12/3/2023 0 Comments Perry co element![]() And what we found when we started was that they were right, in getting the sales to a level that was viable, took quite a long time. James: Yeah, a frozen ready meal shop was a novel idea and most people we spoke to told us we were mad and they told us that you can’t be a retailer and a manufacturer, you got to be one or the other. Will: That must have been really hard to find the customers within your local geographic area because you’re not using the normal route to market by using supermarkets. So, we opened our own shops, we started manufacturing, and we went from that. And so, we decided not to sell to the supermarkets, which meant that at the time, the only thing we could think of to do was to open our own shops. ![]() James: So, we started with two shops and a kitchen and the whole idea was that we wanted to create something that was free, other people control and the two people we thought were most likely to going to be able to control this were either investors, or on the other hand, our customers because the route to market for our product was the supermarkets. Will: And did you start off with a view to be making frozen ready meals and selling to the general public, was that your initial offering? So, our story is really one of being a small group of people where they’re kind of ambition, which was bit more difficult than we gave it credit for in the beginning. And then it took us even longer to work out how to run a business and how to make a profit and then it took us even longer than that to get out of debt or too much debt and we had the financial crisis in the middle of it. We started in 1997, with the idea that we could make frozen meals using the same ingredients and techniques that a good cook would use at home and it took us a while to figure out how to actually make the food. Actually, I’m not CEO of Cook, I’m co-chairman, and I was CEO until 2008 but now the business is run by my sister, Rosie Brown, and my brother Edward Perry but we sort of worked together quite closely on developing the business. ![]() It would be great to understand more about what it is that you do at Cook and yeah, the kind of, what, how Cook works, please? James, thank you very much for joining the Green Element podcast, you’re the CEO and founder of Cook, you make frozen ready meals, and you make them with a purpose. I’m your host, Will Richardson and I can’t wait to meet our guest today and help you on your journey of sustainability. Will: Welcome back to the Green Element podcast where we feature business leaders and innovators transforming their operations to be more environmentally, and socially sustainable.
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