Leeds nutritionist makes huge lockdown success with stunning new 'Zoom party' grazing boxes

Claudia Aston, from North Leeds, began a six-week intensive course on nutrition and personal training just before lockdown hit last March as a follow-on from studying for a nutrition based degree at Northumbria University.

The course was halted just a week into the 23-year-old's studies, and after the sale of a premises to open her own health food cafe in Wetherby fell through, she wanted to find another way to use her nutritious skills and healthy food knowledge.

Then, in September when a restaurant takeout food order for a friend's birthday did not arrive as expected, Claudia stepped in to save the day and offered to cater for the birthday as a trial of her new 'grazing' idea.

She was met with a number of compliments about her creation, and decided to take her grazing idea further - adapting along the way in line with coronavirus restrictions.

Claudia said: "I was absolutely loving my course and I was so upset when it had been halted because of the first lockdown, so I wanted to do something related to what I was studying.

"After I had created my first grazing table for this friend's birthday, and everyone had been like 'oh my gosh wow' about the creation, everything else happened from there.

"I started doing salads for at-home barbecues and people started buying those, and then I did some more grazing tables for at-home birthdays.

"When lockdown restrictions started to get tighter again I had to be inventive and adapt in the best possible way to keep my business alive and grazing tables were not going to work during lockdown.

"So, I wanted to bring the 'wow factor' to picnic boxes and twist them slightly, making them a bit different, as that was becoming pretty much all that anyone could do."

Claudia started with a 'trial and error' method, using different sized boxes and different foods and as people began to order more, she established how she wanted to direct her growing business and she became known as BOWA Kitchen - Best of What's Around.

As she built relationships with her suppliers, she set a standard size for her tasty-looking boxes.

Claudia added: "When Halloween came about I figured I could use my picnic box idea for parents to make it feel special for their kids when trick or treating was kind of ruined by the virus.

"I put a few pictures of my Halloween style box on Instagram and from there the orders flew and I adapt my boxes now to every occasion.

"People order my breakfast and afternoon tea boxes for themselves but also as gifts for others, and loads of people have arranged for a box to be sent to each member of Zoom parties."

"I catered for some Zoom Christmas parties and it helped me to decide what to offer, so now I do meat-based ones, sweet ones and cheese ones as well.

"Orders have just absolutely flown at every occasion, like at Valentine's Day, and in between for people's birthdays or other personal occasions.

"It's been absolutely amazing and a huge success for me so I just want to keep adding to what I offer with new ideas."

Claudia hopes to grow her grazing tables for events after lockdown, but in the meantime will continue into the summer with expanding her barbecue packages with meat skewers and salads.

She delivers her boxes for free within a five mile radius of Alwoodley, and other deliveries are to be negotiated upon ordering.

The BOWA Kitchen founder said: "I'd say I'm a 'one man band' with a little bit of help when I need it.

"I've got an amazing girl who works for me part time when I need help with icing biscuits or deliveries and whilst at the moment she's kind of shadowing me, I'd love to get to a point where I can employ a number of people and pass orders onto them and let them take control of some of the boxes."

Claudia wants to be able to offer delivery nationwide but said that the quality of the food would be compromised because she makes everything fresh on the day of the order so it's not viable.

Instead, she will stick to being Leeds-exclusive and hopes her grazing tables will be able to make a return after lockdown.

More information on BOWA Kitchen and orders can be placed here.