HolyCowFC.com

2010-03-07T16:38:00.000-08:00

Wow what a busy year it's been! It's been ages since our last post, and lots of good things have happened...Holy Cow! got a new improved look and we improved the flavours. In January we moved into our new offices near Canary Wharf, and finally got some help from two interns...Daniel and Katy...They were great! I didnt realise how much work I was putting off because there wasn't enough hours in the day for me to do them, until I started giving our interns some projects to do... Daniel's now gone back to uni to finish his degree and Katy has moved on to work in something more politics related...

This month, Holy Cow! sauces are available from Sainsbury's! and they're already available from Sainsbury's online...Our first 2 full time employees started last week, and one more will start tomorrow...We were busy doing an exhibition last week, so we through the two new employees into the deep end :) And now we're back in the office this week, the real work begins...

Keep you posted

2010-01-13T15:11:00.001-08:00

Check out our new packaging!!

2009-06-09T07:23:00.000-07:00

A glowing review from Maxim magazine!! Click on the picture to read the full article..

2009-05-26T16:00:00.000-07:00

Holy Cow! in the News...again!

2009-05-06T16:09:00.000-07:00

Holy Cow! has been in the news again, this time in the National Press...We got coverage in The Mirror, The Daily Mail, The Sun, BBC News Online to name but a few. The Mirror has nick named mum as a Spice Girl!

You can see some of the links below:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/food/article-1178286/Holy-Cow-Mother-hits-jackpot-Asda-pays-300-000-stock-homemade-curry-sauce.html

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2009/05/08/mum-wins-300-000-deal-to-sell-home-made-curry-sauces-to-asda-115875-21340848/

http://www.thisisoxfordshire.co.uk/news/4357213.Cook_s___300_000_sauce_deal_is_hot_stuff/

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/fr/-/1/hi/england/oxfordshire/8045507.stm

http://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/4357213.Cook_s___300_000_sauce_deal_is_hot_stuff/?ref=rss

2009-04-30T03:44:00.000-07:00

Holy Cow! Stop Press!

Holy Cow! featured in yesterday's Daily Express, under 'Best High Street Bargain Guide'.

2009-03-27T11:19:00.000-07:00

Holy Cow!...A New Beginning...

So it's been a long time since we last posted anything here...a lot has changed...

Hi I'm Anu and this is our Holy Cow! blog, I'll update this page regularly from now on.

....We managed to get the Holy Cow! range onto shelves in independent stores across the U.K. including Whole Foods Market on Kensington High Street, and Dobbies Garden Centres (part owned by Tesco). This was great! The range was getting out there on the shelves and selling well.

So the next step was trying to get the Holy Cow! range into the supermarkets...We'd been trying to do this for years, but now we had some sales figures behind us which showed it was selling. We looked at the packaging and flavours again, and decided to improve the range. With new packaging and improved flavours we re-approached the supermarkets.

And this paid off, Holy Cow! sauces has just got into all Asda stores across the U.K.! ...

...It's been 4 weeks now on the shelves at Asda, and the range is already selling really well. Plus we already have more than 300 followers on Facebook, and nearly 3000 followers on our Twitter pages!

2006-10-17T12:33:00.000-07:00

Holy Cow! The Birth of Stars
All in a Day's work down at The Farm

We’re standing here in our white clinical coats; Food Doctors about to perform our first ever experimental operation down at The Farm. The patient is a ‘Cow’, and it’s soon to give birth to hundreds of little bottles of sauce made with love, affection and a little fear. Our hair is severely tied back and every strand is encased under white cloth hats, which we wear at funny bouffant angles that make us all look like little Hilda Odgens (Coronation Street circa. 1977).

The ‘Cow’ is the technical name for the oversized cooking pan that takes pride of place in this pristinely clean room. When the sauce is finally made, it’ll come pouring out of the bottom of the pan like tits being milked – sucked out through a pipe into waiting bottles. I want to get a cow print cloth to cover the pan for added effect, but it’s not allowed.

