Better Together

As each year draws to a close we quite enjoy looking back on the previous twelve months, reflecting on the highs and learning from the lows. 2015 was the ‘year of collaboration’ as far as Carvetii was concerned, a year where the important lesson was one of working together.

The year started in an interesting fashion when we came across a milk producer from Morecambe, Stephenson’s Dairy.

         

They had just introduced the UKs first free range milk, the culmination of years of effort, and were trying to find opportunities to promote their product and develop new contacts. Here we had a product which was fully traceable to two specific herds of cows on two farms, and was a dream to work with. Our relationship quickly developed, Stephenson’s milk became our product of choice at all the events we attended and I like to think we played a small part in helping their business develop.

Then came the Taste Cumbria Food Festivals. We have given away thousands of drinks this year in return for a donation towards our nominated charity.

This year we decided to team up with the Cumberland News to support their SkyCall Appeal. Their aim was to raise £60,000 for the Pride of Cumbria Air Ambulance. Our coffee and hard work, the kind donation of milk from Stephenson’s Dairy and the generosity of the people of Cumbria made a significant contribution to this Appeal, with a total of £4,500 raised over the five events.

We ended 2015 with something a little bit special. Earlier in the year we were approached by Eden Brewery in Penrith to help them produce an espresso porter. In other words an beer made with espresso. How could we refuse? While we set about producing 15 litres of espresso (a surprisingly time consuming and monotonous task), Eden Brewery prepared the hops and a few weeks ago it was all transfered into bourbon casks.

We were lucky enough to receive the first bottle which was delivered on a Friday afternoon and it was delicious! The porter is being sold in the farm shops at Westmorland Services though there is only a very small amount available. We will definitely be repeating the project in 2016!

We are a small business operating in a very competitive market and we believe it is only through collaborative work, and the ongoing support of all our loyal customers that we can continue to succeed and flourish. Thank you all for your support in 2015 and we wish everyone a Happy Christmas and a caffeine fuelled 2016.