It all started when…

My Name is Alana, I have an interesting history with food. When I was younger, I really didn’t get cooking and made quite a few bodge jobs of meals as a teen. Then when with my first long term boyfriend he really liked cooking and we had a lot of fun cooking nice meals together. He taught me to cook a decent roast dinner.

When we split up, I didn’t really know what to do, had a few bar jobs worked in fruit and veg shop did some fibre glass laminating, then a job in the lovely Haunch of venison came up. I was trained up and lived on the premises, I really found I had a love for cooking and making sauces and preparing dishes. I was also very efficient and took pride in the kitchen and organising. I think this was probably best job I had had since I left school.

I went travelling after a few years and took my trade with me, I worked in an Aboriginal community. It was quite sad when I arrived, they were mostly eating deep fried food from the takeaway. There was a young man working with me in the takeaway and we decided to try making some new food for them to eat, we made stews and instead of deep frying the chicken and dim sims we baked it! Within a week we were starting to feel like we had a little following and they were beginning to enjoy our different food. 

I have worked in various other kitchens over the years, when I came to Bristol I worked and the lovely Café Maitreya while I was at college doing a return to study which led to university. Sadly, I didn’t complete the degree as I fell pregnant with my first child. By the time I felt ready to go back to study the course I was doing didn’t appeal to me anymore, I then did a 2-year diploma in sound healing. This was an amazingly supportive and awakening course. Along the way I got in to fermenting with kombucha and kefir and sold bit and bobs to local people and friends then started making wild garlic pesto and sauerkraut, after my third child I felt I couldn’t be a therapist. So, when he was getting a bit bigger I realised I could become a food manufacturer from home be there for the children while they were young and Bizzy Bee’s fresh foods was birthed, I started with a few products and hot meals at the Food Assembly. Then as my product label’s improved and my business skills I ventured out to more shops. Which is where we are today. My big highlight was when I got an email from Hugh Fearnley Whittingtonstalls colleague saying they really liked my sauerkraut and would like to stock it in the restaurants.