The eagle-eyed amongst you will have spotted a brand-new logo on the first team shorts as our bond with locally-based Bare Kitchen, who specialise in healthy eating with a site at DW Fitness, and also offer a healthy but delicious meal prep service, continues to grow and strengthen.
The distinctive Bare Kitchen logo adds sponsorship of the shorts to a partnership with the club which includes the preparation and supply of nutritionally balanced meals for the squad both after training and for their often extremely long away journeys.
Speaking about how the partnership came about Joe Short, from Bare Kitchen, said: “I’ve been in the PT industry for the past five or six years and I’ve been looking at ways to both expand my business and get into other areas of health and nutrition.
“I had a look around the area, probably just over a year or so ago, and I felt the best way I could do that was by delivering a healthy food service alongside the other services I provide.
“There was nothing really providing that focused on healthy eating in this way around Carlisle that we could see, and that’s where the idea for Bare Kitchen sprung from.”
“We had a really busy six or seven months getting it off the ground and it’s pushed on again since Tom [Lefevre] joined us as co-owner,” he added. “As a business we decided that one of the things we wanted to do quickly was develop links within the community, so we’ve worked with a number of charities on different ideas and we also came on board with sponsorship at Carlisle United.”
“Part of the discussion we had with David Holdsworth when we first started talking about providing the food for the players was him asking us if we were in a position to give back to the club,” Tom explained. “Putting the logo onto the shorts seemed a fantastic way for us to do that because it’s getting our brand out there, and people have already been coming up to us and talking about it, which is fantastic.
“It’s quite a proud feeling to see the club doing so well and to be part of that through sponsorship of the shorts and the other work we do with the players, in terms of the food we supply.”
With the players now sitting down to eat a range of meals prepared and delivered by Bare Kitchen after every training session, he told us: “The food consists of wholesome and tasty options. We always make sure that it’s lean and prepared in such a way that we help to give the players a balanced diet.
“We make sure there isn’t too much fat and that there’s a measured amount of carbs. Having said that, we also have to keep in mind that the lads need to be refuelled after what are tough training sessions.
“It’s a key part of their recovery, after intense physical effort, because they need to rebalance their muscles and their body so that they’re ready to go again. Our partnership with the club is a month old now so we’re still getting used to the players and how they want things, and our aim is to very quickly get it perfect for them, because that’s the most important thing in all of this.”
“The relationship with the club is growing and we’re delighted about that,” Joe concluded. “As a Carlisle United fan myself it’s a surreal feeling to see the logo on the shorts. It feels like a massive accomplishment for the pair of us to have built up our business to the point where we’re now in a position to do this.
“Hopefully things will continue to develop from here because we are absolutely delighted that we have this partnership with the football club.”
Director of football David Holdsworth said: “The Bare Kitchen lads have been fantastic from the first meeting.
“The food they provide is a huge hit with the players because of the range and choice, and also because of the nutritional value they get from it. Importantly, of course, it’s also very tasty.
“It was extremely encouraging to see how quickly this thriving local business wanted to take this partnership further and it’s fantastic for them and us to see the Bare Kitchen logo on the shorts. It definitely catches the eye and hopefully this is just the beginning for both businesses as we continue to look to work together in the future.”
Click HERE to find out more about Bare Kitchen.
