Christmas all Wrapped up!?

Christmas all

To some, August may seem a little early to be thinking of Christmas but, for the team at Blakemans, seasonal preparations are in full swing.

After another tough year of restrictions, lockdowns and ever changing legislations, the Blakeman family are delighted to be able to help to spread a little Christmas cheer by, once again, sponsoring the Weston Light Display in Crewe. Started by Graham Witter on his family farm in 2013, the annual display has so far raised a whopping £150,300 for Donna Louise Hospice in memory of Graham’s sister Jessica whilst bringing joy and cheer to countless families throughout the festive period. During 2020, the award-winning light display raised an incredible £25,450, which was used to fund some new musical equipment and a music therapist for the hospice. On sponsoring the event Phil Blakeman, managing director at Blakemans, said:

“I’m delighted to have the opportunity to contribute, once again, to this fantastic event. It is with huge thanks to our amazing customers that Blakemans has continued to be able to trade throughout the pandemic and giving back to our local communities is our way of showing our gratitude.

Christmas is an important time for us, having spent months rolling pigs in blankets in readiness for the festivities, and it is humbling for us to be able to help out where we can. We’re getting prepared early this year as we are hoping to see a lift in restrictions in time for everyone to truly celebrate”

Back at their base in Newcastle-under-Lyme, the Blakeman team have been hand rolling a steady 500,000 pigs in blankets per week since June aiming to make an estimated total of over 10 million this year to ensure that

wrapped up

there will be a plentiful supply for all in time for the festive season. Sales of pigs in blankets have risen sharply year on year and are always an on-trend festive treat. As well as the expected delight of pigs in blankets aside your roast turkey, they are ideal as a starter with cranberry sauce dip and in wraps and subs to name but a few. But did you know that they are also wonderful when battered and deep fried? James Morris, head of business development said:

“Having battered and deep fried our pre-cooked pigs in blankets at various trade shows we found that we were always met with a queue of curious, excited and hungry visitors to our stand and we were left pigless every time. We knew we were on to something so we vigorously trialled and tested them in our purpose built development kitchen and are delighted to announce that, once battered, they perform fantastically through the frying range each and every time. We are always looking for ways for our customers to get the most out of our products and these pigs in blankets are the ideal seasonal upsell item”

Blakemans pre-cooked pigs in blankets are individually quick frozen and come in handy to store 1kg bags. They cook beautifully through your frying range using your usual batter, needing no investment and causing no mess. When battered and deep fried directly from the freezer you can take out what you need, when you need with no waste. They have even taken the hassle out of advertising their availability to your customers in store with our free, printable point of sale poster.

If you’d like to get ahead of the seasonal game this year and have these festive delicacies on your specials board then please see your local Blakemans supplier for details. You can request a PDF of our point of sale poster, free of charge, by e-mailing anna@blakemans.co.uk.

If you’re interested in supporting, visiting or to find out more about the Weston Light Display then please visit Facebook (westonlightdisplay) or Twitter (@ westonLightDisp).