VIRTUAL BUT VERY TASTY

Real food; virtual setting

It’s not unusual to hear business owners talking about the sustainability of their company and their responsible approach to its workings, but this can come across as a politically correct chant. Not so with Charlie Bigham, whose love of the environment and of his local community is clear in every business decision he makes, discovers Emma Clegg. His sponsorship of a virtual version of the Wells Food Festival on 10-11 October is his latest collaborative enterprise

Charlie Bigham is very modest about his food expertise, surprisingly considering the success of his business Charlie Bigham’s, which he set up in 1996, with the aim of creating really delicious, top-quality dishes. “I’m a cook not a chef. I would be hopeless in a restaurant, however I have cooked for a long time and I’ve picked up a few skills on the kitchen front over the years,” Charlie says.

His meals are freshly cooked and packaged ready to prepare in the oven or on the hob. While convenient, these are not ready meals, he is at pains to emphasise: “Why compromise by putting things in the microwave and settling for something that doesn’t taste so nice? We just make nice food – that’s our objective.

“Our consumers write into us all the time,” Charlie explains, “and say, ‘I never buy ready meals, I love cooki ng, most days I cook from scratch myself, but every now and again I just want a night off and your food is home-cooked and it’s really tasty.”

It all started with Charlie leaving his job and taking time off in 1995 to travel to India. Captivated by the tastes, colours, textures and aromas of the cuisine, he decided to set up a food business. After perfecting three

dishes in his home kitchen – Caribbean Lam b, Cajun Chicken and Salmon with a Dill Sauce – he went knocking on doors and managed to find some upmarket London food shops who were up for stocking him. Then Waitrose were interested. Then Sainsbury’s. Then Tesco.

Another element that makes Bigham’s meals so distinctive is the wooden packaging. “Long before David Attenborough did the commendable job of bringing plastic packaging to the forefront of ever ybody’s minds, we knew plastic was not right and wanted to avoid it as much as possible.” The food parcels certainly stand out on the supermarket shelves as being different. “Most people decide what to buy in a nano-second, and so our packaging sends a signal to consumers that maybe we are a bit different,” says Charlie.

Bigham’s has two kitchens, one in North London and the other near Wells, where

Charlie l ives. Here the meals are prepared at Quarry Kitchen, in a former quarry in Dulcote. Quarry Kitchen was named RIBA’s South-West Building of the Year in 2018, for its technological functionality and environmental transformation of a disused landscape and in June this year, more than 900 solar panels were installed.

“It’s quite a big quarry, about 20 acres of hole in the ground,” says Bigham, and we’re surrou nded on most sides by 120 foot cliffs. We have peregrine falcons flying around and badgers foraging and 20 acres of wildflower meadow outside our door. It’s a pretty unusual location. It makes a difference, if you’re making a high-quality product, start with a high-quality environment. We make some of our best-selling dishes here including our Fish Pie and Chicken Tikka Masala.

Because of their ready super market channels, the business kept on operating successfully in lockdown: “We’ve had lots of feedback from consumers who have seen us as quite a saviour during lockdown – we are a bit of light relief and we have appealed to consumers who perhaps haven’t heard of us or used us before,” says Charlie. “So there have been positives, but I would far rather it hadn’t happened.”

Charlie explains how many artisan pro ducers have had their business taken away since the period of lockdown, but reflects that some food outlets have benefitted: “Some small retailers and producers have had quite a busy time. We don’t have enough diversity in the whole way our food market works so if it’s made this a bit better that’s something to celebrate.”

C harlie is a man of ethics – he cares about the environment and about his close commun ity, and this philosophy and sense of responsiblity runs strongly through the mechanics of the business. “I have always had a view that business has an important role to play in society – it’s there to make a

Two of Charlie Bigham’s meals with their distinctive packaging: Chicken Tikka Masala and Pilau Rice, and Fish Pie

profit and provide employment, but businesses should be responsible players in society, so we want to have a positive impact on the world, whether that’s from an environmental point of view or by engaging with the local community.”

