Spud Man and Spudbros have fresh competition as new restaurant launches right outside major London train station

Daily Mail​

6 days ago

Desperate to claim the crown of Britain's best baked potato, Tamworth's Spud Man and Preston's Spudbros have been battling it out for years - but now there's a new kid on the block.
Spud Hut, located just outside London Bridge station - one of the capital's busiest - has the 'big, fat, loaded' potatoes, the social media savvy and, most importantly, the winding queues to rival its older competitors.
Having just marked its three-month anniversary - which it celebrated by giving away 100 free jacket potatoes - Spud Hut's popularity appears to have soared since its March opening.
Although it hasn't yet received the celebrity endorsements that its predecessors have - Hollywood A-listers Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman were seen at Spud Man's Tamworth truck while TikTok foodie sensation Keith Lee sampled Spudbros' London outpost - Spud Hut opened to a queue of devoted diners, one of whom waited for an incredible five hours.
Offering decadent toppings including 'smoky chilli con carne layered with creamy guac, zingy salsa, jalapeños' and 'slow-cooked pulled pork dripping in BBQ goodness', its potatoes are just as tasty - and no less pricey - than those of Spud Man and Spudbros.
Yet if the new arrival's social media is anything to go by, prices of between £8 and £11 are not putting anyone off - on Spud Hut's launch day the queue was already snaking down the road well before the opening time of 12pm.
And, while its social media following is still growing - it hasn't yet got anywhere near Spud Man's 4.2 million TikTok followers - it appears to have gained a loyal clientele in the past three months and has even launched on Deliveroo.
But while some customers were enthusiastic claiming 'it was worth the wait', others were left wondering why people were queuing for what sounded like a 'rip off'.
The same criticisms have been levelled against Spud Hut's rivals, who also charge upwards of £8 for most of their meals.
Yet despite its promising start, Spud Hut has been denigrated as 'a random potato place' by some social media users.
One person wrote: 'It's one thing to wait for Spud Man or the Spudbros as they have a following and some form of set up thing. But waiting for a random potato place is absolutely wild'.
Another seemed baffled by the launch of the baked potato business, writing: 'Funny the amount of people suddenly selling jacket potatoes'.
A third expressed similar surprise at the growing trend, writing: 'Why are spuds so popular right now? Why is it a trend? And [why are] people queuing for cheap, basic food?'
While a fourth asked: 'Who waits or even queues for an overpriced potato?'
Still, its unlikely that these negative reactions will bother either Spudbros' real-life brothers, Jacob, 28, and Harley Nelson, 21, or Spud Man, aka Ben Newman, 40.
The Nelson brothers have recently expanded their business, bringing it to Archer Street in London's Soho, while Ben claims to have supported his nine children with his jacket potato truck.
Yet not everyone was enthusiastic about the latest spud restaurant, with some social media users criticising Spud Hut as overpriced
The success of Spud Man and Spudbros - which Spud Hut undoubtedly hopes to replicate - comes amid a new craze among Gen-Zers, seemingly fuelled by social media, for jacket potatoes.
Jacob and Harely, whose username is @TheSpudBrothers, often have to turn customers away due to the high demand.
Jacob said: 'We open at 11.30am and we always have around 30 people in the queue waiting for us to open.
'Then it's constant to 3pm so we have to turn people away because the jacket potatoes take around two hours to cook.
'We hate doing it and disappointing people, but we have to do it.
'We don't even know how many potatoes we can serve in a day, which is bizarre, because it's constantly busy from open to close.
'We've had people come from Germany, Amsterdam, Turkey, Spain and Australia come to visit.
'We love the support and we are so grateful for people trying our little potato van in Preston so we always try and make it special for them.
'We try and serve food and also give people that customer interaction.'
Spud Brothers Jacob and Harley took over their TikTok account from their dad, Anthony, 57, who managed to get a whopping 60,000 followers.
But Jacob quit his job as a sales manager to work at the company full time and now they have almost reached one million followers.
