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00:25 - So we have actually quite a lot of people
00:34 who have come to the cafe so far
00:36 and identified themselves as vegan or vegetarian.
00:39 And actually Google reviews are quite interesting
00:42 because you're sort of a bit nervous
00:44 going and looking to see what people think.
00:46 But there's some really lovely comments
00:49 from people like ourselves.
00:51 People are just, you know, quite happy
00:53 and said that as an alternative,
00:55 they'd definitely come back.
00:56 And you know, all the local produce,
00:59 the sourdough and things, it just makes such a difference.
01:02 - I think people have realized that actually
01:04 you can try something a little bit different
01:07 without feeling intimidated.
01:08 You know, just being that you are suddenly a vegan,
01:11 it just means that you try something differently.
01:14 - So I started my food business actually working from home.
01:18 It was before lockdown actually,
01:20 when we were doing catering stuff.
01:21 It was a bit of a part-time venture alongside
01:25 working at a presentable job.
01:26 But then lockdown happened
01:29 and obviously everybody needed food,
01:33 healthy food, something decent,
01:35 without having to go to the supermarket
01:38 and join all those endless queues.
01:40 And obviously because there was a lack of food
01:42 or people perceived there to be a lack of food,
01:45 people were panicking.
01:47 It was an obvious sort of gap in the market
01:50 for a delivery service that was locally sourced,
01:53 locally grown veg, locally sourced other ingredients,
01:57 to then sort of collate them into recipe boxes
01:59 and then that's kind of where my business really took off.
02:03 So every week I was driving round Lincoln
02:07 and that sort of area,
02:09 delivering recipe boxes to people,
02:12 doing the contactless delivery
02:13 and dropping them on the doorstep,
02:15 giving them a wave through the window
02:17 and making sure that they had at least more decent meals
02:20 for the week, using all the veggies and stuff,
02:23 making sure that they had that sort of nutritional balance
02:25 that they needed.
02:27 - And why it's been designed that way
02:30 and the kind of environment that you're trying to create?
02:33 - Yeah, I mean, obviously the reason that we're doing
02:36 the food that we're doing is to be more sustainable,
02:38 so it was only appropriate really to start looking
02:41 for sustainable materials when it came
02:43 to the interior design.
02:45 So everything from the bench seating
02:47 that's been custom built by the Custode Construction,
02:51 that's using the reclaimed scaffold boards
02:53 that are actually on their building sites,
02:55 the acoustic baffles that we actually have on the ceiling
02:59 are reclaimed 1970s potato crates
03:03 actually from local growers.
03:05 They're all lined with recycled denim fibres
03:08 to make sure that it actually works
03:10 and functions properly.
03:11 It's not just an aesthetic thing,
03:13 it all has to actually work.
03:14 But the artwork on the walls in the cafes,
03:19 all the vintage papers and interesting sort of pamphlets
03:22 and things about growing techniques.
03:24 So there's a thread that runs through
03:26 that means that actually it's quite important
03:28 to make sure that it looks like a welcoming,
03:31 contemporary space that's got that nod
03:33 to the materials in that sort of sustainable focus as well,
03:38 just like the food.
03:39 [BLANK_AUDIO]
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