# Cook Trading

Cook (officially Cook Trading Ltd) is a Sittingbourne-based manufacturer and retailer of frozen ready meals, founded in 1997 by Edward Perry and Dale Penfold. Ed Perry ran the business with his brother James from 2000 to 2009. After Dale Penfold's retirement in 2017, Ed began leading the company alongside his sister Rosie as co-chief executive officer.
The company has earned over 50 Great Taste Awards for its broad range of meals and puddings which can be found in 850 independent retailers across the United Kingdom. Cook has four kitchens, where everything is still prepared by hand as stated in the founding statement. The brand also has 94 shops nationwide and offers a home delivery service which was recognized as "Best overall meal delivery service" by BBC Good Food in 2022.
Cook was a founding member of B Corp UK in 2013, part of the global movement of responsible businesses.
Cook is certified by the Living Wage Foundation and has been voted the Best British Food & Drink Company to work for by Best Companies. Their RAW talent program, which aims to help people transition back to work after prison, homelessness and other challenges have been recognized with a Queen's Award for Enterprise.

## Products

Cook's range of frozen meals comes in various portion sizes (typically 1, 2 and 4). They also produce party food, cakes and puddings, low-calorie Pots for One and children's meals. Their range includes Indian and Thai cuisine.
Over 90% of the products in their shops are made by Cook themselves, but they also stock a small range of specialized non-frozen goods supplied by Cotswold Fayre.

## History

Edward Perry had worked as a salesman for his parents’ frozen cake company. In 1997, he persuaded a chef and client, Dale Penfold, to leave his job in banqueting and start a frozen food business. They founded 'Cakes and Casseroles' in 1997 and a small kitchen was opened in Sittingbourne, with the first shop 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 '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.
In 2006, the website cookfood.net was launched, enabling home delivery across the UK. In 2007, they launched the wholesale business, which now supplies over 850 farm shops and independent food companies around the UK.
In March 2005, Cook opened a new 31,000 square foot Kitchen facility in Sittingbourne to allow the business to continue to grow.
In 2009, Cook started to expand as a franchise business; over 30 of their shops are now franchises.
In 2013, Cook became one of the founding members of B Corp UK.
In 2015, the puddings kitchen in Somerset was bought out and officially became part of Cook still run by Liz Dove until her retirement in 2021.
In 2022, Cook opened its 94th shop in Didcot, Oxfordshire.
Cook opened its second savoury kitchen, COOK Classics, in Sittingbourne in 2020 and their fourth kitchen, Cook Pies and Pastry, is set to open in 2023.
The company opened its 100th shop at Poynton, Cheshire in March 2024.

## Social impact

Cook became one of the founding members of the B Corporation movement in the UK in 2013, joining other businesses globally that consider their social and environmental impact along with their profits. B Corp certification requires evaluation in Governance, Workers, Community, Environment and Customers. Re-evaluation occurs every three years and requires a score of 80 points or more. In 2021 Cook scored 104.1.
In 2015, they were certified by the Living Wage Foundation, and committed to paying all of their employees at least an hourly rate set by an independent body, which is adjusted annually and considerably higher than the UK Government's minimum wage.
Cook run a RAW talent programme (RAW stands for Ready and Working), supporting people into work who would otherwise struggle to find a good job. This might be due to criminal conviction, time in prison, homelessness, mental health, addiction, neurodiversity, or refugee status. Since the programme started in 2014 it has recruited over 150 people through the scheme. In 2022 the program hosted its first-ever training on site at Wandsworth Prison and the programme was awarded a Queen's Award for Enterprise in March 2022.
Cook have partnered with the charity One Feeds Two to provide school meals in Malawi. They have so far donated over 3 million meals through sales of their own children's meal range. At the start of the COVID pandemic, Cook began a scheme called the Kindness Fund, which saw each of their company-owned shops donating meals every week to a local charity. This scheme has become a formal and ongoing part of the company's community outreach work.
Every year, Cook publishes a 'Purpose Report', to report back to employees and customers on their social impact and progress toward their impact targets.
Cook buys 100% renewable electricity for their kitchens, shops, and offices. As part of their Climate Action Plan, they have set themselves a target of becoming net-zero in their carbon footprint by 2030.

## Awards

In 2005, Cook won ‘Rising Star of the Year’ at the Retail Week Awards and 'Best Retailer for Vegetarian Ready-meals' at the Vegetarian Society Awards
Cook re-branded in 2006, and won The Grocer Gold Award for 'Best Independent Retailer Chain'.
In June 2010, a year after Cook's first franchises opened in 2009, they won the Express Newspapers Brand Builder Award at the British Franchise Association HSBC Franchisor of the Year awards$^{[2]}$
Cook dishes have won numerous Great Taste Awards over the years: 10 in 2010; 6 in 2011; 12 in 2012; 13 in 2013; and 9 in 2014. From 2019 to 2021 they won a total of 53 Great Taste Awards.
Cook has five Compassion in World Farming awards. Most recently Cook was recognized with a Good Turkey Award in 2020 for the work they have done with renowned turkey farmer Paul Kelly to create bespoke standards for their turkeys.
In 2020, Cook received The Grocer Gold Award for Employer of the Year.
They made the Feel-Good Brands List for 2021. This List is curated by votes from an independent panel of industry experts and a survey of conscious consumers.
Their home delivery service was voted 'Best overall meal delivery service' by BBC Good Food in 2022.
Cook has been shortlisted as Speciality Retailer Of The Year by Retail Week in 2022.
In 2022 Cook received an award for consistency, celebrating 10 years in the top 100 of the Sunday Times Best Companies to Work It was recognised in that time for being the 'Best Food & Drink Company to Work For in the UK' (2021) and reaching the highest placed manufacturer ranking at 28th position in 2016.

## Partnerships

Cook products are also stocked in over 850 independent retailers and farm shops including Manx and Booths supermarkets in the North of England.