IN FOCUS: Benito's Hat Talk on their Selfridges Pop-Up and Plans for a Retail Line
Within the space of a month, Mexican chain Benito's Hat have opened their first non-London site as well as a pop-up store in London's Selfridges department store.
Given this growth, and the endorsement by one of Britain's most prestigious department stores, we went to find out more.
Founder Ben Fordham tells us more about the group's plans for 2015, how they plan to bring the flavour of Mexico into people's homes, and which burrito has caught the public's imagination.
QSR: We’ve seen you’ve just opened your first store out of London. Are you planning on opening more non-London stores in 2015?
We have three stores agreed for three more restaurants within London in the next three months and are looking to add on a further three before the end of the year. Bromley has been a great success so far and certainly opens the door for us to look beyond the borders of Central London.
QSR: How did the idea for the Selfridges pop-up come about?
We have grown to seven restaurants in six years. That is very exciting but we are always on the look out for opportunities to show off the food in different, fun ways. We wanted to do something that took us back to our roots in Mexican street food. To be approached by Selfridges to represent London’s restaurants in their Mexican takeover of the foodhall is a fantastic vindication of what we do.
QSR: You’ve said that you’ll be stocking some retail products in Selfridges whilst your pop-up is there. Do you plan on rolling out a larger retail range? Or indeed rolling out these products more broadly?
Yes, we do plan to start selling these more widely. We sell two products that are unique to us. Salt mined by hand by Felipe’s mother in the Salinas of San Antonio Texcala, and avocado leaves which is a seasoning only used in Felipe’s region. These are not mass-market products but showcase the wonderful vibrancy of Mexico’s culinary culture and Felipe’s heritage within that.
QSR: What is your most popular burrito?
Slow-braised balsamic pork with black beans and salsa verde.
