Tasty Christmas treats from Virgin StartUp businesses

by Natalie Clarkson

3 December 2020

It’s finally December and everyone’s getting ready for Christmas. We’ve teamed up with Virgin StartUp to highlight some brilliant independent businesses where you can get some delicious food and drink to help you celebrate this festive season.

All of these businesses have received a Start Up Loan from Virgin StartUp, as well as advice and mentoring through the Virgin StartUp programme. Take a look at what they have to offer…

Looking for the perfect Christmas present? Take a look at the Virgin StartUp gift guide.

Boatyard Distillery

An award-winning distillery located on the banks of Lough Erne in Northern Ireland, Boatyard Distillery uses the best organic ingredients for each of their products.

Boatyard Distillery

Quality is at the forefront of what they do. They use a botanical called Sweet Gale in their Boatyard Double Gin that has been foraged from their family bog. And the wheat used in their vodka can be traced back to the very field it came from.

Visit Boatyard Distillery to fill up your drinks cabinets before the Christmas celebrations begin.

Tea+

Looking for a healthy drink to enjoy this Christmas? Tea+ is a health and wellbeing brand with a range of vitamin, mineral and CBD infused teas. They blend vitamins with delicious flavours to make teas that also provide vitamin supplements.

Tea+

“This Christmas it is more important than ever to boost our immune system and stay healthy,” said co-found James Dawson. “The TEA+ Immune Boost Bundle includes two comforting and delicious vitamin infused teas, the perfect unique Christmas gift. It’s a great way to stay cosy and warm during the gloomy winter months while ensuring we get our daily vitamins.”

Visit Tea+ to stock up now.

East Coast Distillery

Gin is the order of the season this year and East Coast Distillery’s Tide’s Fortune is a dry gin crafted in small batches and infused using the finest ingredients. They blend traditional botanicals with locally foraged and grown botanicals, including Sea Buckthorn, which adds a piquant citrus flavour, and Sea Purslane, which really captures the spirit of the sea.

East Coast Distillery

“We are a small distillery based on the beautiful Essex coast. We launched in June this year but have been developing our gin for quite some time, making sure that we had the perfect flavour blend,” said co-founder Ben Mann. “We are very proud of our first signature Gin and it has been really well received by customers. The bottle is designed to be as beautiful as the contents and each one is bottled by hand and individually stamped by the member of the team who has worked on it.”

Tide’s Fortune is available for £37.95 from East Coast Distillery. Use the code VIRGINPP for free postage and packaging.

Treat Trunk

If you want to treat your loved ones to some healthy snacks for Christmas (and beyond!) then Treat Trunk could be just what you’re looking for. Treat Trunk is a monthly subscription of all the best healthy snacks, perfecting for gifting to treating yourself.

Treat Trunk

Founder Sally Wade said: “Most of my life I struggled with sugar addiction and associated health problems. I was stuck in a cycle of bingeing, restriction and shame. Instead of the old fashioned diets where you cut out things you enjoy, I started to make and buy healthy treats and was excited to discover so many delicious, fun treats that mean I can live a normal life enjoying the things I love without sacrificing my health and happiness. My health improved so much that the immense passion I felt for healthy treats led me to start Treat Trunk - the healthy snack subscription box.”

Visit Treat Trunk to enjoy a 20% discount on your first month of a subscription with the code VIRGIN 20.

London Smoke and Cure

If you’re looking for something extra special to enjoy this Christmas, you should take a look at London Smoke and Cure. It is a multi-award winning smokery producing 100% artisanal quality produce, crafted by hand in London.

London Smoke and Cure

“We started five years ago wanting to break free from the predictable rhythm of a desk job and with a hope to feel more engagement, present and connected to life,” founder Ross Mitchell said. “Virgin StartUp has been a crucially important part of that journey through the various support for entrepreneurs that they're able to provide. We feel privileged to be a small part of Virgin StartUp family.”

Enjoy 10% off all Christmas pre-orders of meat and fish products, including hampers, charcuterie boxes, breakfast boxes and more with the code VIRGIN2020. All orders placed with this code will be dispatched the week commencing 21 December. Visit London Smoke and Cure to find out more.

Savyll

If you, or anyone you’re celebrating with this year, are choosing not to drink alcohol, Savyll believes that everyone should get to enjoy delicious drinks. They have created an elegant range of ready-to-serve, alcohol-free cocktails that recreate the familiarity, complexity and sense of occasion of some of the world’s favourite tipples.

Savyll

From a G&T, Mojito or Moscow Mule to an Old Cuban, Spiced Rum & Cola or a Bellini, Savyll brings the sophisticated flavours of the finest cocktails to more people on more occasions.

Enjoy 20% off Savyll throughout December with the code VIRGIN20.

Lucocoa

It wouldn’t be Christmas without chocolate. And you won’t find much better chocolate than Lucocoa, London’s first bean to bar chocolate makers.

Lucocoa

“We wanted to make luxury chocolate that not only was good for you, but was good for the entire cocoa supply chain,” founder Amarachi Clarke said. “We make chocolate from scratch using no artificial ingredients or refined sugar - removing the guilt from guilty pleasure.”

Treat yourself and your loved ones to Lucocoa chocolate this Christmas.

Freestar

Looking for an alcoholic beer that tastes great and is good for the planet? Look no further than Freestar. With less than 90% CO2 than normal beer, Freestar is for the young changemakers driving a move towards moderation. Plus it’s low calorie, vegan and gluten free.

Freestar

Visit Freestar to stock up for Christmas.

Members of Virgin Red (the newest Virgin company on the block) will also be able to spend their Virgin Points on Freestar soon – so keep a lookout on the Virgin Red app.

Denzel’s

You didn’t think we’d forget our furry friends, did you? Denzel’s are the perfect healthy treat for man’s best friend this Christmas. They are healthy snacks for dogs that are not only delicious, but produced in an eco-friendly and sustainable way, with all the ingredients and nutritional values clearly stated so that you know exactly what your dog is enjoying.

Denzel's

“Joining forces with a local UK bakery, we created a range of healthy snacks made from 100% natural ingredients. Our snacks are gently hand-baked in carbon-neutral, sustainably sourced wood chip ovens, with absolutely no artificial additives, colourings or preservatives,” co-founder James Lacy said. “What's more, our new bites range come in resealable, completely biodegradable and 100% plastic-free pouches, meaning even if you forget to pop it in the recycling, it will break down in landfill in months rather than centuries. We don’t believe that treating your pet should hurt the planet.”

Treat your dog to Denzel’s with 20% off any build a box using the code VXMAS20 until 31 December.

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