The sibling duo decided to start posting on TikTok to market themselves to the thousands of students that live in Preston.
Instead of highly-edited videos, they decided to want to bring 'a lot of northern humour' to their content.
Jacob said: 'There's a lot of students in Preston and we just used to see them walking past the tram, going to McDonalds or Greggs.
'My dad started the TikTok and struggled with it - even though he did get us up to around 60,000 followers.
'But then me and Harley decided to take it up to the next level so we did a lot of research and decided we wanted to bring a lot of northern humour to it.
'We wanted banter and for it to be more raw and natural, so a lot of the videos that we do is just raw footage.
'It might be slightly edited but what you see is what you get and a lot of people in the north west get it.'
Jacob said they didn't think they would have as many followers as they do now, but within months, they had hundreds of thousands of people following them.
However the TikTok sensations faced backlash for doubling their prices when they opened a pop up in London.
Their success landed them in a shiny new pop up joint in London's West End, but fans couldn't believe the surge in prices.
Back in their humble tram in Preston Flag Market brothers Jacob and Harley have customers queuing hours for spuds.
It's a buzz that they're hoping to recreate in their new London pop up, but customers should expect to pay premium price, with a cheese and beans jacket potato costing £9.50.
However, in Preston, Spud Brothers confirmed on Facebook that a medium jacket with two toppings cost £5.
The brothers revealed on TikTok that in 2022 they charged £3.50 for a small jacket potato with cheese and beans, £4.50 for a medium, comprised of one and half potatoes plus the toppings, and £5 for a large of two potato's and two toppings.
In London, a jacket potato with butter is £5, a TikTok by @itsjimmyofficial_ revealed. To add cheese, beans, or coleslaw, customers will have to pay £2 per topping, and for tuna, chicken curry or chilli con carne, it's an added £4 per option.
The once low prices meant customers took to TikTok to tell each other to visit Spud Brothers over business competitor Spud man, who has faced backlash for charging up to £12 for a jacket potato, despite a plain jacket potato with butter costing him 46p to make.
Taking to TikTok in 2022, Spud Man explained his cost breakdown, saying: 'These videos always spark a good conversation; we're doing another product costing video.
'How much does a plain potato with butter cost me to produce?' He explained: 'So, one and a half spuds, butter, and a tray.
'Tray costs me 7p, butter costs me 12p, I put a double portion on when it's a plain potato, and one and a half spuds in 27p.
'So, a plain potato, which we run out at Tamworth at £2.50 anywhere up to £5 on festivals, costs us 46p to produce, that is not including my wages, the rent, the gas, the diesel to get there, and all those other costs that are incurred; that is just purely the product cost, 47p'
However, prices soon skyrocketed, and at Silverstone, Spudman revealed that he charged £7.50 for a plain potato, £8.50 to have the spud with one filling, and £9.50 for two fillings.
Cold drinks cost £3.90, water £3.30, and red bull was £4.50. There most expensive option was terriyaki chicken, costing £12.
'Goes without saying, same quality, same fillings, same size, we do every day in Tamworth,' he concluded.
Spud Hut's full menu
The Classic - £8.50
Melted butter, gooey cheese, rich baked beans, crispy onions — finished with a sprinkle of salt & pepper.
The Indian - £9.50
Tender pulled chicken simmered in fragrant curry, drizzled with cooling mint yoghurt, topped with crispy onions and served with crunchy poppadoms.
The Mexican - £10.00
Smoky chilli con carne layered with creamy guac, zingy salsa, jalapeños, a dollop of sour cream, and a crunch of nachos.
The Great British - £8.00
A love letter to bangers & mash. Juicy sausage and rich onion gravy over a fluffy spud.
The American - £10.00
Slow-cooked pulled pork dripping in BBQ goodness, paired with creamy coleslaw and crispy onions.
The Italian - £11.00
Savoury Bolognese sauce meets melted cheese and golden crispy onions.
The Big Fish - £10.00
Creamy tuna mayo, sweetcorn & special triple cheese blend, served on a warm, fluffy jacket and finished with black pepper and crispy onions.
The Vegan Chilli - £11.00
Smoky three-bean vegan chilli, zesty guacamole, vegan sour cream, salsa, and a handful of crunchy nachos.