About Limoncello

Company Number 3746817

Formed in 1993, Limoncello Catering is independently owned by Martin Sweeney, and has grown from a small delicatessen to a flourishing catering company providing for both private and corporate events, for small events of eight people, to numbers in the thousands.

Our goal is to continuously deliver exceptional food, and superior service to all of our customers.  We always have staff on hand to answer all queries in a timely manner, and are always happy to prepare bespoke options and menus for requirements which fall outside of our popular packages.  Our packages are designed to be transparent for the customer, including a per person price, and in all quotes and on menus there are no hidden costs.

Our staff are always happy to discuss menu selections, prepare and provide cost estimates, or suggestions from our talented chefs to best suit the clients requirements.  We can provide anything from simple office sandwiches, to managing events including arranging equipment and furniture hire, music and decorations, drinks service or mixologists, and of course the food and service.  We always work with our clients through all aspects of the event, from the first enquiry, to meeting or a site-visit with food samples, to the execution and completion of the successful event.

Limoncello are located centrally in Shoreditch, and border the Boroughs of Islington, Hackney and Tower Hamlets.  We also operate from a second kitchen for certain jobs where necessary which is located in Southwark, close to London and Tower bridges, so we are able to send deliveries from the closest location, cutting down delivery time and fuel consumption.

Limoncello’s core beliefs are based in providing good quality, reasonably priced, locally sourced and ethically produces food.  We use small locally based suppliers, such as Kentas of London located in Smithfield Market, Sheringhams Fine Foods in Covent Garden Markets, and Grovers Greengrocer in Borough Market.  Apart from supporting local small business, this reduces delivery time and creates a minimal impact on the environment.  We always try our best to buy responsibly sourced products, such as Fairtrade sugar and cocoa, free range chicken and eggs, Rainforest Alliance tea and coffee, and all of our disposable kitchenware, such as plates, cutlery, containers and platters, come from Vegware, who supply only compostable plant based products.

Limoncello strive to always employ local staff, look to provide apprenticeship opportunities and training for young persons within the community, and promote an equal opportunity workplace.  Our staff base is majority female, both in the office, for staff on events, as well as chefs and cooks in our kitchens.   All of our staff, from the office staff, chefs and kitchen staff, to the service staff who work on our events are long time employees, who regularly work our events for us so are familiar with our menus, the range of events we do, and the standard of service and expectations they need to work to.  We do not use agency staff for our events because we believe having a team who are familiar with each other and how we run our events can provide the best working environment for our team, which will then  ensure the best quality and service for all events.

We believe in providing the best quality menus tailored specifically to each client’s needs, and for affordable prices.  We are constantly re-assessing our suppliers to ensure we are receiving top quality, responsibly sourced products, so we can provide the best possible food for our clients.   We are constantly looking at our delivery routes, so we can minimise the time our vans are on the road, and to devise the most efficient routes to minimise our carbon footprint.

For all deliveries our drivers always turn off their engines so the vans are not idling, and through having two kitchens from which we can make deliveries we can shorten delivery routes.  We also provide compostable disposable plates, cutlery and plates for events wherever possible, which apart from being much better for the environment than regular plastic disposables, this negates the need to make a collection after the event.

Supporting charities is a big part of what Limoncello do, a high majority of our regular clientele are charity organisations, we are the preferred caterer for Amnesty International in London, as well as Greenpeace UK, Natcen, Family Action, Ethical Property, Macmillan Cancer Support, Children England, Global Dialogue, Nofas, and many more.  We tailor our packages to best suit their needs, and their budgets for each unique event.  We are also very aware of, and are happy to cater for all dietary needs, whether they be allergy related, medical, or religious restrictions.

At Limoncello we have a HACCP system implemented within our kitchen, and all of our chefs have food safety and hygiene qualifications, and we have been awarded the Food for Health Gold Award from the London Borough of Tower Hamlets.  We have a hygiene rating of 5 stars, and our chefs follow strict procedures on preparation, storage, cleaning and delivery.

All of our food is temperature checked on delivery, and our suppliers are all food safety certified.  Our fridges and freezer are temperature checked when cooked, and all the foods are stored in the correct way.  For all of our events where we provide staff the food is temperature checked on the job and recorded by the staff.   Our food is kept hot on-site with chafing dishes and hot plates and ovens where required, and we always make delivery of our food as close to service time as possible so our food is never kept out of the fridge.

For all lunch orders, and when otherwise requested, our chefs provide Allergan cards marking any possible allergens, and the vegetarian dishes are always kept separate from meat or fish dishes.  We send menus with our staff on events so they are always aware of all ingredients, and any special requirements are catered for separately as required.

Limoncello use certain Key Performance Indicators to monitor our progress, and ensure we maintain the high quality of products and services we are providing, as well as receiving from our suppliers.  We are constantly monitoring and updating our menus items where necessary to maximise efficiency and minimise wastage within our business.

Our target is to make improvements and implement further policies to reduce our carbon footprint as much as possible, and provide as many responsibly sourced products as we can.  As we continue to grow we will continue to use local suppliers and employ local staff, as well as provide apprenticeship and training opportunities for young members of the community.  In the near future we intend to switch where possible to all Fairtrade products, use organic produce, and move to newer delivery vehicles with a lower carbon impact on the environment.  We will continue to maintain low food wastage within our kitchens, and lower office and paper wastage.

Limoncello makes sure to maintain regular contact and conversation with our customers and venues to ensure we are still providing good quality and relevant products and service, and are open to updating and improving when necessary.  We always welcome feedback after an event, and we believe that through regular feedback and constructive criticism can only make us stronger as a team and business, and continue to evolve and strive to do our best.