Bonjour Hot Potatoes,

Welcome to the latest edition of the Hot Potato Newsletter! Coming to you live and direct from France for a much-needed holiday but that doesn’t mean Hot Potato is taking a break, absolutely not! Whilst I am gutted the World Cup did not come home, it had a huge impact for hospitality with insolvencies down and spending up for the sector including a 145% boost during the Argentina match.

This week we're diving into the latest headlines across UK hospitality, shining a spotlight on the sushi hot dog concept that cracked the high street with a scalable, kitchen-free playbook, sharing a menu trick that could boost your average order value by 30%, and I've got a spicy take on why every hospitality brand needs a collab strategy. Let's get into it.

In today’s email: The Sushi Hot Dog That Cracked the High Street, The Menu Trick Boosting AOV By 30%, & Why Your Audience Is Your Next Revenue Stream

Read Time: Approx 4-5 mins

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

Sources: Propel Info, MCA Insight, Restaurant

🔥 RECORD RESULTS & CONFIDENT INVESTMENT: Danish bakery-café Ole & Steen posted record UK turnover of £40.2m (like-for-likes up 10.3%) and is opening three more UK sites this year, north west brewer and pub operator JW Lees reported record revenue of £105.6m and record pre-tax profit of £8.8m, and cue-sports concept Poolhouse (from the Topgolf founders) raised $55m to fund global growth after almost two million pool shots at its Liverpool Street debut

🔥 EXPERIENCE-LED VENUES EXPAND: Immersive specialist Inception Group opened its largest-ever Mr Fogg's flagship in Covent Garden, complete with a dedicated Guinness Saloon, Neos Hospitality is investing £1m to convert its Birmingham site to experience-led format Bonnie Rogues, and cue-sports concept Poolhouse is now seeking UK partners after "enquiries from every continent" following its Liverpool Street debut

🔥 INDEPENDENTS ON THE MOVE: London Texan barbecue concept Hon's BBQ opened its first permanent restaurant in Hackney Wick after a £36,000 crowdfund, north west brunch and bakery concept Gooey makes its Yorkshire debut in Sheffield, and Aberdeen's Kevin Dalgleish follows Michelin Guide-listed Amuse with a second site, pasta bar and deli Mezzo. It’s Bagels has also announced plans for their fourth site in Hampstead.

🔥 INTERNATIONAL BRANDS BETTING ON THE UK: Irish premium hot sandwich concept Carved launched a franchise programme with its sights set on the UK, Hong Kong grab-and-go sushi brand Sushi Tachi followed its two London debuts with a first regional site in Birmingham and Leeds to come, and Brazilian steakhouse Fogo de Chão (122 restaurants worldwide) is targeting further UK growth from its six sites with an initial focus on London

You may have spotted the queue outside one of their central London sites without quite knowing what was inside. SushiDog is the grab-and-go sushi concept that took a format popular in Australia, planted it on the UK high street, and built one of the most operationally smart food businesses in the country.

In 2018, childhood friends Greg Ilsen and Nick Goldstein wanted to come up with a better grab-and-go sushi experience than what was previously available. They wanted it prepared fresh in front of you and from that idea, SushiDog was born.

The Numbers That Tell The Story:

Here's what they're doing differently:

🎯 Simplicity is the strategy - One of the best things about the concept is how simple it is. That works for a few reasons - operationally it’s very scalable and repeatable, making it easy to expand and replicate. There is no expensive cooking equipment, no ventilation requirements and no need for large back-of-house kitchen space as the majority of the menu is cold-based.

🍱 A format the high street was missing - The UK sushi market was dominated by expensive pre-packed supermarket options or sit-down restaurant chains. SushiDog landed in the middle - fresh, made to order, customisable and priced for a daily lunch rather than a special occasion. The roll-as-a-hot-dog format also solved a practical problem: sushi you can actually eat on the move without it falling apart.

✈️ Following the footfall - One of the things SushiDog has seemed to consistently get right is the locations of each site. Their first site in Westfield was bang in the middle of a shopping centre - high footfall with a number of different demographics. The model has worked for them. They have other sites in central locations like Soho and Tottenham Court Road as well as a number of other shopping centres like Brent Cross and the Bullring Birmingham that ensures volume of sales remain high.

The model is as close to a repeatable playbook as you will find right now - low complexity, high margin potential, a format that travels well and a price point that works in the current climate.

When I used to work at Just Eat, one of our biggest goals was driving average order value (AOV): what customers spend on each order.

Offers were one lever, but the menu was the main tool we had to work with.

The biggest win came from adding a 'create your own' section right at the top of the menu, making it the first thing customers saw. It sounds simple but it worked.

🍕 Freedom to build their own order got customers spending more subconsciously
📈 AOV increases of up to 30% on some restaurants
💰 Zero cost to the restaurant

If you're looking to drive more AOV on digital orders (delivery + click and collect), give it a try and see what happens.

Most hospitality brands are sitting on a revenue stream they're ignoring: their own audience.

Brand partnerships and collabs aren't just for the big brands anymore. Done right, they're a new revenue stream and a way to put your brand in front of people who've never heard of you.

You don't need a big audience to start - a new coffee shop teaming up with the local run club for post-run coffees or a small bar collabing with an up-and-coming drinks brand for one night. Start small, prove it works and build from there!

There are loads of cool examples I’ve seen recently like Salad Project x Cadence and if you want to see a brand that has fully leaned into collaborations check out How Matcha -they’ve done several recently.

Want advice on brand partnerships and how to start benefiting from them? Let me know - always happy to help!

That wraps this edition of Hot Potato! Hit reply with any thoughts - I read everything and it genuinely shapes what comes next.

Have you got any news you want to share or seen something worth talking about in the industry? Drop me a message!

Bon appétit,

Max Shipman, Founder, Hot Potato

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