MAKE ITINFOOD! Open an urban winery - Learn coffee shop economics Start a pop-up grocery store Launch a cookware brand Feed the neighbourhood ...
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STORIES OF MODERN BUSINESS APR/MAY 2020
ISSUE 34
A K E IT I N F O OD!
M Open an urban winery
Learn coffee shop economics
Start a pop-up grocery store
Launch a cookware brand
Feed the neighbourhood
Yakitori + New ghost kitchens + Plant Based Gang + Indie food shops
+ Arctic eating + A tour of Tel Aviv + The money in seaweed £5.00 UK | $8.00 US
LETTER
‘Somebody ordered pancakes.
I just sipped the sizzurp’
W
hile I have absolutely no historic we’ve hit the road to bring you inspiring and
evidence to support my claim, I suspect informative examples of individuals beating the odds
that almost from the minute the printing and making a buck from food. Whether you’re
press was invented, people were thinking about how waist-deep in a three store coffee shop empire or just
to write about food. It seems food and media have kicking around ideas to take your grandmother’s fish
been a pairing that’s been with us forever. soup to the masses, our aim with this issue is to equip
Some of my earliest media memories are of old you with everything you need to keep the lights on
copies of Vogue Entertaining + Travel piled up on the and the ovens glowing.
coffee table at our beach house. Recipe books, some And, of course, any mention of Courier and food is
hand typed by my mum, lined the shelves and 80s insufficient without a nod to our sister title, Courier
talkback radio phone-ins chatted about how to make London. Every month our free London newspaper
a lighter, fluffier scone or proposed a better tells stories of food and drink in the UK capital. You
temperature at which to roast a leg of lamb. can pick up copies in hundreds of cafes and
I’m still an avid food media consumer. Bravo’s Top restaurants or download a free digital edition from
Chef is a guilty pleasure, Lucky Peach is a much- our store at couriermedia.co/shop. In fact, Courier
missed standard on my stack and Milk Street from London has proven so popular that we’re hard at
America’s Test Kitchen founder Christopher Kimball work on pilot editions in a few more cities.
attracts more than its fair share of my time. I can’t confirm the exact locations of our next two
For Courier, of course, our interest is less about titles, but they’re a friendly nod to the almost daily
bringing you dinner ideas or plugging a new celebrity emails we get from North American readers wanting
cookbook and more about filling in the blanks about to get their hands on a local edition. We’ll have more
the nuances of starting and running a food business. on this, and a bunch of other projects we’re working
Operating a hit restaurant or snack brand is pretty on, in a forthcoming issue.
tough. Making enough money from it in the long-run
is damn hard and can often feel almost impossible. For now, happy eating!
But all is not lost. In this, our annual food edition, Jeff
LETTER | 07
Inside... Workshop
Issue 34
April/May 2020
68 Run a profitable cafe
On the cover: Kris and Sarah 71 Improve your outreach skills
Yenbamroong of Night + Market
at their home in Los Angeles. Delve into the 72 Deal with geopolitical shifts
73
Japanese art of
Photography: Brian Guido yakitori (p92) Learn about vesting
74 Claim self-employed expenses
Now
p50
75 Pay your staff the same salary
76 Find funding in your supply chain
20 Swedish underwear, keeping cash 77
p84
Build trust online
22 Natural wine, British llamas 78 The making of a music machine
24 Big deals, Australia’s design unicorn 80 Startup Diary: Cami Téllez
26 Walk-in marketing, new lunchware
28
Life
The bags beating plastic waste
29 Courier Weekly updates
84 At home with Kris & Sarah
Briefings
Yenbamroong
92 Chicken on a stick
32 Cookware & mindfulness
94 Fermentation and pickles
38 Five global food journeys
95 Speciality food shops
41 The new ghost kitchens
100 An eating tour of Tel Aviv
46 Food media getting it right
108 Hotel restaurants to know
50 A renegade urban winery
112 Seaweed’s superpowers
56 Portrait: Joe Holder
MAKE IT IN FOOD!
+ C ATA L O G
Comment
Look out for stories,
reports, recipes,
insights, how-tos
& much more. 100+ PRODUCTS
60 Columns FOR YOUR BODY,
65 Book extract: ‘Shorter: How
MIND AND HOME
working less will revolutionise A dutch oven, a
the way your company gets Ballearic cookbook,
& tons of stuff to eat
>>> PAGE 115
things done’
and drink (p115)
08 | CONTENTS CONTENTS | 09
LETTER
Apr/May 2020 is all about…
Jeff Taylor
Editor-in-Chief
Cain Fleming Daniel Giacopelli Kate McInerney
Managing Director Editorial Director Creative Director
Seaweed’s
superpowers
EDITORIAL DESIGN
John Sunyer, Features & Special Projects Charlotte Matters, Senior Art Director
Duncan Griffiths Nakanishi, Senior Editor Sophie Kirk, Junior Designer
Tatsuo Hino, Editor-at-Large
Photography & Illustration
Contributing Words Sivan Askayo, Evan Brien, Shiori Clark, Nic Crilly-Hargrave,
Sapphire Bates, Melkon Charchoglyan, Sarah Drumm, Luke Fullalove, Fanny Gentle, Brian Guido, Anje Jäger,
Fleur Emery, Ravneet Gill, Naomi Joseph, Colin Nagy, Ryo Kaneyasu, Yadid Levy, Louise Pomeroy, Ricky Rhodes,
Lucas Oakeley, William Ralston, Ana Santi, Jack Vereker Yosuke Yamauchi
CLIENT SERVICES & OPERATIONS
Matt Horrocks Rachel Warby Maverick Pettit-Taylor Julia Ahern
Advertising Executive Brand Partnerships Manager Distribution Community & Events
GET IN TOUCH
Contact Become a stockist Careers
[first name]@couriermedia.co If you’d like to become a Courier stockist, We’re always on the lookout for
Social: @couriermedia we’d love to hear from you. talented people. For job opportunities,
Get in touch: maverick@couriermedia.co visit: couriermedia.co/jobs
Courier, Level 1, 88 Hanbury Street, London, E1 5JL United Kingdom
Copyright © 2020 Courier Holdings Ltd. All rights reserved.
10 | MASTHEAD LETTER | 11
SNAPSHOTS
SNAPSHOTS
Francesca Chaney is the founder of Sol Sips (@solsipsnyc), a plant-based cafe in Brooklyn, New York. Chaney started in the industry a few
years ago while still in her late teens, selling homemade healthy juices at a holistic health centre in Bedford-Stuyvesant. This soon morphed
into her hugely popular brick-and-mortar location, named after the Spanish word for ‘sun’, in which she serves a range of vegan dishes.
PHOTOGRAPHER: Ricky Rhodes.
12 | SNAPSHOTS SNAPSHOTS | 13
SNAPSHOTS
PHOTOGRAPHER: Ricky Rhodes.
