Why Awesome Chips' new vegan burger and wings is an ‘old family recipe’

From serving only chips, the brand is now expanding its menu.

Wishing to bring more vegan options to their customers, Roni Dalal, the founder of Awesome Chips, has been working for two years to expand the restaurant's menu to provide more vegan options for customer

That’s why last week, Awesome Chips has released its Vegan Chicken-style burger, Cheeseburger plus Vegan Wings to their menu after perfecting the right vegan offering to complement their fresh, crispy fries.

“It’s taken over two years to perfect the right vegan offering to complement our fresh, crispy fries and make it our own.  The vegan burgers are served in special buns baked in-house, and the chicken-style burgers and wings are seasoned with their own spices,” Roni said.

An old family recipe

Roni and his family, who have been vegetarians for about 10 years, have been adamant about providing more vegan offerings for some time. That’s why he has been working on these new menu items for some time now.

“Chips are always a great vegetarian option and we like to make a meal out of chips. Awesome Chips has always been a veggie. For example, our Chip Burritos make a superb wrap filled with chips, cheese and a choice of sauces.  Burritos are a hearty item that continues to sell really well too. Morally we don’t want to sell meat and make money literally off the back of our animal friends,” Roni explained.

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According to Roni, one great thing about chips is that its for everyone.

“Those that enjoy eating meat can eat chips yet also vegetarians, vegans, Halal, and gluten-free. We wanted to add an Awesome Vegan option to our menu to widen the choice available for everyone, so they can enjoy something extra with their chips.  It’s gone down well – particularly with our Deliveroo and UberEATS customers to eat at home as Vegan delivery options are slightly more limited,” Roni said.

Going this far for customers is the norm for Awesome Chips. In fact, just choosing the right potatoes for the chips took a lot of trial and error.

To source the perfect spud, Roni tried different kinds of potatoes, starting with British potatoes as they are keen on supporting farmers in the UK.

“But it wasn’t to be. We tried the UK Maris Piper and all the other seeded potatoes available, but none really matched our needs. The Maris Piper is a white-skinned potato, brilliant for traditional English ‘fish and chips’ but we were looking for something that would retain its crispness when double-fried, and mixed with our special sauces, spices and rubs,” Roni explained.

The perfect potatoes for the chips were sourced in Belgium and Holland - the yellow-skinned potato is denser and creamier, allowing them to cook the chips in their preferred style while maintaining the crispy-on-the-outside-soft-in-the-inside product

More chips on the way

Before the year is up, Awesome Chips will have opened five new stores. According to Roni, their current goal is to attract new franchisees and grow the business further across the UK.

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The brand has been seeing some success as just last January, it saw a 20% increase in its like-for-like sales compared to a year ago. Additionally, Awesome Chips plan to celebrate the upcoming National Chip Day with the launch of their Chippizza, an infusion of chips encased in freshly baked pizza dough baked with sauce and cheese, similar to a pizza.

“The great thing about chips is that they are a low-cost item and so even in challenging economic times they still sell well and so for new franchisees joining us this makes great business sense. Potatoes are easy to transport, making it possible to open new locations away from a central supply chain, and we can offer a proven, profitable business model for the right franchisees who share our enthusiasm for quality fast food and great customer service,” Roni said.