The company’s community involvement is ever-present. Since the Quarry Kitchen opened in 2017, Bigham’s has em ployed m ore than 300 people locally and contributes to a number of local initiatives, including the Cheddar Valley Food Bank, Wells SOUP and Wells Carnival. Bigham’s also hand-delivered 1,500 lasagnes to its neighbours during the height of lockdown, to spread a little comfort and warmth amongst those living nearby. Another collaboration saw them working with The Swan in Wells in August, providing free meals for the Eat Out to Help Out scheme –w ith a donation from sales made to mental health charity Heads Up, who they have started supporting.

Wells Food Festival is now in its eighth year and has made a name for itself as one of the busiest and most successful food festivals in the UK. Charlie Bigham’s has supported the festival for four years, but this year the company has become the headline sponsor, with th e plan of helping the festival reach another level.

While the physical festival has sadly been cancelled, on the calendar instead is a virtual two-day food event. “It was obvious quite a few months ago that holding the festival in its normal physical guise could be a challenge, so we thought, ‘well are we going to let that defeat us or should we have a plan to run a standalone virtual festival?’.

“I haven’ t come across another festival quite like ours, so we are sticking our necks out, but early signs have been really encouraging. There are a lot of small artisan producers who have had a really, really tough time over the last few months, because they haven’t been able to go to their normal markets to sell their produce.”

The virtual festival is already live and visitors are now able to peruse the wares, wit h orders being generated online. The website brings all the enthusiasm of the outdoor food market to the screen, with a captivating image by illustrator Emily Sutton, showcasing the different parts of the festival: the artisan food market, liquid refreshments in Brewed, Chilled and Distilled, music on the bandstand, competition corner, the story of Wells, and tent talks. “It’s all an experiment,” says Char lie, “but it’s really exciting – normally it’s a local event, so people come from the region, and not much further afield. But once you go online your potential audience increases.”

There are around 150 producers involved and many of them are new to the festival. They include the Incredible Brewing Company from Bristol and The H’eggs

The Quarry Kitchen in Wells is sited in Dulcote Quarry and in 2018 was named RIBA’s South West Building of the Year

Company, Bath Culture House and the Wild Flour Cake Co. from Bath.

At the heart of the festival’s food programme is the Bigham’s Banquet – a live streamed ‘cook-along’ where ticket-holders can cook alongside top chefs Mark Hix, Thomasina Miers, Henry Harris and Merlin Labron-Johnson, as well as Bigham’s head chef Rupert Willday. The event will be hosted by food critic and MasterChef judge William Sitwell and Charlie Bigham himself.

Limited to 1,000 places, tickets for the banqu et on 10 October (6–9pm) cost £20, with all proceeds going to Chefs in Schools –a charity working to transform food in primary schools across the country. In advance of the cook-along, participants will receive a Bigham’s goodie bag containing an apron, a Wells Food Festival tea towel, a banquet recipe booklet, plus a voucher for a free Bigham’s dish of their choice.

At-home festival-goers can also sign-u p to further cookery masterclasses and talks by Charlie and his team of master chefs, flower arranging with Georgie Newby, artisan florist and flower farmer at Common Farm Flowers, ‘no dig’ gardening tips by Charles Dowding, as well as music by the Harlem Rhythm Cats and a photography competition.

The site proclaims, “Let’s make 2020 the year we fill our baskets with the very best produce, made by the small, most passionate businesses who make our country the home of fantastic food.” The baskets are virtual, but the food is real. Come along on 10 –11 October and soak up the thrilling atmosphere without leaving home. n

Wells Food Festival with Charlie Bigham’s runs from 10–11 October and is free to attend. For regular updates or to book a place at the Bigham’s Banquet visit wellsfoodfestival.bighams.com

The Elder has arrived in Bath

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Here at The Elder, we are sticking rigidly to government guidelines in order to protect your safety and ensure all of our guests feel safe and comfortable.

The Elder

South Parade, Bath BA2 4AB enquiries@theelder.co.uk www.theelder.co.uk