Now in its 17th year, PJ Taste have been serving up feasts of seasonally inspired, locally sourced food and drink for a range of corporate events, weddings and all manner of celebrations across South Yorkshire and North East Derbyshire.
Last month, unLTD spoke to co-founder Peter Moulam to discuss the company’s story, their zero-waste approach and how they’ve chosen to put their staff first by establishing an Employee Ownership Trust.
Potential pullquote: “Part of what we try to do in our menus is trying to tell the stories behind the food to the customers – that’s something that really excites us about our work.”
First of all, how would you sum up the business and its ethos?
Well, the mission statement is to be the caterer of choice for locally sourced and creative event catering in Sheffield and South Yorkshire. We started on West Street 17 years ago and our first tagline was ‘selectively sourced, locally loyal’. It’s about being intelligent in terms of our procurement and doing it in a holistic, sustainable way. In recent years, I’ve personally become more interested in sustainable agriculture.
On that note, are there any sustainable food technologies or trends that you think are particularly exciting at the moment?
There are organisations like Wildfarmed that I find really interesting. It was started by Andy Cato, a musician with Groove Armada, and a few years back, he sold all his publishing rights, bought a farm in France and decided to start growing organically. However, it all went terribly wrong to begin with, but he was saved by adopting this process of regenerative agriculture: producing this amazing regenerative flour without the use of artificial pesticides or fungicides. I think that’s exciting because it deals directly with the issue that a lot of mass-produced, modern food has little nutrition and is killing the planet (and us!). So, part of what we try to do in our menus is trying to tell the stories behind the food to the customers – that’s something that really excites us about our work.
Going from that original unit on West Street 17 years ago, could you talk us through how the business has grown and changed?
The big change was six or seven years ago when we moved from being a mixture of retail and event catering to wholly event catering. We bought premises in Attercliffe – which at one point was the old Take Two Club where bands like the Human League played – and that gave us our own meeting and dining space, while also meaning that we weren’t at the whim of landlords and could build up a bit of financial stability.
What spurred the decision to move from mixed retail to solely event catering?
I think because that’s where the natural growth was and also because we were becoming jacks of all trades – trying to focus on retail but also fitting in weddings and corporate events at the same time. So, I think it was a sensible decision for the long-term benefit of the business to specialise in one main area.
When clients get in touch, how does the process usually work?
We like to sit down with the client and try to understand their events, discussing potential themes and angles. We don’t really work with set menus; for us, it’s about providing a bespoke package and getting the experience right.
Could you give us a few examples of how you stick to your zero-waste approach at PJ Taste?
We bought our first fully electric delivery van about eight years ago and put about 30 solar panels on our building at Attercliffe as soon as we moved in. So, following a round of deliveries, the van will come back to the office and charge back up off the grid using solar power. We’ve always tried to operate a zero-waste kitchen, which is made easier moving from retail into event catering as the numbers are more precise, and the only waste we produce goes into our compost which is then recycled through our growing. We obviously work to reduce plastics, using solely biodegradable food containers, and I think another important thing is engaging the staff with what we do. We recently worked on developing eight core values, and a key one of the eight was ‘sustainability’ while the first was ‘one team’.
That links to your announcement that you’ll be transitioning into an Employment Ownership Trust this year. Could you tell us a bit more about that?
I suppose it’s about working together and not having a hierarchical structure to that ‘one team’ mentality. We’ve got members of staff like Adam, who joined us as an apprentice about 14 years ago, and most of the staff have been with us between 4 and 6 years, so we value our staff and more recently have given Westfield Health membership schemes to all our staff. The Employment Ownership Trust goes live on the first of May; it’s the ultimate way to get staff involved because they’re going to be beneficiaries of the trust. Roughly explained, regional directors sell their shares to the trust, so the business will be run for the benefit of the staff, and there’s the opportunity to share profit in the form of bonuses. I think the current legislation states that the first £3,600 will be tax-free per employee. Overall, it feels like to logical conclusion to the way we want to go as a business.
Are there any interesting events on the imminent horizon that you’re looking forward to working on?
We’re doing the VIP catering at the Crucible for the upcoming Snooker Championships, which is obviously interesting in itself, but it’s also symbolic because John and myself who started PJ Taste 17 years ago were previously bar and catering managers at the Crucible. It’s funny how these things can come full circle!
www.pjtaste.co.uk
@pjtaste
To enquire about catering and bookings, please contact ask@pjtaste.co.uk or 0114 312 3663.
Boxout: DID YOU KNOW?
As well as providing outside catering services, PJ Taste also have Upstairs@PJTaste – their own unique, lovingly refurbished meeting, dining and event space in Attercliffe accommodating up to 120 people. Visit www.pjtaste.co.uk/meeting-room or call 0114 312 3663 for more info.
