Media release: FeastBox, Friday, 26 February 2016
FeastBox food kits – Raglan’s latest start-up shines the light on local food producers
It was the desire to eat local, and entertain using as many local ingredients as possible that created the inspiration for a Raglan duo’s recent business idea launching this week. FeastBox is the brainchild of Raglan residents Tara Wrigley and Rachel Brown who describe the service as “food kits for easy entertaining where local food producers are the stars of the menu.”
“Being busy, working mums makes it difficult to get around our local shops in Raglan and Hamilton to source the ingredients needed for special dinners with family and friends. We thought, wouldn’t it be great if we could just get all the ingredients for a delicious feast delivered to our door?” And so the FeastBox story began.
“The Waikato is so rich in produce that we are spoilt for choice,” they say. As Raglan becomes increasingly well known for its great food and dining, the pair have taken inspiration from local restaurants using local ingredients on their menus and are driven by that same theme.
Their aim is to support both Raglan and Waikato producers and encourage FeastBox customers to utilise their produce too.
When they discussed the idea with friends the general consensus was that trying to host the perfect dinner often meant spending a lot of time in the kitchen and not enough time with guests so people were very receptive to the concept.
With backgrounds in project management and digital marketing, the self proclaimed “foodies” felt well placed to execute on their idea. The skill they felt lacking was technical chef experience. “Although we’re keen amateur cooks, we knew we needed someone with experience to help us pull together a 4-course menu that is focused on making local, seasonal ingredients the star. That’s why we thought it would be a good idea to invite guest chefs to help design each menu. We’ll be able to offer our customers diverse cuisine while at the same time increasing the chef’s public profile.”
Don’t expect pre-cooked meals though, “it’s not about doing everything for the customer in a pre-made meal but taking them on a culinary journey without the menu planning, shopping and sourcing of ingredients.”
FeastBox is launching with a feast for Easter with ingredients and recipes for a 4-course dinner for 8 guests. Limited boxes are available, order by 14 March. www.feastbox.co.nz