The tiny cafe, on a residential street in Brooklyn’s Bushwick
neighbourhood, has since become a local (and citywide) favourite
spot. Chaney is currently running a three-month experiential pop-up
at Sol Sips called The Soft Cafe, in collaboration with local interior
design studio Soft A$$ Rappers (@softassrappers). She’s also taken Chaney learned to cook from her grandmother and mother, a nutritionist. On the menu at the cafe: southern collard greens with smoky
this pop-up concept on the road, collaborating on food and wellness tempeh ‘bacon’, chickpea ‘tuna’ served over kale, four-cheese gluten-free chickpea macaroni topped with crispy chia-turmeric breadcrumbs
events with the likes of Lululemon in Chicago. and chives (overleaf), and fried ‘chicken’ made from oyster mushrooms and cooked in gluten-free ‘buttermilk’ batter.
14 | SNAPSHOTS SNAPSHOTS | 15
SNAPSHOTS
PHOTOGRAPHER: Ricky Rhodes.
Expansion plans are in the works. Chaney hopes to launch an ‘experimental dining venue’ in the area called First Sunday by Sol Sips that
will feature vegan food along with music and art. She’s also recently launched a new Instagram account (@bbymogul) to share tips, stories
and lessons learned to ‘support young and or new bosses coming up in the game right now’.
16 | SNAPSHOTS SNAPSHOTS | 17
1
Now
Upgraded corner shops A natural
(wine) newsletter Why New York
is keeping cash Sweden’s underwear
kings Design down under Wild
flavours in a can British llamas
Student as VCs Walk-in marketingNOW
˝ UNDERWEAR
A BOXER
REBELLION ˝ RETAIL
Founded in 2016 by best friends Christian Larson and
Andreas Palm, Swedish underwear brand CDLP is taking
off around the world. Palm shares what he’s learned.
Q. Why did you launch an underwear brand?
Cash or card?
In New York City, cash will live to gone completely ‘cashless’ say it
Christian and I have been best friends for 10 years. He has a die another day. Lawmakers there reduces queues and keeps staff
background in film and photography – doing commercials, music passed a bill in late January banning safer. Yet, those who advocate
videos and shooting for several brands – and I have a background in businesses in the city from refusing keeping cash – such as some city
brand experience. We always travelled for work outside Sweden and cash. Restaurants, shops and other councils – cite cybersecurity
sometimes shared rooms to save money. Inevitably, we saw each businesses must now accept both concerns or make an inequality-
other’s underwear. It always stood out as the weak link in an outfit – cash and card – refusing cash could based argument that not everyone
underwear never aligns with your overall aesthetic. Plus, 15 or 20 result in a fine of at least $1,000 has a bank account. According to
years ago I wanted to show my Calvin Klein or Armani logo, but as the per violation. New York joins New New York City’s Department of
years went by I realised I was paying for logos and not the product Jersey, Philadelphia and San Consumer Affairs, one in nine
itself. Chris and I felt we couldn’t find underwear we actually wanted Francisco, which all approved households in NYC don’t have a
to actually wear – it was almost a forgotten menswear category. similar bans last year. bank account and households in
Globally, electronic and some boroughs, such as the Bronx
Q. What’s the market look like? contactless payments are picking up in particular, are much more likely
It’s dominated by huge brands that don’t even produce it themselves; steam, and businesses that have not to have one.
they’re often outsourced on a license basis. We followed the trail and
discovered most men’s underwear is made in China, two hours north
˝ TOILETRIES
of Shenzhen. We went there to check it out and realised these
Liquid soap is
factories make millions of pairs for all the big brands. They’re made
with cheap cotton, but it’s not a good material – it doesn’t hold the
colour, shape or transfer moisture. Customers haven’t really asked
for innovation, and so the brands keep on making the same thing.
80% water...
“When you grow fast, you need to be able to put good So why not make it yourself?
people in each position, but it’s so difficult.” Stockholm-based design
studio Form Us With Love
Q. Where do you manufacture your products, if not China? buyers weirdly aren’t really part of the fashion industry – they might (@formuswithlove) has launched
When we went to China and said we want to make the world’s best be a buyer of Christmas decorations in a year. As soon as we a sustainable alternative to liquid
underwear, they laughed. But to be honest, why would they change realised we needed to talk to the fashion director, it opened doors. soap called FORGO. It’s a small
their model when they make so much money? We were introduced paper sachet containing 12 grams of
to a factory in Portugal that said they’d love to help us on our Q. Have you guys spent a fortune on social ads?
mission. We settled on a fabric called lyocell – it has all the benefits The problem with some of the DTC unicorns is they raise so much
powder – adding water turns it into
that cotton doesn’t have and it’s made in a closed-loop process in money and spend so much on ads without showing a path to a bottle of foaming handwash. The
which most of the water used in the dyeing process is reused. It also profitability. But it’s become too expensive to purchase growth on idea is to avoid buying unnecessary
breathes – the first time I put them on I was shocked. Instagram and Facebook. Online marketing will definitely become a plastic bottles, and FORGO intends
smaller percentage of our marketing pie as we grow, because we’re to become a subscription platform
Q. Your aesthetic is pretty different to most underwear brands. finding new ways to build relationships with our customers – collabs,
If you go to a department store and look at how men’s underwear is content, our first concept store in Stockholm. We see social ads as
for a variety of other daily personal
portrayed, it’s so dated. It’s all studio-shot models, 22 years old, complementing this in the overall marketing strategy. care products as well. ‘We see
most looking like soccer players – and I can’t really relate to that. so many products designed to
With Chris’s creative background he felt there was an opportunity to Q. What unexpected things have you learned? be wasteful and inefficient. Liquid
portray men differently. He shoots everything on film – and he only Building the first 10 team members is extremely important – and personal care products are mostly
shoots our friends (no models) and in private, humorous moments. one of the biggest challenges as a founder. When you grow fast, you
water, an ingredient you probably
ILLUSTRATION: Yosuke Yamauchi.
need to be able to put good people in each position, but it’s so
Q. How do you get stocked in a place like Mr Porter? difficult. If you don’t have a famous brand, why would someone want have at home. So why ship it around
It’s a mix of getting the right press and the right people to like it. I’ve to work for you? You can settle for less, but you want someone in plastic bags and bottles when
used everything from LinkedIn to Instagram to cold-calling. The real who’s really talented. It’s also important because the CEO wears so it’s possible to do better?’ says
key is finding out who the decision-maker is. I reached out to so many hats in the beginning. When you look back, it’s charming – ‘We creative director John Löfgren. The
many underwear buyers and received hundreds of ‘nos’. If you’re an were doing everything! We were sending packages ourselves!’ – but
underwear buyer it’s much safer to buy from the big brands in the moment you’re quite frustrated. Learning how to shorten the
company blew past its Kickstarter
because you have square feet you need to cover – placing a bet on time spent doing everything to what you should be doing is my key goal for FORGO and expects to ship
a small brand doesn’t make sense. But the thing is, underwear takeaway. That’s something that very few founders talk about. the first product in July.
