Long-established butcher, maker and local food retailer Cranstons, is backing Cumbria’s new food awards event.
The firm is sponsoring the Drinks Producer of the Year category at the independent Cumbria Food Awards.
Cranstons has a long history in Cumbria but continues to push ahead with its innovative food production operation and growing online business.
Cranstons managing director Martin Jones said: “We’re very pleased to be associated with the Cumbria Food Awards.
“It’s important to celebrate everything that’s great about Cumbrian food and the awards will bring the industry together as a collective to do that.
“We’re looking forward to the awards evening and spending time with people who are as passionate about food as we are but who we wouldn’t usually have an opportunity to meet.”
Cranstons, which was established in 1914, has evolved from a travelling butcher’s shop, to a high street butcher, to having developed its food hall concept. It now employs 190 people and has four local produce food halls, two traditional shops and a growing online presence.
The food halls and shops sell food and drink from 55 Cumbrian producers, making them destinations for anyone interested in the county’s food scene.
A skilled butcher’s business, Cranstons buys the best beef, pork and lamb from farms in Cumbria or within a 30-mile radius.
The team at its Penrith production unit produces Cranstons own butchery and deli products, making more than 200 product lines including salads, cured bacon, roast meat, all Cranstons pies and cured bacon. A humidity and temperature controlled maturation chiller is used to produce dry-aged beef.
The business has received many awards and the most recent, from Great Taste, are for beef products: Entertaining Steak Pie; Rare Roast Beef and Beef Wellington.
Cranstons is best known for its sausages, which account for 33 per cent of butchery sales. The team makes three miles of sausages per week in 20 varieties and Cumberland sausage remains the best-selling line in the business.
Homesick Cumbrians who have moved away from the country are able to get their sausage fix from the Cranstons website, which has seen an increase in business since the pandemic.
The firm has invested in its digital business, adding more products and offering online shopping both for delivery or collection in store. A Cumbrian goodies section includes customer favourites from the food halls.
Brothers Philip and Roger Cranston began succession planning a number of years ago and have appointed a team of three directors to run the business alongside them.
Managing director Martin Jones started as a butchery apprentice and has more than 30 years’ service.
Cumbria Food Awards, in association with headline sponsor Caterite, take place at Kendal College on March 3, 2022.
The event is supported by grocer Booths, Cumbria Crack and the awards Patron Simon Rogan
