Food & Drink Awards 2020

www.lux-review.com Page 29 LUX 2020 Food & Drink Awards For over a decade, The Strawberry Stop has been producing and using top-quality strawberries grown on the third-generation family farm which is run by Ed’s brother, Tom Houlbrooke. Beginning with their punnets of delicious fresh strawberries and then expanding their range to combine the strawberries with luscious hand-churned creams or tantalising selections of drinks, The Strawberry Stop is a food truck company with a difference. Catering to local farmers’ markets, food festivals, weddings, music festivals, stadiums and more, The Strawberry Stop’s strawberries can be sold in G&Ts and glasses of Prosecco from their horse boxes that have been transformed into Strawberry Bars, or in their simplest form, drizzled with creamy goodness from their trucks or even their traditional carts. With the help of his family, Ed farms his strawberries from his family’s own farm that uses a combination of traditional and modern farming techniques to ensure that theirs are the tastiest strawberries around. Even their second-class or ‘wonky’ strawberries are put to good use in the knowledge that they are just as scrumptious, also ensuring that Ed and his team don’t have to unnecessarily waste produce. The sky is the limit for The Strawberry Stop, which is always on the lookout for the next There are not many things more intrinsically British than strawberries and cream. For The Strawberry Stop, strawberries provided the perfect launchpad for their catering and food delivery business, which began with the humble strawberry and now covers a complete range of the freshest fruit and vegetables. Led by Ed Houlbrooke and his family of keen farmers and foodies, The Strawberry Stop has spread its wings, demonstrating its versatility and dedication to providing the best in catering and food delivery. Sep20338 The Strawberry Stop Leading Purveyors of Strawberries & Cream Event Catering - UK innovation in products or services so as to stay ahead in what is an increasingly competitive market. Indeed, operating in a changeable market such as the hospitality industry or an even more changeable platform, like food trucks, does present more challenges than it might for those in fixed premises. Alongside the increase in competition in the market, The Strawberry Stop is regularly faced with perhaps the greatest menace to any outdoor caterer: the weather. Not only can this have an effect on produce, it also regularly puts a dampener or even a halt to any event, vastly disrupting business activity for this weather dependent company. However, problematic weather pales in comparison to the adversity that is Covid-19 and its effects on the industry and The Strawberry Stop. Causing the cancellation of hundreds of events throughout the summer of 2020 and losing thousands of pounds in deposits, the organisation suffered a terrible financial blow, in addition to missing out on all the exciting and interesting events and venues Ed and his team had been looking forward to experiencing. However, as a seasoned food truck company, The Strawberry Stop is well-versed in quick thinking on your feet and immediately set about finding a solution to help carry the business through the period of uncertainty and worry. So, while the food trucks and mobile bars were stored away, Ed and his small but dynamic team came up with the idea to expand their selection and bring it directly to their clients. Thus, the Fruit and Veg Stop was born, on a mission to deliver the freshest local produce right to their clients’ doorsteps, not only providing a valuable service to those who were self-isolating, but also eliminating the waste of excess stock and effectively saving the business financially. Through the adaptability and resilience that is vital for any food truck business, The Strawberry Stop has been able to not only survive but flourish through what has undoubtedly been a difficult period. As lockdown restrictions started to ease towards the end of summer and smaller, more intimate events started up again, The Strawberry Stop and its sister company, Ted’s Tacos, started gearing up again, enjoying returning to its roots and getting to cultivate a sense of what clients want from them. However, the future remains uncertain for the sector and as the UK re-enters national lockdown, Ed and his team are investing heavily in The Fruit and Veg Stop. With Christmas just around the corner, the Fruit and Veg Stop is adapting its offerings to suit the occasion, once again demonstrating the small but innovative company’s unfailing ability to evolve, survive and thrive. Contact: Ed Houlbrooke Company: The Strawberry Stop Web Address: www.thestrawberrystop.co.uk