A Fife entrepreneur is making sure no one, including those living on their own, misses out on Christmas dinner this year by launching her ‘meal in a tray’ service.
Stacey Marshall, who is the woman behind East Neuk Cooks, designed the offering for individuals and smaller families who may struggle to make a whole meal themselves this year.
The 50-year-old ran a catering business for five years until November 2020 when the pandemic forced her to change her way of working. As she pivoted, she noticed an increase in demand for food delivery, especially to those living on their own.
Stacey’s parents were also high risk and she realised they, and many others, at the time would be dining alone during the festivities.
A lot of effort is required when cooking a full Christmas dinner, not to mention expensive, however Stacey cooked and delivered it to her parents and others from across Dunfermline to Newport.
After selling 73 meals in her first year, Stacey has continued her festive offering and has started a new ‘meal in a tray’ service where Fife locals can order a meal for one to be delivered to their door all year round.
Her growing client base has once again forced her to change her business. Stacey is the sole individual cooking, packaging and delivering the meals from her commercial kitchen in Glenrothes, so instead, will now freeze them to make them safer and easier to manage.
The meals are delivered from December 19 onwards and are then defrosted and warmed in the microwave on Christmas Day.
She’s already received 25 orders, with her maximum order capacity 90.
What does the Christmas meal contain?
Available to order through the East Neuk Cooks website, the meal in a tray Christmas package includes a three course Christmas dinner for £32 per tray with a £4.95 delivery charge. Delivery is free for orders over £60.
Using locally sourced ingredients the package contains a starter of ham hough and parsnip terrine which is served with handmade oatcakes and Christmas chutney.
The main course is roast turkey wrapped in prosciutto with sage and onion stuffing, served with homemade jus, sage and onion chipolatas and cranberry sauce.
Accompanying sides of honey roast carrots and parsnips, braised red cabbage with apple and horseradish and boulangère potatoes are also included.
As for dessert, a handmade Christmas pudding cheesecake with a Biscoff crumb is available as well as a slice of handmade clootie dumpling.
There’s a vegetarian alternative with vegetable provencal and goats cheese terrine for starter and a wild mushroom wellington with cranberry sauce for main course.
One-woman operation
“I can’t do it fresh this year because of the demand and how much I would need to make in a limited period,” she said.
“When cooking with turkey and meats like it, you need to be careful when you cook it and how long you keep it for.”
Offering frozen meals also gives Stacey more time to make larger quantities of food in advance and leaves more time to deliver them across Fife. She also says it makes the experience more affordable for her customers and is more efficient.
She added: “For last year’s Christmas offering I made 400 oatcakes just for the starter, which took a whole day to make.
“It is just myself so I have a limited number of things I can make each day.”
Convenient for individuals and the elderly
One of Stacey’s favourite parts of the operation is being able to see her customers face-to-face when she delivers the meals.
A welcome friendly face, she is aware that she may be one of the only people her customers may have seen in days and ensures she spends some time chatting with those who are living on their own
“My regular customers are older so it’s not something they would be able to do, so it is better for them as you just need to warm it up in the microwave.
“During the pandemic especially, people were concerned about their parents being on their own for Christmas, so they ordered a meal to be delivered. I had lots of family members asking me how they were because they couldn’t visit themselves.”
Cost of living crisis
Stacey admits for the last three years her business has suffered. Her main objective is to be able to afford her bills and keep her business going, although the current cost of living crisis continues to put a strain on East Neuk Cooks.
She is only breaking even with her meals.
“Food, electric and fuel costs have all gone up dramatically,” she explained.
“I set my meal in a tray a prices before the costs started to rise, and I haven’t increased them to absorb the added costs. I want my customers to be able to afford to buy them, but have to make enough to afford my bills too, so it is a very fine balance right now.
“I won’t make much from the meals, but it is a service. It is a nice but difficult job to keep going.”
