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Circular Kitchens - Whitstable
Supporters, Partners & Collaborators
Our founder and CEO, Dr. Naji P. Makarem, lives in Whitstable and has met many residents and stakeholders since he moved to Whitstable in Sept. 2023. Naji chose Whitstable because he remembers it and it’s familiar from his university days at UKC in the 1990s.
We are very grateful to the following stakeholders in our food system here in Whitstable::
Locals and visitors:
So our first big thank you goes out to the numerous people we have met in Whitstable who have and continue to encourage us to keep doing what we’re doing.
Thank you all very much, you blow wind in our sail!
Founding Members
An equally massive thank you to for joining Circular Kitchens when we had little mote than a vision and a sociable CK Rep:
Without you trusting us to join the movement we would have been a flop!
Our gratitude goes out to our 10 Founding Members (in order and phase of joining):
Summer 2024:
Jamie Olive - No. 1 Whitstable (The 1st to join)
Briony - Hubbards Bakery
Dawn & Oisin - The Cheese Box
John - Nomad Pizza
Jake (owner-manager) and JP (head chef) - Pearsons Arms
Autumn/winter 2024/25
Julia - Farm & Harper
Craig - The Umbrella Centre
Adam - Grain & Hearth
Vanessa & Marc - Le Petit Cafe
Phil - Bears Ice-cream
Distributors:
We are also grateful to the butchers, grocers, farm shops (at the markets) and food hubs we have met who have all shown patience and trust spending time explaining to Naji the ropes in the supply chain.
We learnt that a lot of the trade is done in difficult circumstances (dark and cold) and in some cases only on paper invoices. To local farmers and all essential players connecting them to kitchens, we say, hey, we should be able to compete with that on our Circular Kitchens marketplace!
Special thanks to:
Mark - Granny Smiths
Jo and the team - Staines Farm Shop (Sponsor of the Local Recipe Booklet which we printed 300 copies using a local printers we recommend for servive amd sustainability info and standards: )
Dave - The Offey (Supplies fresh fish he sources directly from the fishermen, if you order in advance)
Beckie - Kent Food Hub (Sponsors of the Recipe Booklet and collaborator in all things circular - Thank you!)
Jim and the team - Jim’s Butcher (Sponsors of the Recipe Booklet - Thank you!)
Michelle and the team - Whitstable Nutrition Centre (thanks for sourcing sustainable rolls of wax paper for our founding members).
Sam - Me13 (Thanks for joining our first experiment to connect farmers with hospitality businesses and distributors, and for working with us on helping chefs and buyers prepare for the next harvest)
Local Volunteers:
A few local volunteers who have shared industry insight from their experience in commercial kitchens and cafes.
Zayna (Offered friendship, outdoor cafe/social space at the end of the harbour, super-valuable brainstorming, good ideas and great contacts - Thank you Zayna, everyone loves Zayna!)
Alessandro (Freelance Barrista and Trainer Extraordinaire). Makes the best coffee!
Michelle (At McNades and 10 other jobs that keep her super-busy!:)
Charlie - Inspiring for our marketing & sales, thank you for your support and insights into sales.
Local Civil Society:
Don - CT5, the civil society umbrella organisation in whitstable. Super-supportive, thank you for everything!
Kate and other volunteers at Plastic Free Whitstable
Rev Rachel (Great host to the church and introduced me to several environmentally-concerned and conscious people in the community).
Clare - Collaboration in progress on 1) an experiment to see if we can develop a system of collection for compostable materials and 2) See what the council thinks of joining us in our little potentially transformative experiment when it comes to zero waste in Whitstable.
Farmers:
Ed - Rebel Farmer
Ripple Farm organics
Lady interviewed/animals
etc...
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