Hey Hot Potatoes,

Welcome to the latest edition of the Hot Potato Newsletter! Cor blimey, hello spring and long days again, it is good to be back! The past 2 weeks have been full on in the world of hospitality and especially Hot Potato. I’ve got the Hot Potato IG account back up and running, so expect to see more of me in video format waffling on about hospitality on a weekly basis - follow if you haven’t already!

This week we're diving into the latest headlines across UK hospitality, deep diving into an American taco brand my friend couldn't stop raving about after a recent trip to NYC, exploring how train travel is shaping hospitality and why I think now is a great time to launch a hospitality business. Let's get into it.

In today’s email: The $48k Taco Van, Travel Hubs Are Booming & Why I'd Launch A Hospitality Business Right Now

Read Time: Approx 4-5 mins

🔥 Hot Off The Press 🔥

We take a look at some of the hottest headlines happening right now in UK Hospitality.

Sources: Propel Info, MCA Insight, Restaurant Online

🔥 BIG MONEY MOVES IN HOSPITALITY: Richard Caring has sold a majority stake in the Ivy Collection and the rest of his restaurant and private members' club empire to DIAFA, an affiliate of Abu Dhabi-owned holding company IHC Group, in a deal worth £1.4bn - a huge deal!

🔥 THE PIZZA WARS ARE GETTING CRAFTY: The UK's big pizza brands are pivoting hard toward artisan. Papa Johns has introduced a new hand-crafted range while ASK Italian has launched its new "Pizza a Mano" range for spring 2026 - 14-inch hand-stretched, stone-baked pizzas made with sustainable Wildfarmed flour. When the chains start chasing the independents' playbook, you know a shift is happening

🔥 CONFIDENCE IS COMING BACK: According to NIQ, 51% of hospitality leaders now feel confident about their business prospects over the next 12 months - up from a five-year low of just 26% in October 2025. The number feeling optimistic about hospitality in general has more than doubled, from 13% to 31%. It's coming from a low but it's a meaningful turn in sentiment.

🔥 FIVE IS THE MAGIC NUMBER: Dear Coco, Acai and The Tribe and Jolene have all announced fifth site openings, while The Steamhouse, Dough Hands, Plant Blends, Lane7 and Sandwich Sandwich have confirmed expansion plans. Brands growing through headwinds - always worth celebrating

🔥 FOOD HALLS KEEP BUCKING THE TREND: The number of trading food halls in the UK rose from 114 to 149 over the last twelve months - a 31% increase at a time when restaurants and pubs aren’t seeing the same growth.

Brand Spotlight of the Month - Tacombi

I caught up with a friend recently who just came back from New York and they couldn’t stop raving about these tacos. After researching the brand, it's one of the most compelling hospitality stories I've found in a long time. A converted Volkswagen van, a beach in Mexico and a dream to show the world what Mexican food really looks like - that's where Tacombi began.

In 2006, Dario Wolos spent $48,000 to buy a 1963 VW bus in Mexico City. He drove it 20 hours to the beach town of Playa del Carmen. He'd never run a restaurant before. The name Tacombi is a blend of "taco" and "combi" - Mexican slang for minibus.Today, Tacombi operates over 20 locations across New York, Miami and Washington D.C., has a 30,000 sq ft tortilla production facility in Brooklyn and counts Shake Shack founder Danny Meyer among its investors.

The Numbers That Tell The Story:

• 20 restaurants across six states, with 13 in New York City alone

• $27.5 million investment led by Danny Meyer's Enlightened Hospitality Investments in 2021

• Vista Hermosa tortillas now sold in over 2,000 stores across 40 states

• The Tacombi Foundation provides over 7,000 meals a week through 25 community partners across NYC, D.C. and Miami

Here's what they're doing differently:

🌮 Authenticity as a founding principle, not a marketing line - Dario launched Tacombi because he saw that Taco Bell, Chipotle and Old El Paso weren't connecting people to the real side of Mexico. That mission has never drifted. The core menu still only has eight tacos - a greatest hits of regional Mexican cooking rather than a crowd-pleasing sprawl.

📦 When a problem becomes an opportunity - When Dario couldn't find tortillas that met his standards in the US, he started making his own. That supply chain problem turned into business number two - Vista Hermosa. Now a standalone retail brand stocked in Whole Foods and over 2,000 retailers. The two businesses reinforce each other constantly: the restaurants build brand love, the retail arm builds scale.

🤝 Growth with a conscience - As Tacombi has scaled, so has its nonprofit arm. The Tacombi Foundation's Community Kitchen now distributes over 7,000 meals a week to people experiencing food insecurity across New York, D.C. and Miami. Its a big part of how the brand presents itself and how it recruits. In a sector struggling with talent and reputation, that matters more than most operators realise.

The playbook is simple: back yourself, stay true to what you're building, turn problems into opportunities and never compromise on quality. Oh, and if Danny Meyer offers to invest - say yes. The van is still in the original Nolita restaurant.

Trend to Watch - Travel Hubs as a scaling strategy

I read last week Sandwich Sandwich just opened their first train station site at Paddington and I think they're onto something.

They're not alone. In the last year, The Salad Project, Gaucho and Tortilla have all confirmed plans to pivot towards transport hubs. I think it’s a smart strategy and looking at the numbers, UK rail travel is growing fast.

Doing some digging data shows, rail journeys increased 7% in 2024-25, broadly returning to pre-pandemic levels for the first time. Into 2025-26, that momentum hasn't slowed: Q1 up 7%, Q2 up 8%, Q3 up 4%. Passenger revenue hit £11.5bn - up 8% year on year.

Transport hubs offer something unique: guaranteed footfall, captive customers, and a built-in reason to spend. A commuter with 10 minutes to spare is likely going to make a purchase.

My Spicy Take 🔥

Some people will gladly disagree with me on this one but I think right now is actually a great time to start a business in hospitality. Yes, the landscape is challenging but I think that's exactly what makes it interesting for newcomers. Legacy brands are moving slowly, struggling to adapt and quietly losing ground to new concepts that customers actually want.

The operators launching today have the opportunity to build lean from day one - getting operationally sharp, building the right tech stack and positioning themselves right at the front of the wave for when consumer confidence fully returns.

The conditions are there too. Landlords are dealing, good sites are available outside of London and consumers still want to spend money on great food. They always have and they always will. The brands that launch in hard times and survive are usually the ones worth watching when the good times return.

That wraps this edition of Hot Potato. We've got a lot more coming - more brand spotlights, more trends worth watching and more spicy takes that'll hopefully get you thinking. If you found this useful, share it with someone in the industry who'd appreciate it.

Hit reply with any thoughts - I read everything and it genuinely shapes what comes next.

Bon appétit,

Max Shipman, Founder, Hot Potato

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