Jonathan Downey, co-founder of street food operators Street Feast and London Union, has said that new operators are no longer viewing a move into a permanent “bricks & mortar” site as a necessary step in order to succeed in the industry.
Downey told M&C: “I can now see people making a career out of staying street food operations. You look at the likes of Yum Bun or Breddos who can do that if they want. Some our looking for sites but they are making good money from what they are already doing. Some of it is pride, you know ‘my mum doesn’t understand what I do unless I get a restaurant.
“The viewpoint that you need ‘bricks and mortar’ to succeed is changing, I would argue it has already happened. For example, Yum Bun has already realised that. They might have a one-off base but the raison d’etre is not to get to that stage any more. They will do it at some point when the opportunity is right but they are not chasing it right away.”
Downey said that one of the negative aspects of the rise of street food was that service is going the “wrong way”.
He said: “It is devolving, people are losing that connection between them and the person behind the business. It is becoming a proper business now, not a one man/woman operation, which I suppose is one of the negatives of the growth of the sector. I always like it when the people behind the business are on their stand talking to the customers and that happens a lot with say Yum Bun and Smokestak. It is a really important part of the experience.”
London Union is currently looking to raise £3.5m on crowdfunding platform Seedrs. So far it has raised £1.1m surpassing the initial funding it was looking secure with one day remaining
It expects to reach its £3.5m target privately with investors.
It plans to open Lewisham Union,. 30,000sq ft site at the other end of Lewisham shopping centre, in February with a beer hall and a Breddos Street Kitchen site and giant roof top wine garden. There will also be a gin palace,there and a rum bunker.
Downey said that the company was also looking at three options in Shepherd’s Bush W12.
Internationally, he said: “We have got a deal on a great site in Philledelphia but I am not sure if we are ready to do it yet. It is supposed to open on the 1 May. We have found the operators we want for Philledelphia, we will look to bring a couple down from New York and probably one or two over from London, but the core, say 80% will be local.
“We could do with a break from London. I don’t think we will do Miami now after going out there and looking around. Some big decisions will be made before Christmas on stuff like that. We’ve had approaches, and I mean serious approaches from serious people, in Australia, Dubai, South Africa, Amsterdam and Berlin in the last two months.”
London Union plans to have 12 “local”sites open as well as the flagship market in central London by 2019.
