03/03/2020
Adelphi Manufacturing and
Adelphi Manufacturing’s customer Victoria of British Herb Kitchen is on a mission to reintroduce the public to what she fondly refers to as ‘Great British herbs’ – “the wonderful array of herbs that used to be grown in our soil, in our climate, through Roman, Medieval and Elizabethan times”. Somewhere along the line, she says, “they fell from grace, to be replaced by just six or eight supermarket standards.” Victoria develops innovative artisan pesto, passata and food paints at her beautiful Cambridgeshire premises, now assisted by her recently installed Response Benchtop Filler. Adelphi Manufacturing’s Sales Director Dean and Marketing Exec Rachel had the pleasure of visiting Victoria this week, to discuss her delicious creations over cups of her own fresh mint tea…
After leaving her previous job to start British Herb Kitchen in 2018, Victoria began creating her artisan pestos from her home kitchen, and sold her very first products that September. Demand quickly increased, and Victoria reminisces about how things were “growing past kitchen-sized equipment”. Renovating a barn conversion on her property (now a beautiful product development kitchen and packaging area), created the space for Adelphi Manufacturing’s Response Benchtop Filler.
“I found Adelphi through an internet search”, says Victoria. “I received machinery quotes from several companies, and saw one or two others for demonstrations”. Dean visited British Herb Kitchen in September 2019 to conduct a demonstration with the Response Benchtop Filler, and the rest, as they say, is history. “It worked well during the demo, which gave me confidence”, remembers Victoria. “The Response was the easiest machine to understand, it’s not too complex. My forte is imagining and creating recipes; I’m not a technical person, so I needed to have confidence in the machine. It’s also good looking, utilitarian and doesn’t take up too much space!”
“Dean was very willing to help and answered all our questions.”
The Response Benchtop Filler (pictured below) is a semi-automatic, pneumatically driven, benchtop volumetric machine. Designed to meet pharmaceutical standards, the unit is versatile, hygienic and easy to use. A single filling head is suitable for filling liquids, pastes and solids in suspension into all types of container; Victoria’s artisan pesto’s have a beautifully rustic, authentic texture, which not all machinery suppliers can accommodate. Dean and Rachel were proud to see the Response taking its place in Victoria’s compact production
line, where no space is wasted.
Another key factor in Victoria’s purchasing decision was the scalability of the Response range; the Benchtop Filler can be incorporated into Adelphi Manufacturing’s Response Monobloc Filler or Response Automation Base, as production demands increase. “The Response Benchtop Filler represents stage 1 of investment”, says Victoria. “It’s great that as my business grows, so can the capabilities of the machine range.”
“Overall it was a really good purchasing experience; everyone has been very helpful.”
Adelphi Manufacturing share many values with British Herb Kitchen; notably a real focus on sustainability and reducing the business’ carbon footprint by sourcing locally. Victoria uses a local laboratory for the microbiology testing of her products, as well as getting her branded bottle labels from a local printer Adelphi Manufacturing are continually investing in their facilities to bring more and more machining work in-house, to reduce the carbon footprint of deliveries.
The future looks extremely bright for British Herb Kitchen; Victoria’s production has increased from runs of 30 (which were previously filled by hand using teaspoons!) to runs of 400 with the help of the Response. From two pestos in 2018, her continually evolving range now includes 7 jarred products, with a delightful lovage and cashew pesto also currently being developed. “I want to share all those flavour sensations that come from herbs we can grow at home – lovage, sorrel, sweet cicely, lemon balm, dittander, chervil and so many more”, says Victoria. Her products are now stocked by many national suppliers with a reputation for quality, including Kew Gardens and Waitrose Farmshop.
Adelphi Manufacturing are proud to be part of Victoria’s amazing journey of growth, and to see what the future holds for British Herb Kitchen.
Are you manufacturing products in the artisan food industry, and would like to discuss how we can help with your production? If so, please don’t hesitate to contact Adelphi Manufacturing on 01444 472300 or email info@adelphi.uk.com to see how we can grow your business, without compromising the values at its heart.
