The Brief

Puddini is owned by Alex and Lindsay.  And is an innovative catering business based in Willingham, Cambridgeshire.  Once providing the most amazing, creative and beautiful bespoke catering services for weddings, parties and corporate events.  But lockdown and the ongoing restrictions massively impacted their core business.  How could they pivot their operation to share their passion for Italian cuisine?

We worked with them to help find a solution to bridge their income gap.  We also wanted to keep them well connected to their customer base.  So we took an in-depth look at the issues they were facing.  Helping them identify ways to diversify their offering.  And meet the evolving needs of their customers. 

The Challenge

The Puddini team had been furloughed.  The business had just taken on bigger catering premises.  Alex and Lindsay were the brains and creatives behind the next stage.  What could we do to keep the business name at the forefront of people’s minds and get back to delivering delicious, memorable suppers?

Knowing how well Puddini were known for catering the Arts Theatre, weddings, corporate events and more gave them a strong reputation.  As it wasn’t possible to service any of these areas now, we drew a line out to the edge of Willingham village.  Talked to the team about moving into the delivery arena.  And started testing meals.  A. did it stay hot until it reached the perimeter of destinations.  some very lucky villagers were asked to help out!  B. was the timeframe for delivery achievable.  could the team cycle with the amount of deliveries needed to make it pay and get there on time?  C. how many people would be interested.  well a lot, as we found out.  Everyone wanted food to their door and the supper club was more than a takeaway.

The Ideas

Puddini Caterers and Puddini at the Deli are well known and loved.  Their passion for food and being genuinely very nice people meant that we had no problem with our foodie community.  But how did we get the message out there?  Back to the cycle team.

Fliers were printed.  The cycle team were primed and house numbers counted.  The flier was perfect but the reverse was blank.  What if it fell face down?  Everyone had a message during lockdown so we knew it would be difficult to get noticed.  We needed a cunning plan.  Alex and Lindsay decided to go sustainable from the outset and one of their investments were paper bags to hold the delivery suppers.  And a stamp had been purchased to show their lovely logo on the bags.

So one very hot afternoon, Alex sat and stamped over a thousand fliers, with their logo on the reverse!!  What a great chap and what a success.

The Results

The outcome was the Italian Supper Club.  A delivery service where the team provides high quality and delicious Italian food delivered directly to the door.  And it is very, very well received.

Already incredibly popular with existing customers the supper club has also seen their fan base broaden.  Regularly bringing on board new customers.  Partnering with more and more local businesses to complement their supper club.  With local suppliers this also provided them with more flier deliveries with supplier deliveries.  What a winning combination!  #collaborationovercompetition

And finally, they are deservedly busy.  Matt and Lindsay have achieved so much in such a short time helped by our amazing brainstorming sessions.

“Clare has been the breath of fresh air that we so desperately needed! Always a pleasure to speak to and immediately able to offer such practical and creative advice.”

Diversifying and Thriving, Matt & Lindsay, Puddini Caterers

“We are a husband & wife team, and to have another sounding board has been invaluable for our business (and relationship!).  As a catering company, we have recently needed to diversify, and Clare has been on board from the outset, providing positive and warm encouragement, together with intelligent and organised solutions.  At a time when we have found it difficult to find a way through, Clare has been an absolute rock. We would wholeheartedly recommend CMR and we look forward to our future working together.”