20 | NOW NOW | 21NOW
˝ WORK
Why not
˝ RETAIL work HERE?
Heading to Fosbury & Sons expands to
Amsterdam. Antwerp-based
co-working brand Fosbury & Sons,
your hood whose brutalist Brussels building
Courier covered in Issue 30, has
There have been many attempts at launched its fifth location and its first
reinventing the convenience store outside of Belgium. The company
experience – from cashierless worked with design studio Going East
Amazon Go shops to the ill-fated on a redesigned 19th-century
startup Bodega (now called
Stockwell), which was accused of hospital on Prinsengracht canal. The
trying to destroy neighbourhood plan is to open three more locations
corner shops with do-it-yourself this year. @fosburyandsons
vending machines. Few, though, have
felt as natural as Foxtrot, a Chicago- Another NeueHouse in LA.
based e-commerce and retail NeueHouse has always stood out
company founded in 2013. Foxtrot, from the co-working pack with its
which in early February raised a $17m focus on a creative membership,
round co-led by Imaginary and from condoms via modern sex brand app. Within each shop is a market and
Wittington Ventures, is essentially a Maude and immunity gummies from cafe area. With multiple locations in cultural programming and a lack of
chain of high-end convenience stores. Hims to the Japanese whisky Hibiki Chicago and Dallas, Foxtrot is some of its competitors’ cookie-
They offer local, emerging and trendy Harmony – along with on-demand planning to expand to Washington DC cutter vibes. With a location each in
(read: DTC) products – everything delivery in less than an hour, via an this year. @foxtrotmarket New York and Hollywood, it’s now
opened a third in Downtown LA’s
GHIA
The Bradbury Building, the city’s
˝ BRAND-WATCH
˝ DRINK Clockwise
oldest landmarked building, built in
Low yield,
from top:
Fosbury & Sons 1893. NeueHouse has plans for more
in Amsterdam, locations in Venice (LA) and Miami.
10
high quality
NeueHouse in
Los Angeles.
@neuehouse
What is it? As natural wine ˝ BUSINESS STATS
Animal magic
A booze-free, botanical-packed finds its way to the
mainstream and sales
‘social tonic’ that’s ‘inspired by go through the roof,
the sunny aperitivo culture of the check out Damp
(@dampwine) – a
Mediterranean’. super-informative IMAGE: Lauren Coleman. ILLUSTRATION: Yosuke Yamauchi.
and well-designed A record 681,704 new driving schools, 141 watch and
Who founded it? newsletter on businesses were created jewellery repair shops – and
everything unfiltered in the UK last year in 700+ 10 new businesses dedicated
Los Angeles-based Mélanie and low-intervention. different industries – of which to raising llamas and alpacas.
Masarin, formerly head of retail and It features stories of 45,229 were tech startups. One high-profile player The number of
makers, bottles to In the food and drink world, in the alpaca space is Paul
offline experiences at Glossier. check out, events to there were 14,363 new Rippon, co-founder of
llama and alpaca
attend and places to takeaway food businesses Monzo. Earlier this year businesses
When’s it launching? visit. A recent edition and mobile food stands, Rippon stepped down from launched last year
was dedicated to wine 9,405 licensed restaurants, the challenger bank to work
across the UK.
Sometime before summer 2020. pairings with hot sauce 7,182 cafes, 314 brewing on Barnacre Alpacas, the
and name-checked companies, 347 distillery farm he started with his wife
Who to follow? Los Angeles’ Night + businesses and 10 wine Debbie, which now has
Market restaurants producers. 300+ alpacas.
@drinkghia @melaniemasarin featured in this issue’s Other companies include Source: The Centre for
How I Live (see p84). 23 credit bureaux, 429 Entrepreneurs
22 | NOW NOW | 23NOW
˝ FUNDRAISING ˝ LESSONS LEARNED
Big Deals Down under design
Canva is a design platform allowing non-designers to make professional-
The top VC deals in Europe from January to early March 2020, by round size. Data provided by Pitchbook.
looking creations such as presentations, social media images and sales
decks. After a recent fundraise of $85m, the Sydney-based startup is now
Revolut | $500m LumiraDx | $151.8m valued at $3.2bn. We caught up with Canva’s co-founder, Cameron Adams. ˝ DRINK
Challenger bank
London, UK
Health management software
London, UK
On lessons learned:
‘We’ve learned so much over the past
wouldn’t even think of moving
anywhere else. Startups know they Wild
flavours
eight years. What you know today could get funding from Australian
isn’t what you’ll know tomorrow. And investors now. Silicon Valley now is
Klarna | $200m Graphcore | $150m everything breaks. You’ll break, teams extremely competitive – you’re
Online payments platform Semiconductor company break, meetings break. We pride competing against Facebook, Twitter,
Stockholm, Sweden Bristol, UK ourselves on our lunches, but our Apple and the next extremely Danish ‘flavour company’
lunches have broken because the well-funded startup. There’s not a Empirical Spirits
lines became too long. Every six great deal of loyalty. People will move (@empiricalcph) is branching
Colonies | $196.6m ManoMano | $139m months to a year you reevaluate what from startup to startup, get their out from bottles to cans.
New co-living startup Gardening and DIY marketplace you do as a company. I started off equity and move on. Whereas here in Featured in Courier Issue 24
Paris, France Paris, France very hands-on, doing the code and Australia we have people who will and co-founded by Lars
the product. As the team grows and work with us for more than six years, Williams, previously of Noma,
people come in with their own ideas, and the average retention rate is Empirical Spirits’ drink
Frontier Car Group | $168m Immunocore | $130m their own thinking about products and higher than in the Valley. We’ve products don’t fit neatly into
Used car marketplace Biotechnology company sales and marketing, you have to go managed to attract some amazing categories like vodka or gin –
Berlin, Germany Abingdon, UK along with that. And you’re not people – the lifestyle, weather, instead they’re made with wild
the smartest person in the room geography and work/life balance are mixes of fruit, botanicals and
anymore. We have fantastic engineers all incredible.’ herbs. Founded in 2017,
Kry | $155.9m CurrencyCloud | $121.8m who can do more than I could ever the brand is known for its
Video consulting with doctors Global payments platform dream of. Our roles have become On thinking globally: experimentation and fun names
Stockholm, Sweden London, UK more about mentorship and giving ‘One of the advantages we have over (a habanero spirit made from a
people the green light to push American companies is companies in base of pearled barley, Belgian
themselves and Canva forward.’ the US often think only about their saison yeast and koji is called
own market. The US is a massive ‘Fuck Trump and his stupid
˝ LOGISTICS On the Sydney startup scene: market, with a high GDP and lots of fucking wall’). It’s breaking into
Inside the box
‘There’s always Silicon Valley as the money floating around, so often all the crowded canned beverage
benchmark, but the Sydney startup you have to think about is the US. But world with two new products –
scene is getting really good. It’s for us, even if we won the Australian oolong tea and sour cherry –
changed massively. When we started market we’d still be a very small both available this spring.
