A cursory google right now tells me that Simply Crispy, the brainchild of The Ulster Fry satire website and Andrew McMenamin (Owner of That Wee Café on Bedford Street, Belfast) has in every definition, gone viral.
The Mirror, The Independent, The Telegraph (And the Belfast telegraph of course), Metro, Buzzfeedto name just a few. How can such a niche business result in the kind of PR that multiple-premises retailers only dream of (or pay for).
The concept is simple enough, we all remember putting crisps in a sandwich, whether by design or because we didnt have long enough to eat our packed lunch so wed throw it all in between 2 slices of breadI used to add a flapjack but I suspect that wont catch on quite as easily There is the element of nostalgia of course, but it seems more than thatnostalgia is great but it will only get you so far, clever branding, savvy consumers & a good product are needed for success to follow. The link has been drawn a thousand times over between Simply Crispy and Cereal Killer in LondonIm sorry but to me this is just tangential, the creators of Simply Crispy have gone on record stating the influence but thats all it is, an influence. In the same way that every time somebody mentions a modern boy band, the Beatles arent necessarily thrown into the conversation Cereal Killer showed the world that you can be a one trick pony and make it work, thats where the comparison ends for me Everybody eats cereal, its nothing new, youll find it in every hotel breakfast bar and many other places besides Where on earth can you purchase a crisp sandwich? Simply Crispy.
Im a massive over-user of the phrase all style and no substance, and having not been to Simply Crispy yet to judge, I wontwhat I will say is that they sold out in a matter of hours Belfast folk arent shy in voicing their opinions, if customers eating inside thought that the product was poor or the service unacceptable, Id bet my last George Best £5 note that theyre going to tell people, both as they leave to the queue outside and online through social media My £5 note is safe, the response from customers has been resounding, its a good idea done well. £3.50 for crisps, sandwich & soup? Thats easily comparable to some less-than-respectable fast food outlets, and with the amount of occupied office space in the city centre being at the levels they are, there should be no shortage of customers.
Variety is key, as Subway have espoused for so long, and even local Burger joint Build-A-Burger have build their USP around the concept of customisation, Simply Crispy has approximately 30 crisp varieties on offer, at least 4 bread types, the option of ham and/or cheese, buttered or not buttered and with or without monster munch croutonsoffering your customers over 1000 different decisions to make is a bold move but it seems the smoothness of the operation provided the busy lunch trade with precisely what they needed.
Will this spawn a plague of rip-offs? Will every town centre in the UK end up with its own incredibly-niche offering? I cant think of many concepts as established in the conscious of the nation already that would work It takes a certain type of business also, I cant imagine existing restaurant wanting to expand whilst at the same time narrowing the scope of their businessBut from what Ive seen over the last few months, Andrew McMenamin is precisely the kind of operator who couldhe has the attitude to the food/drink industry I adore, the we are what we are approach tells customers exactly what to expect, that it wont be some homogenized plastic experience where everything including personality is modularwe are famous for our demeanour here in Northern Ireland, our sense of humour and our attitude towards life, That Wee Cafe endorses that proudly and Belfast should endorse Simply Crispy with the same approach.
Hopefully theyll go from strength to strength, and I know that operators That Wee Cafe have been in the process of renovating their mobile operation via a crowd funded campaign, with the aim of being on the road in a couple of months, whether that is distributing Crisp Sandwiches to the wider Belfast area or another venture entirely remains to be seen, but Ill be eagerly awaiting developments
Is it a Million Dollar idea? No. Is it a great idea and worth doing? I think so, and it seems the Belfast public do toonow, on to day 2!
PS: If Andrew or the guys from The Ulster Fry are reading this, 2 words for youpremium crispsyou have the state school nostalgia down, but what about the old campbell students? The bourgeoisie wont stand for any of that Tayto nonsense, oh noget yourselves some beetroot, parsnip & kale crisps and charge them £10 more for it, they can afford it
Me? Im wanting some Bikers in a ham and cheese granary roll.
Travelling is my life
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