#082 Simon Mitchell - CEO Kerb Food

05/15/20 • 53 min

This is the first post pandemic episode I’ve done representing what is such a vibrant, energised, important and all too neglected part of the incredible hospitality sector - the street food traders. And when I say neglected I mean that so many of them are small, independent operators with no premises and no staff, so generally don’t qualify for grants or furloughing cash. It’s heart breaking to imagine the hardship that some of these incredible hospitality humans are facing during this crisis.

As well as their members we touch on some of the Kerb challenges such as rents and the #nationaltimeout campaign and what that would mean for their Seven Dials site, as well as the rest of the industry. Simon and kerb were heavily in negotiations over rents and their CBILS application literally pre and post this recording.

Despite the chaos of our sector, there was plenty of positivity to chat about too, such as the opportunities for street food to be one of the first sectors to rebound with its natural al fresco credentials.

It was also great to hear about some of the initiatives simon and his team are working on to support their members along with your chance to check out some free resources via the spinout onto YouTube of some of their inkerbator information.

Previous Episode

#081 CVIRUS SPECIAL - Rupert Holloway - Conker Spirit

This is the week where Rishi has given much of the industry a further life line by extending the furlough scheme through to October. Though we wait nervously for the details of the ‘joint’ funding he mentioned from August onwards and wether our sector may qualify for further support once the scheme is removed for much of the country.

Today’s guest is Rupert from Conker Spirit, a gin distiller in Bournemouth. I’ve seen a number of distilleries moving into the sanitiser market and I really wanted to find out more about how and why. I think it demonstrates again the creative versatility of people in hospitality and is a great example of another business pivot.

Rupert and I chat about some of the technicalities of shifting from booze to sanitiser, such as how to get the HMRC onboard so you don’t have to pay £25 in duty per litre of sanitiser produced, and actually the speed the HMRC moved on that I think reflects further positive efforts behind the scenes from the government to try and get the private sector to support the public sector as much as possible, through things like sanitiser as well as PPE and feeding our key workers.

We also touch on the very crowded space of craft distillers and who will and will not survive this crisis and what trade may look like on the other side, as well as a couple of other positive pivots Rupert has seen, such as sleep packs for nurses.

Next Episode

#083 Logan Brouse - Tacoliscious Shanghai - China

Logan is from Logan's Punch and tacolicious, venues of varying size in Shanghai. As a prior F & B consultant from San Francisco, Logan has been living in China for ten years and has had a ring side view of the pandemic roll out from there and across the globe.

I was fascinated during this chat to hear the importance of the timing around Chinese New Year and the impact that had on how the virus was transmitted across China. Interestingly their has also been some government business support, as in Europe, but not to the same scale, with tax and rent relief.

In many ways it appears their very strict shutdown has meant they have been able to re-open faster than parts of Europe. And when I say strict how about a 14,000 dollar fine for breaking the seal on your restaurant door!

The lack of travel into the country for many months means that the population feels much safer that the virus has not spread, and bars and restaurants are returning to some level of business, albeit the ex pat population are no longer around.

I also found it interesting about 1 metre, rather than 2 metre distancing rules, and imagined the difference that would make to UK covers once hospitality is allowed to re-open. Who has decided 1 metre in china, 1.5 mitres in Belgium and 2 metres in England?

I very much hope you enjoy this global chat, and a glimpse further down the pandemic timeline.

Follow them on instagram here