History
COOK was founded as 'Cakes and Casseroles' in 1997 by Edward Perry and Dale Penfold. Their first kitchen was opened in Gillingham, with the first shop opening in Farnham soon after. They began working with their pudding supplier, Liz Dove, in July 1997 and within 9 months she supplied them exclusively. The company was renamed as 'COOK' in 1999 and having outgrown the original kitchen it moved to a new site in Sittingbourne in 2000. By 2005 they had a total of 16 shops and they won the ‘Rising Star of the Year 2005’ at the Retail Week Awards and 'Best Retailer for Vegetarian Ready-meals' at the Vegetarian Society Awards
In 2006 the website www.cookfood.net was launched, enabling home delivery across the UK. This year the company also re-branded and won The Grocer Gold Award for 'Best Independent Retailer Chain'.
In 2007 they launched the wholesale business, which now supplies over 300 farm shops and independent food companies around the UK. In March COOK commenced building work on a £2.5million development for a new production facility in Sittingbourne which opened in October 2007.
In 2009 COOK began to franchise and in June 2010, they won the 'Express Newspapers Brand Builder award' at the British Franchise Association HSBC Franchisor of the Year awards
Read more about this topic: COOK Trading
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