PROFILE: THE PUDDING COMPARTMENT Also available are: Lemon muffins with lemon &
lime curd centre, White Chocolate with Raspberry jam centre, Almond & Cherry muffins and a whole host of award-winning steamed puddings including Sticky Toffee Pudding (Two Star Gold, Great Taste Award 2010) Ginger Pudding (One Star Gold, Great Taste Award 2008) and Seville Orange Pudding (Winner ‘True Taste’ of Wales Award 2008. If that weren’t enough to tempt the senses, The
Pudding Compartment also does a large range of fresh cheesecakes including - amongst other varieties - Lemon & Lime (One Star Gold, Great Taste Award 2009) Sticky Toffee and Belgian Milk Chocolate. The company will also be launching a range of highly decorative, freshly baked, light and fluffy sponge- based cupcakes, with one eye focused on the children’s market. Reading through the list of products on offer is an
exhaustive process in itself, as is taking in the list of plaudits received in their honour, but although the company has several listings in delis, garden centres and other food-to-go outlets, Mark makes no secret of the fact that The Pudding Compartment is actively seeking distribution. “Currently, we don’t have national supply chain
partners, so to go to that next level, we need distribution. We would welcome any enquiries.” The operation is currently run on a small scale,
with a full-time chef and a baker assisted by a small closely-knit team working out of a development kitchen. Though as Mark suggests, demand is beginning
to outmatch capacity and a transformation is on the horizon. But would expansion and all that that entails mean
the company loses its artisanal credentials? “No, our artisan qualities - freshly made, locally
sourced ingredients, that’s our brand and our brand is sacrosanct.” Mark talks with a fervent passion for his task, yet
this is his second career. A management consultant for many years, what
made him make such a curious about turn? “I was looking for a new challenge. I used to travel
extensively with my work and there comes a point where you don’t want to see another hotel or airport.” “I felt the time was right to do something for me,
and food is everything to me.” It seems paradoxical that you would readily swap a
five-day week for a seven-day week, but in setting up The Pudding Compartment that’s just what the three have done. Even so, it seems like a labour of love and with
transformation on the horizon, the three friends could yet realise their dream of returning British desserts to the top table. “This will be the last of the so-called ‘quiet’ years,”
said Mark, “Next year we want to burst on the scene - that’s our plan.”
www.thepuddingcompartment.co.uk www.cafe-business.co.uk 5 37 4 3 2
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