Redefining London’s food-to-go scene: taking a look at our investment in Farmer J
Stuart Veale explores the rationale behind our investment in a business that is bringing sustainable, fresh, responsibly sourced food to the forefront of quick-service dining.
In January this year, we announced that our UK funds had invested in Farmer J — a London-based quick-service restaurant chain that provides freshly prepared, seasonal food from its ten sites across the capital.
Farmer J has transformed the dining experience for busy Londoners, establishing a successful brand in a competitive market. With its £5.5 million cash injection, Farmer J plans to grow the business further with five new sites planned for 2024 and an overseas expansion to the US in the near future.
In this article, I delve into reasons behind our investment in the company, exploring the success of its growth to date, its innovative approach to quick-serve dining, and its potential to shape the future of food-to-go in London and beyond.
1. Founder vision: Turning frustration into inspiration
Meeting Jonathan Recanati, founder of Farmer J, it’s clear you’re dealing with a founder with a purpose. As with many great founders, this purpose was forged through dissatisfaction with the status quo — in this instance, uninspiring, bland lunches!
Working in the heart of London’s financial hub, Jonathan’s desk had doubled as his dining table. Day after day, while working as a credit analyst for Deutsche Bank, the repetitive meals from nearby chains left Jonathan craving something more. But amidst the monotony, a revelation dawned upon him: an untapped opportunity in the market for food that surpassed the normal blandness of convenience food-to-go.
With this realisation, Jonathan’s frustration was transformed into an idea for a business, envisioning a concept that fused quality, flavour, and efficiency. Leveraging the research skills of his financial background, Jonathan analysed the office lunch market, drawing insights from industry leaders but looking for ways to improve their offerings.
In 2014, Jonathan launched Farmer J, and it opened its first location on Leadenhall Street a couple of years later. Jonathan quickly zoned in on the fast yet flavoursome ‘Fieldtrays’ that have become Farmer J’s signature dish (more on those later!).
With a determined, disciplined approach to selecting sites across the capital, Farmer J has flourished. It’s not unusual to see queues snaking around corners of the City, such is the loyalty of its customer base — and it was clear to us at Beringea that Jonathan’s vision has translated into a brand synonymous with quality and flavour.
Whenever we look at our top performing investments, it is the management that makes the crucial difference — in Jonathan, it is clear that we have found a strong leader with a clear vision and a great eye for detail, which stands Farmer J in great stead for the road ahead.
2. A different dining experience: Standing out in the most competitive market
You’d be hard pressed to argue that Londoners looking for a quick-service meal are short of options — there is a Pret on every corner, while the likes of Leon, Itsu, Wasabi, and Coco di Mama have substantial numbers of sites across the capital.
It would, therefore, be fair to ask how we might get comfortable with investing in such a crowded market — how much of the spend can an emerging brand capture when there are established players offering a range of cuisines and experiences to diners.
Farmer J has addressed this challenge through its distinctive product and efficient service. Starting with the product: Farmer J’s lunchtime allure lies in its signature ‘Fieldtray’. Each build-your-own tray offers a nutritious base, hot main, and punchy side, all with great flavours and sourced from high-welfare UK farms, emphasising quality and sustainability — a simple enough model, but a hugely distinctive proposition from the established chains.
Jonathan and his team have also proven to be masters of efficiency, driving exceptional levels of ‘throughput’ — the volume of orders that a site can process during its busiest periods — and capitalising on its growing dominance of the lunchtime market.
With an impressive £18 million turnover last year and its larger sites’ capability of serving up to 1,500 customers daily, throughput is paramount. The high volumes of returning customers demonstrates their loyalty to the different dining experience that Farmer J has established.
3. Navigating through challenges
Many rapidly scaling businesses do not go to plan, so it is essential to invest in teams and businesses that are adaptable, innovative, and resilient — all of which are qualities that Jonathan and the Farmer J team have demonstrated in recent years.
Despite being heavily reliant on the office worker market, Farmer J faced the challenges of the Covid pandemic head-on. Initially closing during the first lockdown, the London-based brand quickly adapted by reopening one site for deliveries, which proved to be highly successful.
This prompted the reopening of the other four sites they operated at the time, allowing Farmer J to trade despite the emptiness of the City. With London office occupancy recovering in the last two years, Farmer J is benefiting from increased foot traffic and a significant resurgence in demand.
We were therefore impressed by Farmer J’s ability to react swiftly and operate sustainably amid tough market conditions, highlighting its capacity to navigate through difficult situations.
Moreover, the food-to-go market in the UK has shown resilience, with growth projections indicating an increase to £23.4 billion by 2027. Farmer J’s focus on fresh, flavorful meals positions it well to capitalise on this trend.
Having established itself as the lunch of choice for many across the City, Farmer J now has the opportunity to turn its loyal customer base into all-day diners — the success of its growing breakfast range is testament to its promising potential.
We also look forward to working with Jonathan as he seeks to take the business into the US — our transatlantic footprint and network can hopefully prove helpful during this exciting new chapter for the business.