In the centre of Helsinki, out, there was no VC scene and company. So we had to think about
startup culture wasn’t highly going global from day one. In 2016
Posti, the Finnish postal prevalent in Australia. Finding people we made the choice to go from one ˝ INVESTMENT
service, has worked to go out on a limb with a much lower language and the platform was
The maximum amount
£30,000
with interior design wage and a bit of equity was hard. available in 100 different languages
‘student VCs’ are
It was a given you had to move to by the end of 2017. It’s opened
studio Fyra to create Silicon Valley to do anything. But we us up to different markets authorised to invest
Box, a hassle-free self- managed to find great partners in in the world. So people into on-campus
service collection point Australia and the US who actually in Brazil, for example, startups as part of a
for packages ordered wanted us to stay in Australia and will see Brazilian
saw it as a strategic advantage. templates focused on new UK programme
via e-commerce. Box And now I’ve seen startups that Brazilian values, called Creator Fund.
boasts more than just events and culture. It Backed by Founders
600 storage lockers for been ordered easy, makes them feel at home Factory, Creator
and comfortable. That’s Fund has recruited
people to pick up their and a special ‘Spotlight’ been really important to
parcels – there is also space where online students at more
ILLUSTRATION: Yosuke Yamauchi.
our growth. Brazil is a super
a seating area, coffee, retailers can highlight important place for us, and so than a dozen UK
are markets like Russia, India universities, trained
stationery, packaging a selection of and Indonesia. The way they use them as investors,
materials, digital kiosks products. Each area Canva in those countries is different and given them funds
for returns, changing is also colour coded, to how they use it in the States. We
to invest in peers
have to constantly look at that and
rooms to make trying so moving around is make sure we serve them in a way who are developing
on clothes that have straightforward. that’s faithful to them.’ startup ideas.
24 | NOW NOW | 25NOW
˝ MARKETING ˝ THINGTESTING X COURIER
Busy bees Inka
Jenny Gyllander (@thingtesting) reviews
Think of Buzzbar as a sort of 2. Agility is important for founder to your clients are the latest direct-to-consumer products.
‘Genius Bar’ for marketing marketing in changing times. clear on how and why you
services. Customers walk into We find that people often exist, and connect to them. THE STORY
the London shop, explain their spend too little, or too much, Inka’s founder, former travel blogger Leah Naomi, has spent two
marketing woes, and pay by the on marketing. The ability to 4. It’s not always about an years exploring the frustrations of lunchtime to create the
brand’s first line of products. By addressing the pain points of
hour for help from on-staff test and adjust, working immediate return. Look ‘BYOL’ – leaky food containers, flimsy cutlery – she reckons
experts. Approaching its first across different platforms holistically at your marketing more people will be encouraged to bring their leftovers to work.
anniversary, Buzzbar’s co- and specialists, and changing plan and acknowledge The result is a souped-up range of elevated lunchware. Inka’s
founder and CEO, Anna Downey, the way you work are all key. that some areas are lunchboxes have lids that clip shut to create a secure seal
shares what they’ve learned. important even if they (patent-pending InvisiSeal technology). For anyone wanting to
radically overhaul their al-desko eating experience, there’s the
3. You only have one voice and don’t instantly drive complete Lunch Kit, which comes with a knife, fork, spoon,
1. Clients know a lot more than you need to constantly train sales. Check napkins and three food containers, all packaged inside a luxury,
they (and others) give it. Whether you’re a young or your vision, vegan leather handbag. The price tag? $245.
PITCH
themselves credit for. Never established brand, and clients and Elevated lunchware
forget that you know your whether you’re online or THE PRODUCT
KPIs to drive I can relate to the problem of stinky, leaking lunch containers in
product and you’re the offline, you should spend time the company my purse. The main reason why I bothered carrying them PRICE
heart of your business – we’re thinking about your tone of forward. The around for years was to save costs. But that’s the paradox – if Food containers from $14
just good at pushing you voice. Constantly checking end goal is the I’m saving money on food, I probably don’t have a spare $245 The complete Lunch Kit is $245
further and balancing that and evaluating that voice is development of a for a lunchbox. You could probably make the numbers work for
an Inka kit if you calculated savings per wear. But my gut feeling
with time/budget. Don’t let key. Your voice is your vision, product, community is that Inka is going for another demographic: women who bring
LAUNCHED
marketing get in the way of your mission, your reason. and establishing yourself as lunch with them for environmental, dietary or health reasons. February 2020 in Brooklyn
communicating your ideas. Ensure everyone from your a solid/sustainable brand. Looking beyond the price tag, the design of Inka is stunning.
You can tell a lot of time has been put into the smallest details. INSTAGRAM
Everything from the sealable solution and the modular straps to @inka.world
the silk napkins and the silicone leather feels fancy. The leather
˝ BRAND-WATCH ˝ E-COMMERCE
TOCK TIME
is quite special (and most likely one of the biggest drivers for FOUNDED BY
More QVC the high price tag) – it’s a silicone leather typically used for
luxury yachts. The ethical decisions are admirable but the
Leah Naomi (@leahnaomi._)
for DTC price is steep.
˝ PREPPING
What is it? and InstantBook,
JUDY DISASTER KITS
We’ve previously has announced
A new concierge- which lets you search covered the it will launch its
style program for and book dining rise of millennial- own, called DTC
from Tock, a options tailored to friendly, Live (@dtc.live).
digital reservation your preferences. interactive, live- Users can ‘tune in,
stream shopping ask questions and The millennial aesthetic has supplies for a variety of The brand identity of It’s unlikely that true
and event
networks – shop products come for your furniture, emergency situations. Judy – inoffensive human so-called ‘preppers’ – the
management Who founded it? your skincare and your They’ve worked with name, bold typography, dedicated, often fanatical,
system used Tock’s founder Nick upgraded takes straight from
wall paint. It’s perhaps preparedness specialists bright colour and cutesy people who prepare for
by restaurants Kokonas, a former on the age-old a live-stream
inevitable that in 2020 to design its four kits, illustrations – was disasters year-round –
QVC channel. featuring your
across the globe. derivatives trader. it’s come for your natural which range from a developed by Red Antler, would be interested in
A popular one is favourite athletes, lightweight bum-bag known for its work with
Tock Time will Down to Shop celebrities,
disaster survival kit. Judy, and there are similar
According to newly (‘The Starter’) and a $180 DTC companies from (less visually appealing)
include the When’s it launching?
ILLUSTRATION: Yosuke Yamauchi.
