Hey Hot Potatoes,

Welcome to the latest edition of the Hot Potato Newsletter! As I settle back into life post-wedding, two things have got me unbelievably excited - the extra hour of sunlight from the clocks going forward and a new bakery that's just opened by my office. Fred Bakery are making some seriously good pastries, go check them out. It’s the simple things in life!

This week we're diving into the latest headlines across UK hospitality, shining a spotlight on a Cardiff pie brand that I think is one to watch and I've got a take on how one brand is doing something completely unique to get through to Gen Z audiences. Let's get into it!

In today’s email: The New Way to Reach Gen Z, The Regions are Winning & The Pie Brand You Haven't Heard Of

Read Time: Approx 3-4 mins

🔥 Hot Off The Press 🔥

We take a look at some of the hottest headlines happening right now in UK Hospitality with this week’s focus on regions outside of London.

Sources: Propel Info, MCA Insight, Restaurant Online

🔥 REGIONAL BRITAIN IS HAVING A MOMENT: Flat Iron heads to Glasgow for its Scottish debut next year, Sticks'n'Sushi continues its northern push with Leeds as its 18th UK site joining Manchester next month and The Walcot Group makes its Welsh debut bringing pasta concept Solina to Cardiff's Westgate Street

🔥 COMPETITIVE SOCIALISING KEEPS GROWING: The Heaton Group drops £3m on Factory Floor in Wigan - a late-night competitive socialising venue inside the historic Eckersley Mill, as the format continues to find homes in unexpected cities outside the capital

🔥 INDEPENDENTS BACKING THEMSELVES: The Beefy Boys announce site number six in Nottingham, Cambridgeshire's Stir team launch a second site for sandwich concept Marvin's and Sunderland operators Vittorio Farigu and Tamer Hassan are launching two new venues at The Beam at Riverside Sunderland - No.32 for pizza and cocktails and the more relaxed Riverside Café

🔥 FRANCHISE CONCEPTS FINDING THEIR FEET: Paratha Box UK - the South Asian street food concept that started in Glasgow in 2020, opens its fifth site with a franchise location in Edinburgh, a quiet signal that the model is maturing and replicating well.

Brand Spotlight of the Month - Donalds Pies

Now I am sure not many of you will have come across this brand, but they might just be on their way to making some of the most famous pies in Wales. I love brands who own their niche and just lean into one thing and do it very well - Donald’s Coffee and Pies

Gareth Owens and graphic designer Harri Rees started Donald's as a side hustle in a converted van - a nod to Gareth's travels around New Zealand and a tribute to his late, pie-loving grandad, Donald. That van quickly became one of the most talked-about pop-ups in Cardiff, selling out week after week. Today they have now grown to two sites, a van and production facility. Go Donalds!

The Numbers That Tell The Story:

• A van and two physical bricks and mortar sites in Cardiff

• One production facility that allows them to scale up fast

• Now supplying several wholesale and stadium venues

Here's what they're doing differently:

🥧 A traditional concept, elevated - The pie is about as old-school as it gets but Donald's have taken that humble format and given it a genuinely modern identity -sharp branding, considered packaging and a menu of creative fillings that feel anything but traditional. I love it. Their instant classic, the 'Jerry Collins' - mince, onion gravy and vintage cheddar sold out week after week from day one. Great product and great presentation, without stripping away any of the soul.

📦 Built from the bottom up, scaling smart - Donald's started as a side hustle in a converted van, parked in a Cricket Club on Sunday mornings, serving dog walkers, runners and weekend regulars. They earned their audience one pie at a time. That gave them the confidence to go all in and rather than picking a lane, they've built retail and wholesale simultaneously. They're already supplying multiple wholesale venues and their production kitchen can increase output tenfold without requiring large additional sites - the van built the community, the shop builds the brand, the kitchen quietly powers the scale.

🤝 Community first, always - When it came to funding their new production kitchen, Donald's didn't go to a bank or VC, they went to their customers. The team launched a campaign letting fans 'Own a Piece of the Pie' - investing directly in the business and sharing in its future. For a brand born on a Sunday morning cricket ground, it couldn't be more on brand.

The playbook here is simple. Take a concept that has had relatively little innovation, take it into the 21st century and scale slowly but sustainably.

Innovation - Sides x Devorer

With every brand now armed with a content strategy, a posting schedule, and a paid social budget, cutting through the digital noise has never been harder. It's a saturation that's being felt by Gen Z too - the very generation brands are most desperate to reach.

New research shows that 47% of young people aged 16-21 would actually prefer to grow up in a world without the internet. Against that backdrop, the recent partnership between Sides and Dévorer stood out for me; taking a branded food truck on tour across UK university campuses feels like a genuinely smart play. Rather than competing for attention in an already overcrowded digital space, they're showing up in person, on campus, face to face, with food in hand.

It's a reminder that sometimes the most effective way to reach an audience isn't to shout louder online but to meet them somewhere they actually want to be.

Data Bite - Food Hall Expansion

The number of trading food halls in the UK rose from 114 to 149 over the last twelve months, a 31% increase, bucking current industry trends. The active development pipeline expanded from 52 to 65 sites, up 25%, signalling that developers and investors are backing the sector with committed capital rather than speculative interest. Notably Market Halls have just raised £11m to fund further expansion.

For independents looking for a format with genuine footfall and dwell time, the food hall pipeline is worth watching.

That's a wrap on this edition. If one thing stuck with you, whether it's a brand, a stat or an idea - that's exactly what Hot Potato is here for.

If you know someone in hospitality who'd find this useful, send it their way. We're building something here and every share helps.

As always, hit reply with anything on your mind. Agreements, disagreements, tips, recommendations - I read every single one and it directly shapes what comes next.

Bon appétit,

Max Shipman, Founder, Hot Potato

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