Two brothers who launched a Caribbean food business with just £500 say they’re set to expand after winning customers the length and breadth of Britain.
Troy and Jarrell Johnson, from Tooting, founded Juici Jerk in 2017 to sell their home-cooked food. But when the pandemic hit they had to change plan quickly - and instead started selling meal kits so people could make restaurant-quality Caribbean food at home.
Now they’ve moved to a new kitchen to help them meet the demand- and the brothers will be relaunching the Juici Jerk brand in June as well as launching a new range of meal kits.
Troy said: “We have lots of orders from far away - often more than 100 miles from South London. We have orders from Aberdeen and Cornwall. Lots of people say they don’t have Caribbean food where they live.”
Meal kits have become popular around the 海角视频 during periods of lockdown, with many restaurants and caterers selling kits allowing customers to make restaurant-quality food at home.
Troy says he and Jarrell spotted a gap in the market for Caribbean meals.
He said: “We’re really big on providing quality ingredients, Everything is made in-house from scratch.
“I’d probably call them intermediate standard kits. It does require a bit of cooking - it’s definitely for people who enjoy cooking.
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“We give them a manual that guides them to hopefully cook a Caribbean meal in hopefully a nice, intimate environment.”
The brothers also got a boost when they were featured in -where they explained how their business got started.
Troy said: "Starting with £500 seems like a lifetime ago.
“Neither of us had any business experience. We grew up in a traditional Caribbean household with a big family and something was always cooking in the kitchen.”
That £500 got them started and they used Snapchat and social media to grow.
Juici Jerk began catering for corporate events, including a big contract with Halfords. The company moved from their mum’s house in Tooting to a shared kitchen in Streatham - but then the pandemic struck, forcing their change to meal kits.
Troy said that as the company grows, he wants to promote Caribbean and black cuisines to a wide audience.
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He told : "We had done a few street food residencies in food markets but they never allow two Caribbean food stalls or black food stall in the market at the same time.
"They say they want to increase diversity but have four burger spots in the same market. I know of black owned businesses who have tried and failed to get places at markets because of this.
"If Caribbean food is not in your face on Deliveroo, no one seems to be able to order it."
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The Johnson brothers have also been working to promote other black-owned businesses by raising money to be able to offer small grants to other start-ups.
Troy said: "Sometimes it's like 'how have we got here without any investment?'
“Everything we do, we do ourselves. It's good to give back and help someone on their way.”