(@downtoshop), influencers and launched US startup Judy, backpack (‘The Mover Casper to Allbirds. Judy kits on the internet. But it’s
Wishlist, letting Soon. launched in even your next- 60% of Americans don’t Max’) all the way up to a also offers a text-us-your- an interesting option for
users snag 2018. Now, the door neighbour’. have an emergency plan. $250 plastic crate (‘The questions service for the concerned citizen in a
reservations Who to follow? Brooklyn-based The company Founders Simon Huck and Safe’), packed with a hand- real-time preparedness big city – and with fears a
before they are @tockhq e-commerce is hiring for live Joshua Udashkin want to crank radio, flashlight, dust inquiries, and tailors its kits global pandemic, some
publicly available exploretock.com platform Elliot anchors to host remedy this with their ‘no- masks, survival food bars, for specific geographical of the company’s kits are
(@helloiamelliot) the streams. nonsense’ kits filled with and much more. locations. already sold out.
26 | NOW NOW | 27NOW
WEEKLY
˝ FASHION 2 INGREDIENTS
Rothy’s: Alt-beer
Oats: is there anything they can’t do? An indie
not just
Every Friday, Courier Weekly drops into brewery from Baltimore is putting them to work
inboxes with insights on working better for a range of oat milk beers. The combination
and living smarter. Here are some food might sound odd but both milk and oats are
footwear
and drink stories we’ve covered lately. common ingredients at breweries. ‘Putting oat
milk into beer sounds new, but it’s really just extracting the
1 SNACKS liquid from soaking oats in water,’ says DuClaw Brewing.
In October last year, we When Courier caught up with Introducing lupini beans ‘Those are two ingredients we use frequently.’
caught up with Roth Martin, him in autumn, Martin hinted he What’s unusual is how DuClaw is shining the spotlight on the
New York brand Lupii wants to let the world know ingredient. Considering how popular oat milks have become (in
co-founder of San Francisco- didn’t want Rothy’s to become about lupini beans – a popular Mediterranean 2018, US sales of the drink rose to $29m, up from just $4.4m
based DTC footwear brand a one-trick pony: ‘What snack food with a low profile in the US. Instead the year before), it could give it newfound relevance.
Rothy’s (@rothys). The we’re doing is architecting of serving them the traditional way – pickled and On the flip side, Mother Beverage’s rebranding as Poppi
company, which launched a lifestyle and you’ll see us with a side of beer – Lupii uses them as the star is an example of when an ingredient shouldn’t be given so
in 2012, is known for making launch innovative product ingredient in its protein bars. The beans contain much airtime. Named after the goopy substance used to
zero net carbs and double the protein of a serving make vinegar, the founders soon realised it ‘wasn’t the most
sustainable women’s shoes in categories other than of chickpeas (in other words, they’re catnip for approachable product’.
such as ballet flats, from footwear,’ he said, when asked vegan keto dieters).
recycled materials. But if Rothy’s was keen to ‘own’ the It’s not the only brand marketing lupini beans
Rothy’s recently announced footwear space in the same to the wellness crowd. In September, health food 3 DELIVERY ‘We’ll add restaurants to
its first non-footwear product way that Casper wanted to brand Carrington Farms added ground lupin to In the food our marketplace when we
its range of powder ingredients, while Brami, also see local diner demand for
category: handbags made ‘own’ the sleep space. ‘It will in New York, has sold snack pouches of pickled, delivery wars, delivery so the restaurant can
from recycled water bottles be an extension of what you flavoured lupini beans since 2016. restaurants lose receive more orders and
and plastic found on coastlines. see us doing now,’ he added. One challenge for Lupii will be convincing revenue from deliveries
customers to try something they’ve never heard of Seamless and Grubhub have completed by our drivers.’
before, so packaging it in a familiar format helps. been adding restaurants We’ve reported on why
˝ SUSTAINABILITY The bars are available on Lupii’s site (see Catalog to their platforms without Yard Sale Pizza in London
Against plastic
on p120), but the founders say physical retail will be asking them, according to has created its own delivery
crucial to making the launch a success. multiple restaurant owners. If service to maintain quality
a customer makes an order, but there are plenty of
someone at the platform legitimate reasons why a
Of all plastic produced, will phone up to place it with restaurant wouldn’t want to
40% is for packaging + 3 more sustainable brands to know: the restaurant and a driver is do delivery at all, from added
sent to pick up the meal. operational complexities
– used just once, then 1. Sweden’s Ninjaplast featuring a sling bag, It’s a clumsy tactic to the commissions these
thrown away – and 18 (@ninjaplast) sells nylon dry-goods to stop diners drifting to platforms charge. As one
other platforms, presented restaurant owner told The
billion pounds of plastic ‘100% fumble free transport sack, as a helping hand for New Yorker: ‘We know for a
waste flows into oceans products for the hemp tote, a restaurateurs. A Grubhub fact that as delivery increases,
each year. Trying to planet’ such as transport vessel for spokesperson explained: our profitability decreases.’
freezer and zip bags liquids and more.
combat the dire stats are made with bio-plastic Each piece of the kit
sustainable packaging from eco-friendly is designed to be 4 M E N TA L H E A LT H rife. Thankfully, restaurants are now 5 FOOD
companies. Firms sugarcane. used for shopping at Coping with taking action. According to Eater, Our Place’s founder
receiving big investment ‘alternative routes to tons of US restaurants are signing up
restaurant burnout to take part in the ‘I Got Your Back’ Last year, Shiza Shahid launched the
include the former 2. Brooklyn-based market’, such as
DeliverZero programme, which helps restaurants direct-to-consumer cookware brand
pizza-making startup community food Punishing hours, hot and high- to train staff in peer-to-peer Our Place alongside her husband
(@deliverzer0) offers shops and farmers’
Zume, which has restaurant takeaway markets. Ancillary
stress environments, and difficult counselling. Others are capping hours Amir Tehrani and Zach Rosner. It
customers. Working in a restaurant to combat overwork and burnout, wasn’t Shahid’s first time launching
pivoted to address the and delivery service Equipment’s website isn’t easy for those running the while more restaurants appear to be her own thing. Prior to setting up Our
problem; compostable using reusable has a directory of 290 kitchens, and a mental health incorporating the types of employee Place, her career was in a different
packaging company containers. such shops. crisis among chefs is becoming wellness activities commonly found at sector entirely – she founded a non-
Tipa in Israel; and the increasingly apparent. office-based businesses. profit organisation that campaigns for
3. The crowdfunded It’s estimated that eight in 10 As one restaurant group owner better girls’ education with her school
Finnish firm Sulapac, project Ancillary chefs experience poor mental succinctly put it to the New York friend (and Nobel Peace Prize winner)
which makes Equipment (@ health during their careers, with Times: ‘If you don’t have healthy, Malala Yousafzai.
biodegradable staff shortages, and time and happy people who can do their
ancillary.equipment)
budget constraints cited as some jobs, then you can’t have a
alternatives to plastic has designed The Kit,
Ancillary Equipment: liquid bag, dry of the most stressful aspects of successful business.’ Sign up to Courier WEEKLY to get five essential
such as straws. goods bag, sling bag and stickers the job. Substance abuse is also igotyourback.info stories of Modern Business in your inbox every Friday.
couriermedia.co/weekly
28 | NOW NOW | 29LIFE LIFE
2
Briefings
‘At Renegade Winery in London,
there’s no mention of terroir,
phenolics or mouth-feel – just a
cheerful barman, a cosy nook and
some interesting wine served under
a railway line.’ Pg 50
30 | LIFE LIFE | 31BRIEFINGS BRIEFINGS
This cookware
brand wants you
to feel better
Can pots and pans designed to teach you how to cook also
make you feel less burned out? Equal Parts thinks it can.
