PROPER BREW
Proper Brew is a film and TV catering and craft company. Originating from Yorkshire and based in London, their client list includes Burberry, Netflix and Apple TV’s critically acclaimed Slow Horses.
County Supplies Founder & MD, Robert Hurren interviews owner Matthew Husband and Head Chef, Luka Seddon on the inspiration behind Proper Brew, their commitment to using fresh seasonal produce, the impact of the recent SAG & Writers Guild strikes and an insight into the famous mouths they’ve fed over the years!
Being a family business ourselves, we love your brand – in particular, your ‘Yorkshire born/London based’ heritage. What was the inspiration behind starting Proper Brew?
Matthew Husband: Proper Brew goes back to my northern roots. Myself, my sister and younger brother worked in hospitality, across the North, for many years. After moving to London, I saw a gap in the market and was keen to create my own thing.
The idea started from a few months of casual chats over a beer – as all the best ideas do! It was during the pandemic, ideas spinning, the name, the branding…we’re very much a family business. My partner, Luka is Head Chef, my younger sister, Ellie is my business partner, and my older brother created our look and feel.
So, tell us a little more about Proper Brew and what you guys do?
Matthew: The company is only three years old, after starting during lockdown. In the beginning, we were aiming to only offer Craft services, which is essentially an up-scale coffee shop on wheels, serving hot & cold snacks and drinks including coffee & (strictly!) Yorkshire tea…which is where the name ‘Proper Brew’ came from – because everyone loves a ‘proper brew’! We then received the opportunity to do the catering for Apple TV’s hit show Slow Horses…
Luka Seddon: …which is when I joined full time.
In just three years we went from cooking out of a converted horsebox trailer and serving from a gazebo to a small fleet of fully converted Luton vans fitted with commercial kitchens. It’s an impressive fleet that can now cater for large crews all over the country.
How did you both get into film and TV catering?
Matthew: For eight years, I was working for the prestigious Betty’s in Harrogate, Yorkshire. Then, seven years ago, I got offered a new position in film catering. I accepted and headed to London with a backpack, a change of clothes and a toothbrush – and I’ve never gone back!
Luka: For me, I was living and working in Mexico when the owner of a film and TV catering company came into my restaurant. She offered me a job and six months later I decided to take her up on the opportunity. While working with her, I met Matt and now, here I am, working for him and his sister running the food side of the business!
So, what does a typical day in film & TV catering look like?
Matthew: It varies. It depends on what job it is and what the requirements are. For example, for Slow Horses, we can be on location from 4am and they’re standard 12hr days – breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea, dinner etc., five days a week. And, when filming is drawing to a close, this can be back-to-back six days a week. But then, for Bridgerton it was just coffees, teas and refreshments so less intense.
Luka: We cook everything on site too with equipment that’s able to cater for 100-900 people a day. One day we can be in Marble Arch, the next day in a field in Cambridge or at Arthur’s Seat in Edinburgh!
So, what would be the menu of choice for a large film crew?
Luka: We plan our menus a week in advance and breakfast is usually a traditional full English, but we also serve Eggs Benedict or Florentine, pancakes, waffles etc.
I home cure my own gravlax too, so we’ll also offer salmon or trout. With lunch, it changes every day but a few favourites, from this season, would be crispy salmon Katsu, buttermilk fried chicken wings, ramen – and, of course, the traditional fish & chips always goes down well!
To keep everyone going until the end of the day, afternoon tea is also offered consisting of a classic sandwich or baguette, cakes and crisps. If it’s a late shoot, we’ll serve handheld street food dishes to help keep the crew and cast going.
I try to cook from all cuisines to keep our menus both fresh and interesting, but also to keep the crews happy and satisfied. The trick is being able to cater for every person on set – from the production team and the cast to the electricians, drivers and make-up artists!
And, how important is the use of seasonal produce in your menu planning?
Luka: It’s incredibly important. We only want to serve the highest quality fresh produce to our customers and crews. I want to be using the best radicchio in our summer salads or the best heirloom tomatoes, and the right wild mushrooms at the right time of the year.
