East Lancashire restaurant Yu & You in ready meals deal (From Lancashire Telegraph)

East Lancashire restaurant Yu & You in ready meals deal

4:30pm Tuesday 24th January 2012 in Food news By Jonathon Dillon, Assistant news editor

AN East Lancashire restaurant, named the best Chinese in the country by Gordon Ramsay, is set to cause a real stir in the ready meals market.

Yu & You, in Copster Green, has formed a partnership with The Authentic Food Company, which has a turnover of £35million.

Head chef Victor Yu and his brother Vinny will oversee the production, and development, of the national food supplier’s rapidly expanding Oriental range, which will be launched in the spring.

The Chinese range is currently worth £12million per year and could rise to £20million over the next few years, bosses hope.

Customers include the Co-operative Group and Asda, as well as pubs, restaurants, hotels, and the travel industry.

New dishes currently in development include a premium chow mein and a king prawn recipe in a Cantonese sauce.

Vinny, from Yu & You, which featured on Ramsay’s Best Restaurant show on Channel 4 last year, said: “It’s really exciting to be embarking on this partnership with The Authentic Food Company.

“They recognise the importance of keeping their ranges reinvigorated with new ingredients and flavour combinations, and we’re looking forward to supporting them during this process.

“Our shared expertise for producing superior, restaurant-quality food will deliver tasty results.”

Nik Basran, managing director of The Authentic Food Company, said: “It gives me great pleasure to welcome Vinny and Victor and the Yu & You team on board.

“Their credentials and reputation for quality, well-prepared food match our own, and I am sure that our collective aim to produce market-leading Chinese cuisine for our customers will be an exciting and rewarding journey.”

The Authentic Food Company was established by Kamal Basran in 1985. It also supplies frozen Indian, Mediterranean, and British dishes to retail and food outlets.