THE cafe at Ludlow Food Centre has hired additional staff to cope with growing demand.

Six new recruits joined the team at the Food Centre’s Conservatory Barn Cafe.

Among them is a new chef Zac Birchley, 34.

“The Conservatory Barn is the perfect change for me,” said Zac.

“Its ethos is about fresh, local and seasonal food which is exactly the kind of cooking I like. It’s also going to be nice working more sociable hours and seeing my first child grow up.”

Zac, who is due to become a dad for the first time in October, is inspired by Aldo Zilli, the Italian chef, and lived in Spain for five years so will no doubt bring a slight taste of the Mediterranean to Ludlow.

“Local, seasonal ingredients can be used in such diverse ways and I am really looking forward to creating a new menu. The choice of produce on offer in this region is superb, we really are spoilt for choice and I intend to use as much as possible,” he added.

Cafe manager Richard Davies has significantly increased the turnover of the Conservatory Barn in the last 12 months and is projecting further growth before the end of 2011.

The cafe now employs 14 people and caters for hundreds of customers every day.