And, if we’re retained on a long-term contract, my menu needs to change with every season. We don’t want the crew becoming bored with the same dishes – we’re catering for them five days a week for 9-12 months so incorporating seasonality is vital for us.
That’s why the County Supplies Market Report is incredibly useful. Every month, we can see the latest news on produce availability, what’s in season, what’s arriving…it really helps with menu planning.
How do you anticipate any changes in catering numbers? Is it easy to scale up or down at relatively short notice?
Luka: We’ve been doing it a while now, so it’s become second nature. The largest number we’ve catered for on Slow Horses is 900. On these occasions, I’ll focus on dishes that can be stretched – chicken curry or a dahl, or stews – something you can serve with rice and a spoon, and where you can get 50x portions per double gastro.
“The two most important factors of our job are that we MUST be on time… and we cannot run out of food, EVER!”
Once you know numbers you can also work out ingredient requirements. So, for example, for 150 people, I’ll order 10 kilos of diced chicken for certain dishes. From there, I can work out how much I’ll need for a crew of 900. It just takes a little planning, that’s all.
Matthew: And, staffing wise, our core team can happily cater for numbers between 100 to 250-300. Anything above that and we’re lucky enough to have the resource to scale up without any issue.
What would you say is the biggest difference between event catering and film and TV catering?
Luka: With event catering, there is usually a central production unit (CPU) where everything is made, packed, and distributed out. The food can be plated or served buffet style, and there’s a high number of canapes and bite-sized dishes.
Whereas, with film & TV catering, the need is for good, nutritional food – wholesome, hearty dishes that are going to keep the crew going through the day, every day. We also cook everything fresh on site. I think the importance of the crew being able to smell what we’re cooking every day is a massive attraction and makes them even more excited for lunch
“As they say, an army marches on its stomach!”
Matthew: We view ourselves as very much part of the crew. And we know our food is good – otherwise, we wouldn’t serve it, but it’s when we get those one or two comments each day from someone on the floor, complimenting us on our dishes, that makes those 12-hour shifts worth it. We’re always being asked for our recipes – which, let’s face it, in catering it’s the biggest compliment you can get!
How has the recent Screen Actors Guild (SAG) and Writers Guild of America (WGA) strikes affected business?
Matthew: Luckily, the Writers’ strike didn’t affect us much. Will Smith, the writer for Slow Horses is English and most of the disruption was in America. However, the actor’s strike did. We were scheduled to start catering on a high profile, A-list movie this Autumn but this has now been postponed until next year.
Yet, this is the nature of working in the film industry – you can be crazy busy for a long period of time and then…nothing! Thankfully, we’re already booked up on the next two seasons of Slow Horses, which starts filming in the New Year.
Where would you like Proper Brew to go from here?
Matthew: I’d like us to build on our Craft services offering hot drinks, homemade juices, savoury and sweet treats, mini portions of street food etc. – which is what we originally set out to do – while continuing with our catering service which has proven really popular for us.
Finally, does having a constant presence on set ruin upcoming storylines if you watch the show yourselves?
Luka: Well, we receive the script in advance, but we never read it. As huge fans of Slow Horses ourselves, we don’t want to know any spoilers!
Some of our food has even made it onto the show. I once had to make a cheese sandwich for Gary Oldman for a scene in an upcoming season.
I could have handed the job to another of our chefs, but this is a sandwich for Gary Oldman, right? So, of course, I’m going to do it! And, because I can then say to my dad, “That’s my cheese sandwich.”…which is as close as I’m ever going to get to being on-screen!
Introducing the new County Supplies Customer Series
Here at County Supplies, we’ve been supplying London’s leading chefs with fresh produce since 2005. Today, we’re proud to supply more than 600 customers – from schools and event caterers through to film sets and Michelin star restaurants – with over 2,500 produce lines including fruits, vegetables, dairy, dry and frozen.
Our new customer spotlight series showcases some of the UK’s leading chefs and explores the wide variety of customers they cater for, the importance of incorporating seasonal foods into their menus and their commitment to using only the finest fresh produce.
