Whittlebury Park partners with Community Larder for launch of new cafe

Whittlebury Park Hotel in Northamptonshire has announced its partnership with Towcester Community Larder in support of the charity’s newly launched Community Café. The new cafe is designed to support vulnerable members of the community and those on low incomes as well as reduce food waste. Whittlebury Park Hotel said that the partnership will see chefs from the “four-star” countryside hotel taking 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 provide 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. It has three weekly sessions, with over 200 families and individuals shopping at the Larder each week. Some of the food items provided at the Community Café include lime drizzle cake, swede, celeriac, and roast garlic soup. The meals at the Community Café will be provided at no cost. Whittlebury Park's chefs will change the recipes on a weekly basis based on what ingredients are available. Charles Sargeant, managing director at 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.” Craig Rose, executive head chef at Whittlebury Park, added: “We are very proud to be involved in 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."