We look deep into each others eyes and know we’re all praying for it all to go without hitch today. But you can read the terror in our body language; each of us knows what rests on this day all just cooking into place. We have our first order pending and we’re dangerously close to our first deadline.

We reassure each other with knowing glances and stand ready; armed with oversized spoons, scoops, weighing scales and buckets to act as bowls.

Saucy Secrets
There’s anticipation as the secret recipe is pulled out from a nondescript blue folder with the word ‘Confidential’ etched in blue ink across the top. But it’s all in Aunty Ji’s head anyway. She’s leading and supervising us through the day’s sauce making. We’re her runners and we’ll do what ever it takes to make it happen. Carefully planned instructions are called out and we march to order. Boxes are opened, colours and flavours rise-up thick into the air as they’re scooped, spooned and poured out into more containers; all lined up waiting for their turn to step up and perform in the pan.

The Cow is being warmed up in the background. The whiring noise of the generator is all consuming and awe-inspiring. Something amazing is going to happen today.

Forbidden Tastes
Ah, the smell of white wine vinegar, fiery garlic and neatly cubed chunks of feisty onions and the heady mix of spices (a rainbow of colours). It all makes me want to stick my head in the bowel of the cow and roll it around, violating any number of sections in the various standards and hygiene codes we’re adhering to. Needless to say, we’re not allowed to lick out any bowls either. But the exhilarating mix of flavours and forbidden tastes all fresh and so rich has me on the prowl for the finished thing. I can’t wait. The intense mass of flavours being cooked with raw green chillies makes our eyes pour with water. This is a labour of love and an emotional journey for us all.

I keep my desire secret in case of inciting the wrath of my boss who is already upset at my accidental vinegar-shower incident (very wet and slightly acidic), and the ketchup spillage incident (squelch). Not that I’m a ditz in the kitchen but the day unfolds with a number mishaps along the spiced road to sauce perfection. When things go wrong we have to stop everything and twice had to start again all from scratch to make our ‘holy perfection’ in a bottle.

Colourful Destiny
One week later of this daily grind, and we are done – with the cooking at least. Green, Orange and rich Red are piled high; flavours ready to burst forth and fulfil their destiny, on shelves, in fridges, and finally on plates, in homes, up and down the country.

Hundreds of bottles now have to be hand labelled because our monster labelling machine (the one thing that is mechanised in the whole process) has broken down. A full week of squinting, aligning, and strangely back breaking sticking ensues. Then there’s still more – we make little families of six out of the bottles, and case them up – passing them through a shrink wrap machine. The bottles are finally secure, ready to be sent on to their homes where they will no doubt add a punch of pure flavour to every meal, and be the stars of your world. We wish them well, as we wave them out the Farm gates.

2006-09-21T09:55:00.000-07:00

The Annual 2006 Fine Food Awards

Hosted by the Guild of Fine Food Retailers

The atmosphere was glamorous and tense with every maker of fine food wanting an accolade from the Guild of Fine Food Retailers, the UK’s most prestigious foodie awards.

Jars and bottles arrived looking vibrant and stylish as they strutted their stuff along the red conveyor belt. The group of five Holy Cow! Serious Sauces blew everyone away on the night with their natural beauty and fresh flavours.

Sweeping the Silver award for Sauces was Holy Cow! Spicy Monsoon Mango.

Collecting the award, Spicy Monsoon Mango beamed to reporters: “Well as they say, first the worst, second the best! This is such an awesome award! So much love was involved in the creation of the whole Holy Cow! range. I want to thank the full range of Holy Cow! serious sauces for being such great sports; this is a team effort. Special thanks to all the development, production, design, and manufacturing teams. Particular thanks to all those at The Farm for their behind the scenes work – you know who you are!

I look forward to livening up your cheese toasties, nachos and your fish ‘n’ chips for years to come. I won’t let you down!”