‘Hello. We’re Gin Lane… and now we’re Pattern, it turned out, would help solve all
Pattern’ ran the headline on a Medium of this. With a war chest of $14m in VC
article in August 2019. To many, it came cash, the company has set out to build a
as a huge surprise – the creative agency family of intelligently designed, burnout-
Gin Lane had, for over a decade, helped combating brands and products, which
build brands that are now collectively will work together ‘to help our generation
worth over $15bn, among them Everlane, find more enjoyment in daily life’.
Warby Parker, Recess, Smile Direct Club The company, owned and operated
and Harry’s. So, what’s Pattern? And under one roof with the ex-Gin Lane team
why the pivot? on board (including co-founders Emmett
‘In this state of chronic burnout,’ the Shine and Nicholas Ling), kicked things
post continued, ‘our generation has lost off in September 2019 with its first brand,
the ability to find enjoyment in everyday Equal Parts, a collection of 15 kitchen
moments – the simple pleasure of doing tools for the city-based home cook.
something (or even nothing) for the joy ‘At Gin Lane, we couldn’t ignore how at
of it, rather than the end result of times the feeling of burnout was affecting
improving oneself.’ each of us at the company,’ Shine tells
PHOTOGRAPHER: Ricky Rhodes.
Pattern (and Equal
Parts) co-founder
Emmett Shine with his
partner Sandra
Winther in New York.
32 | BRIEFINGS BRIEFINGS | 33BRIEFINGS BRIEFINGS
Sustainable.
A texting cooking
coach is available.
Courier from his home in New York, So, while Americans want to cook ‘Something we began
where the company is based. ‘There were more, they also want things to be easy. As doing organically
many days we were stressed and anxious a result of the growth in single-person
from the demands of work, which households and increasingly frantic before we even started
resulted in us searching for ways to relax schedules, nearly half of Americans eat Pattern was going
and unplug outside of work, turning to alone. These factors, paired with a lack of home and cooking.
hobbies like cooking, painting and time, has led to fewer people cooking and
writing – activities we did for the simple fast-casual chains like Sweetgreen (an
We’d turn our phones
fact that we enjoyed them.’ ex-Gin Lane client) and Chipotle off, stop responding
‘Something we began doing becoming the choice for evening meals. to work emails and Designed for
organically before we even started Pattern For the likes of Pattern, getting people to
was going home and cooking,’ he forgo the convenience of delivery and
unwind by making a amateur chefs.
continues. ‘We’d turn our phones off, stop actually cook for themselves isn’t the meal for ourselves and
responding to work emails and unwind easiest of tasks. our significant others,’
by… making a meal for ourselves and our It also doesn’t help that the Shine says.
significant others.’ competition in the space is fierce. A new
According to Shine, home cooking is online direct-to-consumer cookware
tied to the idea of ‘creative flow’ and has brand launches seemingly every month,
been found to send people into a state of all cashed-up and geared to do battle with
‘hyperfocus’ that lets everything else fall the traditional players in the sector such
away. Such a flow state is linked to as Le Creuset. You can buy colourful pots,
wellbeing, life satisfaction and general pans, knives and skillets from Great Jones,
happiness. Pattern, like Gin Lane before it, Caraway, Our Place, Misen, Sardel,
has been keen to tap into this – the Brigade, Made In, Field Company,
meditation space has exploded in recent Material, Potluck, Milo and tons of others.
years, forecast to grow by 11.4% yearly in To stand out from the competition,
the US and reaching $2.08bn by 2022. they’re honing in on special materials,
But the company is also, clearly, quirky uses, new tech features or unique Equal Parts
tapping into a rise in interest for at-home origin stories. Our Place, for instance, was
cooking in general. In online grocer founded by a husband and wife team sells 15
Peapod’s 2019 meal prep survey, 77% of – Amir Tehrani, who’s worked in the products.
Americans said they would rather eat a cookware space, and Shiza Shahid,
homemade meal than go out for dinner. co-founder of the Malala Fund. The
Yet for cookware brands, there are hurdles company places a big focus on its mission
to overcome. and ethics – inclusive communities,
Back in 2017, the meal kit market was ethical labour and responsible materials
booming, seen as an attractive option for – and has partnered with organisations
time-pressed millennials who wanted to promoting access to healthy food in South
cook. However, as the novelty wore off, LA communities.
companies like Blue Apron, once the Great Jones, founded by childhood
market leader, started to struggle, friends Maddy Moelis and Sierra Tishgart
experiencing year-on-year losses and – an ex-Warby Parker and Zola employee Pattern (and Equal
declining subscriber numbers. According and a former food journalist, respectively Parts) co-founder
to Blue Apron’s year-end results for 2019, – have doubled down on the strong brand Emmett Shine with
they’ve dipped from 557,000 subscribers aesthetics: a quirky, interactive website; Shine and Winther
his partner Sandrain
in 2018 to 351,000 at the close of 2019 – in fun product names and bright, their home
Winther inkitchen.
New York.
2017 they had more than a million. unconventional colours in a matte finish.
34 | BRIEFINGS BRIEFINGS | 35BRIEFINGS BRIEFINGS
They’ve also published food-related
interviews on their site featuring the likes
of cookbook legend Alison Roman, social
commentator and essayist Roxane Gay
and Bon Appétit’s Andy Baraghani.
Equal Parts, for its part, has tried to
differentiate itself by tapping into the
Gen Z trend for businesses to talk
more directly with their customers – a
text service called Open Kitchen gives
customers access to a trained chef. Have
an aubergine and some tomatoes in the
fridge? They’ll text you instructions on
how to make pasta alla norma.
The service is available to anyone
who has purchased an Equal Parts
product. Equal Parts declined to release
solid figures about revenue, units sold
or customers, but say that they are happy
with how many people have embraced
the concept, with customers in the
thousands and a small but dedicated and
growing number of those using the
messaging service regularly.
As Equal Parts grows, Pattern is aware
that maintaining a text-a-chef service may
not be the most scalable approach. The
plan is to launch a more multimedia
offering – introducing videos, blog posts,
guides and events as well – the content is
part of what they’ve coined their
‘direct-with-consumer’, rather than direct-
to-consumer, approach.
