retailer founded 1997 headquarters sittingbourne key people edward perry founder and managing director dale penfold founder products food website www.cookfood.net dale penfold and edward perry cook founders cook officially cook trading ltd is a manufacturer and retailer of frozen ready meals established in 1997 and based in sittingbourne kent . their founding statement is to cook using the same ingredients and techniques you would at home so everything looks and tastes homemade . all their meals are made without the use of artificial additives and preservatives . savoury dishes are made by hand in their kitchen in kent puddings at a kitchen in somerset and they are primarily sold through a network of their own shops . they have over 80 shops nationwide with the highest concentration across the south east of england . they also sell through over 400 farm shops and other independent retailers throughout the uk and online via their website . in 2009 they started to expand as a franchise business ; over 30 of their shops are now franchises . contents 1 products 2 history 3 controversy and criticism 4 social impact 5 awards 6 partnerships 7 references 8 external links products edit cook s range of frozen meals comes in various portion sizes typically 1 2 and 4 . they also produce party food cakes and puddings low calorie pots for one children s meals and an indian chinese and thai range . over 90 % of the products in their shops are made by cook themselves but they also stock a small range of specialised non frozen goods including p t s crisps thai crackers mustard and olives . history edit edward perry had worked as a salesman for his parents frozen cake company . in 1997 he persuaded a chef and client dale penfold to leave his job in banqueting and start a frozen food business . they founded cakes and casseroles in 1997 and a small kitchen was opened in gillingham with the first shop in farnham soon after . they began working with their pudding supplier liz dove in july 1997 and within 9 months she supplied them exclusively . the company was renamed cook in 1999 and having outgrown the original kitchen it moved to a new site in sittingbourne in 2000 . by 2005 they had a total of 16 shops . in 2006 the website www.cookfood.net was launched enabling home delivery across the uk . in 2007 they launched the wholesale business which now supplies over 400 farm shops and independent food companies around the uk . in march 2007 cook commenced building work on a 2.5 million development for a new production facility in sittingbourne which opened in october that same year . in 2015 the puddings kitchen somerset was bought out and officially became part of cook . it is still run by liz dove . controversy and criticism edit in 2015 they recalled their meals due to contamination from plastic . 1 in 2016 further recalls took place this time for chilli & cheese tortilla cup canapes . 2 social impact edit in 2012 cook took part in the sunday times best companies to work for but did not make the top 200 . in the years that followed they came 89th 65th 44th and rising to 28th in 2016 making them the highest placed manufacturer . they became one of the uk s first b corporations in 2013 joining other businesses that consider their social and environmental impact along with their profits . b corp certification is re evaluated annually . in 2015 they were certified by the living wage foundation and committed to paying all of their employees at least an hourly rate set by an independent body which is adjusted annually and considerably higher than the uk government s minimum wage . awards edit in 2005 cook won rising star of the year at the retail week awards and best retailer for vegetarian ready meals at the vegetarian society awards 1 cook re branded in 2006 and won the grocer gold award for best independent retailer chain . in june 2010 a year after cook s first franchises opened in 2009 they won the express newspapers brand builder award at the british franchise association hsbc franchisor of the year awards 2 cook dishes have won numerous great taste awards over the years 10 in 2010 ; 6 in 2011 ; 12 in 2012 ; 13 in 2013 ; and 9 in 2014 . partnerships edit cook products are also supplied to manx retailer shoprite and booths supermarkets in the north of england . references edit cook trading ltd recalls own brand frozen ready meals contaminated with small pieces of plastic . food standards agency . 14 january 2015 . retrieved 26 may 2016 . cook trading limited chilli & cheese tortilla cup canapes recalled . food standards agency . 6 april 2016 . retrieved 26 may 2016 . external links edit cook trading website cook at manx shoprite british franchise association b corporation uk retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title cook trading & oldid 726343140 categories retail companies of the united kingdomfood manufacturers of the united kingdom navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata itemcite this page print export create a bookdownload as pdfprintable version languages add links this page was last modified on 21 june 2016 at 15 35 . text is available under the creative commons attribution sharealike license ; 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