Our Story

Hello from Ed and Elle,

Like all great stories the tale of Provender Brown is full of passionate people, a few twists and turns, and plenty of good food, drink and cheer!

It all started in 2005 when Diane Brown opened her dream deli on George Street in Perth. Packed to the brim with high quality produce from Perthshire, Scotland, the wider UK and beyond, its shelves, fridges and counters paid tribute to the wealth of incredible artisanal talent hard at work in the global food and drink industry at that time.

Fast forward to today, and while the same meticulous attention to detail remains at the heart of the business, a few things have changed. In February 2024, Ed Murdoch and Elle Whitby (that’s us!) bought Provender Brown Delicatessen and in the process, expanded our already successful deli business.

As a result, Provender Brown Delicatessen can now be found in George Street, Perth, online (right here in fact!) and soon to be in Newport Upon Tay, when the wonderful Fig & Fromage begins to receive some of the PB style.

So, who are we and what makes us the right people to carry Provender Brown into the next 20 years of business?

We are a husband-and-wife team, living in Newport and raising our three children amongst the hubbub of running our Café Bar, Deli, and Events Business. We have run Red Pepper Events since 2009 and have nurtured it from conception to a thriving enterprise that takes us from the streets of Dundee Farmers’ Market to the glamour (sort of!) of The Monaco Grand Prix.

However, like so many of our industry counterparts, lockdown hit us hard and with time on our hands, and the space to think, we began to explore the idea of opening an artisan greengrocers in Newport. We were fortunate enough to receive a shop in town on a month-to-month basis from a friend, and because food and drink sales were permitted during that time, we could open straight away.

The Urban Grocery launched at the end of 2020, selling fruit, veg, beer and wine, and delivering on our dream of deli life - albeit we could never have predicted needing as many face masks or welcoming customers from a strict 2 meters distance!

As you might imagine, it took off. Shopping was the new socialising and with a fantastic choice of local produce to hand, we were in a strong position to offer the people of Newport a little slice of normality and joy. From here, the barbers shop nearby closed its doors, but not before asking us if we’d like to take over the premises. We’ve always embraced a good challenge and Fig & Fromage Café and Deli opened in 2021. 

The whistlestop tour of Newport’s shop fronts came to an end on November 2023 when we combined both units to bring deli, café bar, off-license and grocers into one. But the story didn’t end there….

Out of the blue, in summer 2023, Diane dropped us a message via Facebook. We were long-time fans and customers of Provender Brown and dropped in frequently when visiting Ed’s family in Perth so you can imagine our surprise! She had been into Fig & Fromage previously, and on one occasion had told us she liked what we were doing and that we reminded her of herself in the early days. High praise indeed from one of our deli heroes! This message though, was even more exciting. She was planning her retirement, and wondered if we might want to chat about buying Provender Brown.

We’d like to say - “And the rest is history” – but of course six months of extremely dull financial, legal, and administrative tasks followed before we exchanged on Monday 12^th February 2023.

Now, as we look to the future, we are extremely grateful to have one very important part of the PB story remain the same as it has been since day one.  Of course, we are talking about, Martine! She and rest of the wonderful team have remained with us and continue to bring that warm and knowledgeable expert service that so many people have come to know and trust.

We didn’t necessarily set out to become one of Tayside’s multi-venue independent retailers or the largest online deli in Scotland, but we feel very fortunate to have found our way here.

Take some time to browse the shop here online or drop into the deli the next time you’re in Perth. To keep up to date with our new products, shop news and special offers, why not sign up for the newsletter? We send one a month and two at Christmas. We can promise you we’ll never bombard you because we simply don’t have the time!

Happy shopping,

Ed and Elle xx