Some might think Pattern’s marketing
of Equal Parts as a mindfulness and
self-care brand, rather than a purely
cooking one, is a bit of a stretch – even
cynical. After all, we’re still talking about
pots and pans, not CBD or supplements
or yoga mats.
‘Creating new products is not a silver
bullet that’s going to solve burnout,’ says
Shine, warming to his theme. ’But in time,
with content and guidance, a community
who are sharing insights and information
will help the conversation go to where it
needs to go.’
36 | BRIEFINGS BRIEFINGS | 37BRIEFINGS BRIEFINGS
Five food journeys 03.
Pop up groceries
Los Angeles
might not be for you.
A typical grocery store
stuffs its shelves with about
35,000 products. ‘With small
margins of 1-2% on the
There’s more than one way to stumble upon a good food and drink business. From a raw dog food In 2018, Emily Schildt quit her majority of items below $10,
brand that started as a solution to a Great Dane’s allergies, to a Singaporean-and-Filipino-inspired job in marketing to start the their profit is reliant upon
ice cream company that began as a one-flavour side hustle, here are five unique food tales. Pop Up Grocer. It crisscrosses volume: big carts, big success,’
the US, most recently popping says Schildt. ‘But this creates a
01.
up in LA and soon to arrive in frustrating shopping
humble recipe would flourish notice and orders started Austin, Texas, where it opens experience for the visitor.
into a successful business. pouring in. Today, after for sometimes 10 days or Every aisle is cluttered with a
Raw dog food Until then Hadinata, who outgrowing several kitchens, sometimes a month in spaces representation of every
Bali is Indonesian-Australian, was Kin employs 21 staff, have with the kind of sleek white oversaturated category,
running a fashion label; Shand, expanded the recipe book walls and branding you might demanding a lot of your time
What do you do when your from New Zealand, worked in (beef, lamb, duck – you name associate with a new boutique. to navigate. The choice
dog is allergic to everything in graphic design and advertising. it) and have gone from making She comes into contact between five different toilet
the pet food aisle? This was But they didn’t initially think 100kg of food a week to five with thousands of new food papers or 15 different nut
the issue Bianca Hadinata and the business, called Kin, would tonnes, selling mainly B2B. and health brands all the time butters can be debilitating.’
Sam Shand faced with their become so successful. ‘Bianca ‘It’s always been profitable, – yet not many of them make The experience extends
Great Dane, Balu. Hadinata didn’t see it as a gap in the because the growth has been her final cut. Everything she online, too. ‘Take Amazon.
began preparing his food market. She was doing it for so steady,’ says Shand. stocks must fulfil three criteria. And couple this with the
herself, without realising the fun,’ says Shand. Following Kin has never taken on The product must first be changing role of the retail
some research, she put Balu on external funding and, last year, ‘interesting’, such as store overall – more
a raw diet of mince meat, egg opened a store in Bali – Kin incorporating an ingredient in experience than point of sale
and plenty of veg – nutritious Dog Goods – with a second a new way or meeting demand – and we’ve landed on what
and side-stepping his allergies space upcoming in Jakarta. for a dietary trend; it must also we think is a solution: a
– despite unsubstantiated Like the business, Sam and meet nutritional and complementary discovery
warnings online. ‘All the vets Bianca’s household has grown ingredient standards; and it space that narrows the
were in the pocket of the too – it now counts seven must have interesting selection and focuses one’s
commercial dog food industry,’ hounds, including Balu, who is packaging that provides ‘an attention. Within each
says Hadinata. more sprightly than ever. element of intrigue and limited-run shop that we
Balu got better, people took @kin_dog_food discovery in itself,’ she says. If open, we feature between 150
you’re looking for your weekly and 175 different brands, with
haul of milk, eggs and toilet a display of around 400 items.’
02.
paper, then the Pop Up Grocer @popup.grocer
Syrian street food ‘Historically, fat has been demonised. Today, with the popularity of
Brussels the ketogenic diet “Keto”, we are seeing it more widely accepted.
traditional, where bread takes
‘I remember how in Syria we centre stage,’ he says. And brands are creating products made of healthy fats.’
used to make conserves, Simple though this sounds,
ferment vegetables and stock the most rudimentary recipes
up on cheese ahead of winter,’ are often the hardest, and it
says Georges Baghdi Sar. took Baghdi Sar, though puffed snack because their seeds come ketogenic diet “Keto”, we are seeing it
Although his family, originally already an established chef, a straight from the source, grown on a more widely accepted. And brands are
Armenian, fled from Syria to while to build up to it. ‘At first I Emily Schildt on the farm in Bihar, India with whom they creating products made of healthy fats.
Brussels when he was 11, the didn’t know how I would food and drinks brands work closely. Lady Bird Provisions comes out of
memories of the kitchen have work the tannour – all I had to look out for. Austin, Texas and produces Coffee
stuck with him, especially that were the memories,’ he says. Three Wishes Bombs™ from organic coconut oil,
of the tannour, the clay oven in After training at the Slow Up Cereal is an American staple, but like grass-fed butter and collagen protein.
which his great-aunt would prestigious École Hotelière de I’m a constant snacker, but I don’t others – bread, milk, beer – it hasn’t
ILLUSTRATION: Fanny Gentle, Ryo Kaneyasu
bake bread in the traditional, la Province de Namur and always want a bar made of fruit and been made to be the healthiest. A crop Vina
tried and tested manner. head-cheffing in the south of nuts. Founders Jeremiah and Leland of new brands are changing this, one of Apple cider vinegar has long been
This oven is the heart of the France, he opened have combined clean ingredients – which is Three Wishes. When the touted for its health benefits, from
household, and the heart of C’Chicounou in 2015 – also quinoa, chickpeas, beans, vegetables, Wishingrads went to feed their son the levelling blood sugar to lowering
Baghdi Sar’s newest restaurant, Syrian but more wine glasses egg – to make on-the-go grain bowls. breakfast they grew up on, they took cholesterol. But it hasn’t always been
My Tannour, which serves and waiters. When the space one look at the ingredients and went enjoyable to consume by the spoonful.
Syrian slow-cooked meats, across the road became Bohana na-uh. Then, they made their own, with Vina has crafted a sparkling ACV
falafel, vegetables, cheese and available, Baghdi Sar knew Puffed water lily seeds are the new a base of chickpeas and pea protein. beverage that makes a daily dosage
hot bread, all prepped in full that this was a chance to dig Today, the pint-sized diner is packed most evenings, a welcome popcorn. They’re similar in appearance, a breeze. It also helps that its cans
view and eaten sleeves-up; no further into his roots. ‘I bought mix to the upscale European restaurants in the neighbourhood. but denser in form and slightly nuttier in Lady Bird Provisions are beautiful and its flavours enticing,
table service, no reservations. it over the phone without even The tannour, meanwhile, burns as constantly and reassuringly as taste. Bohana is founded by two women Historically, fat has been demonised. like Orange Turmeric, Honey, and
‘I wanted something seeing the interior,’ he says. it once did in Baghdi Sar’s childhood. @mytannour and is one of our favourite brands of the Today, with the popularity of the Raspberry Lime.
