Spalding area publican adapts to deliver freezable pub meals and butchery packs during coronavirus lockdown

A publican has adapated her business to deliver freezable pub meals and butchery packs in the wake of the coronavirus lockdown.

Katie Booth and her team had been serving hundreds of meals at The Chequers in Weston but this had dropped overnight when pubs across the country were forced to close.

But Miss Booth has been fighting back by offering more meat packs from the pub’s onsite butchery along with increasing her Fresh from the Freezer offering of pub meals at home.

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She had built up a solid trade at The Chequers since taking over in 2018 and has been running OK Catering for 18 years.

Miss Booth said: “Literally overnight I had no business at all, it was just gone. It was quite hard but it made me think ‘what am I going to do now’.

“I always try to do things differently which made me think about supplying meals.

“People are interested and I am grateful to the key core group of people who have supported me over the years.

“My aim is to cover the costs of the pub. We have switched off most of the electricity but the bill still came in at £1,000. There are other bills to pay as well.”

The Chequers has its own butchery attached to the pub, which is now offering meat packs to customers.

In recent weeks they have been selling barbecue packs but are also offering breakfast packs along with Easter meats during the bank holiday weekend.

Miss Booth is also adding special touches to this by including homemade coleslaw and couscous along with hoisin duck skewers.

She said: “Our aim is to be different and I think people enjoy having a nice selection of meat in a pack along with the staple things.

“People are getting fed up with cooking for themselves so I’m hopeful to increasing our customers for the Fresh from the Freezer range.”

Miss Booth also uses fresh local ingredients, which are Farm Assured and have the British Red Tractor mark, to make up the range of meals.

While the menu changes weekly, customers can purchase dishes like lasagne, casseroles, tagine, cottage pie and chicken in apricot and tarragon sauce with blue cheese crumble. Portions cost £4 each and individual pies are also available.

The pub also caters for those with a sweet tooth by offering a range of desserts to accompany.

Customers are also able to pick up their orders on a Friday or the pub is able to offer a local delivery service. Call 01406 370407 or email meat@okcatering.co.uk