Case Study: Hotels & Restaurants
STOKE PARK,
BUCKINGHAMSHIRE
A Five Star Experience
INTRODUCTION
Stoke Park is a five-star hotel, spa, golf and country club located in Buckinghamshire. Their three on-site restaurants (Humphry’s, San Marco and the orangery) provide a fine dining experience, Italian classics and indulgent afternoon tea.
Allergens & Dietary Requirements
THE CHALLENGE
Afternoon Tea in The Orangery is a daily delight at Stoke Park. The 50 to 60 teas served daily include freshly hand-made sandwiches, cakes, scones (served with clotted cream) and a wide variety of teas and coffees. As the majority of products are handmade on-site by Executive Head Chef, Chris Wheeler, and his catering team, Stoke Park is able to control ingredients that are used within the food.
Not all guests’ dietary requirements are disclosed prior to visiting Stoke Park, especially for the Afternoon Teas. This means checking for allergens or producing foods suitable for gluten-free or vegan diets for example, at the last minute, can be a timely process especially when creating large quantities in quick succession. Increasing Stoke Park’s ability to adapt and offer alternatives for the latest allergies with Afternoon Tea is of upmost importance to the resort.
Allergen Tools & Software
THE SOLUTION
Since becoming a customer of Creed in 2015, Stoke Park have had access to Creed Foodservice’s Online Allergen Tool and Saffron Nutritional Software; an application that manages allergen information, recipes and nutritional values. Creed supply Stoke Park with bread-based goods; baguettes, croissants and pain au chocolat, dry store ingredients such as tuna, and many condiments and seasonings.
By purchasing many of the Afternoon Tea ingredients through Creed, Stoke Park has been able to take full advantage of the Online Allergen Tool and Saffron Nutritional Software. In a few simple steps, Chris and his team are able to identify ingredients and associated allergens and adapt their recipes accordingly. This process is something that is invaluable to every caterer and chef.
Along with nutritional and allergen tools, Creed facilitates its clients’ ability to expand offerings and try new trends and flavours with their customers. At the latest Creed Trade Show, on-trend vegan ice cream proved extremely popular in terms of taste and consistency.
At Stoke Park, Chris and his team hand-make their vegan and non-vegan ice cream, with vegan being the first batch of the day due to the strict cleaning procedures. As customers’ dietary requirements are not always disclosed prior to their visit, chefs can sometimes exhaust vegan options due to limited quantities. Having a vegan ice cream that can be kept in size-specific tubs, in a variety of flavours, and at a quality that chefs are happy to serve, is extremely important. After tasting a potential solution at a Creed Trade Show, Stoke Park will subsequently be stocking the ice cream as a suitable reserve, therefore expanding their vegan customer offering.
Over The Moon
THE FEEDBACK
“Creed helps us in many ways; support from their regional sales representative, assistance with an annual event and they offer knowledgeable advice when ordering. At Stoke Park, we host an annual Boodles event, in conjunction with Wimbledon, where we cook a gourmet lunch for around 1,000 people a day.
At our most recent event, Creed supplied us with a lorry that was restocked by their team every day during the five-day event - it even acted as a walk-in fridge/freezer. It meant that all the food was fresh and easily accessible which allowed the process to run smoothly.
The call centre at Creed is really good and if we ever have a problem the staff members will go out of their way to find a solution. If the desired product is out of stock they always come up with a well-informed alternative. The fact that the call centre is open on Sunday mornings for a Monday delivery is important and makes a big difference.”
Chris Wheeler
Executive Head Chef, Stoke Park