38 | BRIEFINGS BRIEFINGS | 39BRIEFINGS BRIEFINGS
04.
‘Malaysian-
Mediterranean’
40 of them. ‘They’d always
have a little stall for me so I
could ice the cakes. And
because you bake through the
night I was always like, yes, I
Hunger games
bowls can stay up past midnight!’
The online food ordering boom has seen the rise of ghost and virtual kitchens in favour of
London says Lee. physical restaurants. How do they work, who runs them and what advantages do they bring?
She came to the UK to
Abby Lee has taken a long, study when she was 15,
meandering journey to open spending summers back home
Mambow, her new Malaysian- and helping out in the bakery.
inspired daytime restaurant Lying in bed one day while
near Spitalfields. She was born studying economics at Bristol
in Singapore and lived there – ‘Because my parents wanted
until she was 15, regularly me to’ – she decided to host a
taking eight-hour drives to supper club out of her student
Taiping, Malaysia, where her accommodation. ‘And that
parents grew up. ‘It’s a small, was the start of it all. I realised
laid-back village with the most you can just start something Karma Kitchen is in a 3,000 sq ft
amazing food: sour curries, a yourself. Food was the only warehouse located down an
lot of fish, spicy laksas,’ says thing that got me out of bed at unlovely side street in east London.
Lee. ‘I used to watch my granny the time.’ It’s late morning and the shared
and aunt make spice pastes She scraped through uni kitchen space, founded by sisters Gini and
all the time in these really and spent the next few years Eccie Newton, is already bustling with activity.
incredible woks.’ back and forth between Multiple food brands are alternately preparing
Good food runs in the Singapore and Europe. ‘I fresh Indian curries, burgers, seafood and pasta
family. In 1997, when Lee was wanted to stay but kept getting applied for an entrepreneur visa (now defunct) and spent two dishes. The five fully equipped private kitchens,
two years old, her parents and booted out of the EU,’ she says. months writing a 55-page business plan for what is now and one shared kitchen with several large
aunty opened a bakery and She studied at Le Cordon Bleu Mambow, where she serves bowls like ‘Dragon bowl z’ with bean workbenches, are available to hire for eight-hour
cafe on the east coast of – ‘It made me hard, it was like rendang, celeriac slaw, balsamic radicchio, leftover pickles and sessions beginning at 7am or 3pm, or overnight for
Singapore called Cedele, one of an army, but French cuisine salsa verde dressing. ‘I’m inspired by British vegetables,’ she says. cheaper rates. Benches begin at £90 and whole
the first organic bakeries in the isn’t my jam’ – and later ‘I guess you could describe Mambow as Malaysian- kitchens at nearly double that. Once a business hires
region. Today there are around worked in Italy. Then she Mediterranean.’ @mambow_ldn space from which to make its food, Karma Kitchen
will handle all low-level operations, including
cleaning, pest control and waste management.
All of Ronquillo’s custard more flavours and began Instead of a dining room and customers, there are
ice creams – available in posting about them on her pick-up areas swelling with couriers, who are ready
flavours ranging from personal Instagram. to deliver the food almost round-the-clock.
blueberry crumble to Juggling the demand for Founded in 2018, Karma Kitchen is one of a
condensed milk and red bean tubs of ice cream with a growing number of UK companies capitalising on
– are handmade in small full-time job was hard work. a spiralling demand for food delivery. After an 18%
batches using natural ‘When I first started I was only growth between 2018-19, driven by the proliferation
ingredients. Many of them, able to churn one litre at a of online aggregators, the UK food-delivery sector
like the bestselling black time, so I was spending eight alone is valued at just over £8bn. Revenue for online
sesame and luminescent or nine hours a night, food delivery in Europe is experiencing double-digit Karma Kitchen
pandan, take inspiration from sometimes early into the growth and is expected to exceed £19bn by 2023. founders Gini (left)
Ronquillo’s heritage. ‘I’m morning, churning ice cream,’ As they seek to satisfy this demand without and Eccie Newton
half-Singaporean and she says. ‘People would order over-burdening staff, restaurants are turning to
half-Filipino, and I love throughout the week. I’d off-site premises dedicated to the preparation of
sharing food from my deliver it to them in my car on delivery orders. Often these sites are separate from up, underpinned by a huge amount of venture
background. And people are the weekend with a cooler and the restaurant’s dine-in location and are installed capital. Investors committed over €1.6bn into
really open to so many some dry ice.’ with technology for processing online orders from European food logistics and delivery businesses
different food cultures here Collaborations with major delivery applications. While some restaurants have in 2019 alone.
in Toronto.’ brands like Nike, Vitamix and set up their own, others turn to companies such as In the UK, FoodStars, Jacuna Kitchens
Although she’s a pastry Hoegaarden have followed but Karma. These spaces are referred to as ‘virtual’, ‘cloud’ and Deliveroo are just a few of the third-party
05. chef by trade, Ronquillo spent
a decade working various
it wasn’t until January of this
year that Ronquillo made the
or ‘ghost’ kitchens, a reference to the digital-only
restaurants that once fronted for unregulated
delivery platforms to have entered the game. Kitchup,
the UK’s first peer-to-peer marketplace for kitchen
ILLUSTRATION: Fanny Gentle
office jobs before she decision to dedicate herself to kitchens on online platforms. space, offers cheaper alternatives by sourcing
The ice cream side hustle eventually worked her way Ruru Baked full-time. ‘I want under-utilised kitchens. Elsewhere, Colombian
‘Virtual
Toronto back to a professional sweet maybe two or three locations Starting up startup Muy recently raised $15m to expand across restaurants
life. Ruru Baked started as a across Canada and the US, and Latin America, and India’s Rebel Foods raised $125m. are a great
‘Canadians are crazy,’ Luanne Ronquillo, founder of the side hustle in 2017. Her first ice maybe one in Asia, but I’ve Five years ago, ghost kitchens began popping up The wider kitchens-as-a-service market is also stepping
Toronto-based ice cream company Ruru Baked, says on a bitterly cream – pandan with candied never really thought about in densely packed cities with high demand for growing because of companies such as Mission
cold morning. ‘We usually take the whole winter off, but this year walnuts – was so popular, having, like, 50 stores.’ food delivery and minimal red tape to development, Kitchen, essentially shared kitchen spaces referred to stone into
people have been messaging us non-stop.’ Ronquillo started making @rurubaked but the global marketplace has been warming as kitchen incubators. While they do cater for food the industry.’
40 | BRIEFINGS BRIEFINGS | 41You can also read
