In the first of our Supplier blogs we spoke to Charlie at Olive’s Kitchen who spared some time to answer some questions for us.
A small family run business based in Dorset with a real passion for preparing, cooking and supplying great quality hearty food.
We stock a range of their meals which are frozen quality ready meals – they use local products and ingredients and that really shows in the taste.
As we are promoting Vegetarian week he told us about their most popular vegetarian meals.
As part of Vegetarian week our ‘Orchardlea Weekly offer’ this week is 10% off the Olive’s Kitchen Vegetarian meals we stock, checkout our facebook post from yesterday for details of the code.
Q: How long has Olive’s Kitchen been running?
A: 5 years
Q: What do you like the most and least about working in the food industry?
A: Most – We love the journey from sourcing the ingredients to cooking our delicious meals. Creating something people can enjoy!
Least – Like all business, of course we have our bad days, but generally speaking it’s a great industry to be a part of.
Q: You ran a Deli before Olive’s Kitchen came about, what was it that made you decide to launch Olive’s Kitchen?
A: We were already producing Olive’s Kitchen whilst in the deli as a small line for our customers.
The demand grew to such an extent that we decided to follow this path. 5 years on, demand is still growing!
Q: Have you seen an increase in your sales during the pandemic?
A: Yes – Significant increase in all areas.
Q: How have you adapted your business during this past year?
A: We haven’t needed to adapt really, as we were perfectly placed in the market. All it has meant is we need to cook more!
Q: We are promoting Vegetarian week the w/c 10th May, which is your bestselling vegetarian meal?
A: They all sell in quite equal volume. However, the Butternut Squash Lasagne and the Macaroni Cheese are probably just in front.
Q: Have you got any new recipes/products in the pipeline?
Yes – Roasted Vegetable Lasagne, Chicken Korma, Roasted Vegetable Penne Pasta and a Chicken and Mushroom Pie.
Q: Where is your favourite place to eat locally?
A: We love our local pub! Proper pub grub with a really friendly service. Its great to see them back open (and others!)
Q: Is there anything you have learnt from running your own business?
A: Don’t worry about making mistakes, they will happen. Just learn from them and don’t make them again!
Q: Last question, social media is so huge these days and most businesses have some form of Social Media we just wondered out of interest why you don’t currently use Facebook/Instagram etc?
A: Social media is an area of our business that we need to look into and develop. That said, we are not sure that we follow the general perception that social media is essential to survive We do incredibly well from word of mouth and our own personable approach.
If you haven’t tried stocking any of the Olive’s Kitchen range then now is a great time to try – order yours today when placing your order with us.
