About Green Door Caterers
Situated at Woodmill Farm in Yoxall, The Green Door is a family run bakery and patisserie. Alongside the retail shop, they also run an outside catering company for weddings and special events, both locally and across the County of Staffordshire.
The outside catering business has been going for nearly 20 years but the bakery opened during lockdown as the catering business came to an abrupt stop.
Owner Trisha McCann explained "We worked alongside Paul Shum Family Butchers, who had opened 18 months before. We helped with his local deliveries for people during lockdown. He would supply the meat packages and we would supply other items such as bread and cakes. We also included the basics like eggs and butter, alongside meal solutions like homemade pizza kits, or steak nights that included a homemade dessert."
Trisha’s family all live in Yoxall and her two daughters now run the bakery, while Trish looks after the catering side. It’s a family-run business that employs 15 people, all of which are from Yoxall or the surrounding villages.
When it comes to the shop, Trish explained that "Every single thing that we do is made by us in Yoxall. We only use the best quality ingredients – we make all our own jam and cakes, the Bakewell Tart and brownies are very popular, and for the bread, it’s the sourdough. You can find a video of that process on our Instagram page explaining what goes into making it – a process that takes 48 hours. We also supply our bread into a large local hotel so the food miles are virtually nothing and everything is so fresh."
One of the hidden gems in the shop are ‘Mary’s Pancakes’. They have been stocked from the very first day the shop opened and the recipe, which is written on a scrap of paper and is still in the bakery, belongs to Trish’s Mum, Mary.
Trish explained that "Local people are so generous, and it's testament to the service they get when they come to shop with us. The staff regularly get given small gifts from customers as a way of saying thank you as they are so happy with the service. Some elderly people only come out of the house to do their shopping and they like to stop and have a chat. We always make time for them and ensure they get the best customer service from us, it’s really important to us as a family business."
"People like what they get from us – we don’t pre-package anything so people have the choice – that’s at the heart of everything to us. Rather than selling multi-packs, we sell single items so people don’t feel like they have to buy more than they need – especially with the cost of living crisis. We are also on-hand to give advice about the products such as whether items are suitable for freezing, so there is no waste. Everything is made fresh with quality ingredients and we don’t add any preservatives. That’s also very important to us – we try to have a zero-waste policy."
"If we then have croissants left over, we will make bread and butter pudding with them, if we have white breadcrumbs left over, we will use them in our treacle tarts. If there is then anything leftover after that, we offer ‘zero waste bags’. These are bags of leftovers that people can buy at the end of the day, similar to the Too Good To Go bags, of items that can be eaten fresh that day or frozen."
When asked about campaigns such as Small Business Saturday, Trisha said "Shopping local is hugely important and encompasses everything that we are about. It’s a more personal experience than shopping in supermarkets and offers such a sense of community. It really brings people together. We support each other, we have a great product knowledge and we work alongside other great suppliers on site. For example, in the three years that we have been here, we have changed people’s perception on buying bread from a supermarket. It happens a lot in Ireland, where the family is from, and it is nice to see people now doing the same here. Going out in the morning to buy fresh bread – it’s a much better quality product and the taste is far superior."
Why not pop into The Green Door and try some of Trish’s famous sourdough or cakes – there is also a sandwich bar and pizza bar. You will be spoilt for choice!
In order to support Small Business Saturday, The Green Door are offering Buy One Get One Free on all fresh cream cakes on 2nd December.
Contact Details
hello@greendoorcaterers.co.uk
www.greendoorcaterers.co.uk
You can also find them on Facebook and Instagram by searching for Green Door Catering Yoxall.