The owner of a new healthy takeaway and meal prep stall in Blackburn Market has shared how she turned her passion and love for cooking into a career during the pandemic.
Scouse owner of Mama Trios Kitchen, Rebecca Stuart, 28, moved from Liverpool to Blackburn with her three children, which is where the ‘Mama Trios’ business name comes from, after the pandemic.
Rebecca used to cook for her family and friends and through word-of-mouth people started asking to buy meal prep boxes.
A councillor reached out to Rebecca, telling her she can’t sell food without being registered, resulting in Rebecca making a life-changing decision and "just going for it".
She said: “I’ve always loved cooking so I thought ‘why not?’
"We were all stuck in lockdown so I had nothing to lose because I could work from home and be around the kids.”
Most places were shut during the peak of the pandemic and no one was going out to eat, so Rebecca’s business boomed with delivery services.
She was initially opening a stall in a market in Liverpool but a change in circumstances led her further up north to Blackburn.
Being a business owner suits her lifestyle as a single mother as she works at the stall Monday to Friday and is able to spend time with her three kids on the weekend.
Rebecca said: “I love the idea of working for myself and not having to answer to anyone.
"If one of the kids gets sick I don’t have to worry about being forced into work, it just made sense to me.”
Despite her food being so loved by friends and family back home, and now her new Blackburn clientele, Rebecca’s children aged six, four, and two don’t seem to grasp how lucky they are to have a top chef as a mum.
“I try to do the whole nutritious mum thing like ‘eat this it’s good for you,” Rebecca joked, “but they don’t really like the food that I make here.”
Rebecca prepares the food fresh every morning ready for a day of cooking and selling to customers.
On special occasions, the business owner takes the time to delicately present the food like Valentine’s Day themed samosas in the shapes of roses and heart-shaped pasta.
Starting a new food business in a new town away from family and friends is daunting but Rebecca found that the challenge brough her a lot of joy.
She added: “It forces me out of my house and gets me talking to people, I’ve got regular customers now who I get chatting to.
“It’s helped me with my anxiety too because I used to be very anxious to be in public, but working in the market and having a good laugh with the other stallholders when it’s quiet has helped bring me out my shell a lot.
“It’s a really nice feeling to want to get up and come to work because it doesn’t feel like work to me.”
Mama Trios Kitchen offers a variety of different fresh foods including rice, pasta and noodle boxes and is available to order via Just Eat, Uber Eats and Deliveroo.
You can find Mama Trios Kitchen in Blackburn Market and on Facebook.
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