Three friends who started serving street food from a shipping container in an industrial estate days before the first Covid lockdown have had such a successful two and a half years that they’re planning a significant expansion across south Wales. Chefs Barry Fallon and Amar Karia and marketing expert Jordan Phillips, all 37, opened Tin Can Kitchen at Newport’s Chartist Way in March 2020, when most businesses were preparing for months of hardship.
The trio weren’t immune to the impact of the pandemic. They had expected to combine street food with the impressive local music scene to make the Rogerstone base a vibrant social hub, but those plans were kyboshed within weeks due to social distancing requirements.
Typically they quickly diversified, choosing instead to base their business around affordable deliveries of “restaurant quality” food. But even the most optimistic foodies couldn’t have predicted their ascent since.
Read more: The burger bar on a remote farm that's become one of the most in-demand venues in Wales
“It’s been challenging, we’ve had to pivot due to Covid, but Tin Can Kitchen’s deliveries have gone at a rate of knots,” Jordan excitedly told WalesOnline days before the opening of a new base. By the end of 2020 they’d been so successful that they opened an upmarket pizza delivery service next door called Al Forno, and this month they are opening a new Tin Can Kitchen at Cwmbran’s Llantarnam Road. Halfway through 2023 they predict they will open a fourth container either in Cardiff, Newport, Swansea or Merthyr.
“We convert shipping containers into state of the art commercial kitchens where people can eat, drink and socialise, but it’s based around the deliveries mainly,” Jordan explained. “The idea is a popular one and we’re not the only ones doing street food now, but we’d like to think we were first to the gate, and we feel the quality of the food we deliver sets us apart.”
The idea was thought up by Barry during his time in kitchens in northern Greece and farmers’ markets in Louisiana, where he gained a knack for developing top-quality street food. Most popular on his menus are the Cajun-inspired burgers, loaded fries and burritos, as well as Al Forno’s pizzas and loaded pizza fries.
Such was the interest in Cwmbran that they had never considered it a risk to set up there. “We took to social media to ask about interest in the town and the response has been overwhelming to be honest,” Jordan continued. “People are telling us how much they’re looking forward to it. It’s lovely to hear.
“We used to deliver to Cwmbran in our very early days but it was too far and the quality of the food wasn’t quite right due to that. The quality is our main concern so we stopped delivering there. There are only a couple of decent takeaways there, so we’re hopeful we can make an impact. It’ll be exactly the same style, same shipping container, same menu. We know it works.
“Then we want to go on again and expand further next year. We’re not in this for short-term gain. We’re in it because we’re passionate about food and this food and we want to have an adventure with it.”
While they are always ready to diversify their offering, Jordan said they haven’t had to since some of the effects of the pandemic began to dissipate. The legacy of lockdown deliveries has remained and is still their big earner.
“It’s still huge. Many thought after the pandemic people would go back to old ways, but that hasn’t happened. Deliveries have maintained and that looks like it’s going to be a main feature of the industry for a long time. People love top food and good value, and that’s what we’ll always focus on.”
As well as expanding they also have plans to take bookings for events like weddings and festivals with their portable containers. “It feels like we’ve hit on something for sure," Jordan said. They haven’t ruled out returning to their initial plan for a hub at Chartist Way either. “It’s something we are open to. Never say never. We’d like to do it, but we will be hyper-sensitive and changeable to where the market takes us.”
READ NEXT:
- The couple who quit jobs to throw everything into Spanish deli Ultracomida, and what happened next
- The award-winning café in an old fishing boat which has finally found a permanent home
- Swansea Street Food Warehouse is coming back in September and this is what you can expect
- Top Welsh pastry chef is bringing his London bakery to Cardiff as a pop-up
- Much-loved Cardiff restaurant La Cuina is closing due to impact of Brexit
