, and the effect it was to have on large events and social gatherings became more and more evident.

One by one the weddings were postponed, one by one the large events were cancelled and Food 4 You was looking at a loss of income of around £400,000 and rising. Where the final figure will be, and when events will resume no one knows.

At the end of March staying at home, self-isolation and not mixing with others became the single biggest priority within the community, Food 4 You looked at its staff, resources and contacts and decided to launch a home delivery fruit and veg service. The company had an old sales website that they had previously used for a now redundant project and after a few changes of text, a few new photos the Food 4 You delivery service was launched.

A month later the service has increased to include more food items (and loo rolls!) plus a recent partnership with the award-winning butcher Pynes of Somerset for fresh meat.

MD Dawn Griffin said: “The work is long and hard, sourcing reasonably priced produce is a challenge, but it’s working. The margins are tight, but the feedback is amazing!”  They recently delivered to a house in Taunton where a young boy handed them a beautiful coloured picture of a van with the words “delivery drivers are heroes!”

So 2020 is certainly not looking like the year that Food 4 You planned for, but with some quick thinking and a change of direction they appear to be providing a service that local residents are pleased to use.

Details of the service can be found at www.auberginekitchen.co.uk.