Heartwarming moment Spud Brothers stun a young boy with free meal and very generous gift

Daily Mail​

23-04-2025

Spud Brothers have been praised for a 'wholesome' gesture after they surprised a young fan queuing for their cult snack with a free meal - and £350 in cash.
In a heartwarming video shared to their Instagram account, a member of staff surprised a schoolboy who was waiting at the back of the queue.
In a point of view clip, the jacket potato maker is seen preparing one the vendor's famous baked spuds, topping the jacket with a generous helping of beans, cheese, crispy onions and a dollop of their signature tram sauce.
He then packaged up the freshly prepared potato and headed over to a boy, who happened to be stood patiently at the end of a long winding queue for the vendor.
'Are you the last person?', he asked the young boy, before first checking whether he minded being recorded for the video.
After being given permission, the spud trader then asked what his name was, to which he said it was Jaden.
'Do you like jacket potatoes?' he asked the boy.
'Yeah, I like them,' he said, nodding eagerly in response.
'I've got a Spud Bro classic here - cheese, beans, and tram sauce,' he said before handing over the prepped potato, neatly packaged in brown paper.
He asked Jaden what his favourite type of jacket potato was, to which he replied he'd 'have anything' and the vendor promptly handed over the package, urging him to open it there and then.
As he peeled away the boy paper wrapper, Jaden soon realised there was more there than just a free dinner.
Gob smacked, the youngster revealed a wad of bank notes hidden within the packaging of the takeaway container.
'Oh my god,' he exclaimed as the realisation hit. Meanwhile, a handful of bypassers had gathered around the boy to watch the sweet moment.
The potato vendor confirmed that there was '£350 there mate'.
'My G!,' he said to the vendor, who burst out laughing at the youngsters excited response.
Jaden then thanked the trader with a fist bump, visibly grateful for the wholesome gesture.
He was even so excited that he dropped one of the notes on the ground, with an onlooker quickly having to scoop it up and return it to him.
The jacket potato vendors then encouraged him to go and 'enjoy your spud', to which a gleeful Jaden responded that he would and thanked them again.
The Spud Brothers, who boast 730,00 followers on Instagram, captioned the video: 'This was the best reaction ever'.
Dozens in the comments flocked to praise the potato makers for the generous gesture, with one writing: 'This is unreal, I follow this page all the time and I honestly can't believe how kind-hearted this is.'
A second said: 'He proper deserved that he'd been stood there manning the back of the queue. One of the best lives to date. Smashing it lads.'
'Awww what a lovely thing to do. Bless his reaction,' a third wrote.
One viewer even suggested that they had been reduced to tears by the heartwarming moment.
'Well done very appreciated young chap good lad and enjoy that potato,' another said.
'Aw, his little face, I'm not crying I promise its just hayfever,' another commenter affectionately wrote.
Spud Brothers is a business started by Jacob and Harley Nelson. Its original outlet was in Preston. It now operates further outlets, including a pop-up in London.
It's not the first time the business owners have been commended for their acts of kindness towards customers.
A video shared on the Spud Brothers TikTok account, @thespudbrothers, which has 3.6million followers, showed an elderly couple being offered the food van's last two potatoes for free.
As the couple walked near the van, an unnamed staff member called out: 'Excuse me. Excuse me. Would you like two free jacket potatoes? Would you like some free food?'
He continued: 'Come on, we'll warm you up. You look a bit cold out there.'
As the couple appeared somewhat shy as they approached the van, accepting the offer of the free potatoes, the staff member explained what toppings they had available.
First, he assembled one of the spuds for the man, ladling on garlic chili chicken and cheese.
Next, he turned to the woman, who appeared somewhat downcast, asking her if she wanted a potato.
The man, explaining her crestfallen demeanour, explained that she had just fallen.
'Oh no, are you alright?' asked the potato vendor.
He then asked whether the couple would like him to ring anyone for them.
Refusing the kind offer, the elderly man explained that the woman has Alzheimer's disease. Ordering a potato for the woman, he asked for the same toppings he had.
At this point the vendor pointed out that the garlic chili chicken is quite spicy - asking if that would be ok for her.
Putting together the potato, the vendor sympathetically said to the lady: 'As long as you are ok, that's the main thing.'