by Laura Forsyth | 17th November, 2022 | About Lions Prep
At Lions Prep, freshness and nutrition are some of the key values of our business. And we couldn’t do it without our incredible suppliers. In fact, we’ve built long-term relationships with over 20 trusted suppliers from the UK and beyond.
Our food team keep in close contact with them to ensure they continue to meet our high standards. Lions Prep’s success is theirs too, so we’d like to take the opportunity to celebrate the people behind the brand. Here we put the spotlight on one of our vegetable suppliers Direct Delivered Produce (DDP Ltd).
Meet one of the friendly faces behind DDP – Paul Grimshaw. Paul is a third-generation fruit and vegetable supplier at DDP; both his dad and grandad worked in the old and the new market. He joked to us about how he joined the family business a tad late, as at first he wasn’t too keen on the idea of the 2am starts.
Not that we can blame him there! However, he has since been converted and is proud to supply top-tier produce. Which is why he has been our trusted point of contact for over two years. He now describes his day-to-day work life as eventful to say the least:
“When I come in the early morning, I really don’t know what I’ll be up against. Because Mother Nature will usually play her part. It can affect the daily demand and quality. But I can’t rehearse what’s going to happen the next day and that keeps us on our toes!”
Paul’s favourite vegetable is the English asparagus. Particularly because of how passionate the growers are and how amazing their quality grading is. He says:
“I have so much respect for all growers and farmers in the UK. What they do is amazing, with all sorts of weather and problems being thrown into the mix.”
He likens growers to chefs and how what they do takes a lot of practice, patience, passion, dedication, and skill:
“A farmer recently told me that the difference between a good farmer and a bad farmer is ’24-hours’ – being able to react quickly when something needs doing can be the difference between success and failure.”
Paul reflects this in his own working hours too, and how DDP are proudly open 24-hours-a-day to help with whatever their customers needs, whenever they need it.
When Paul isn’t at the market, he’s out walking the dogs. He enjoys lots of sports, especially football and believes that there is nothing better to do on a sunny day than enjoy a BBQ with friends and a couple of beers.
