Local family business successfully pivots during pandemic to launch new brand
Following the unfortunate closure of Brighton’s BeFries in 2020, an award-winning venue beloved by locals and tourists alike, sibling trio Ezda, Dashal and Chan Beevers used the UK’s lockdown to adapt and develop their business and scale up the production of their vegan mayos and tell their inspiring business story here:
How did you overcome the setback of BeFries closing?
BeFries closing was heartbreaking for so many reasons. We sold our family home to help fund the business and poured our hearts and souls into making it work so losing it all was very difficult. The thing we loved the most was serving our delicious sauces to all our amazing customers and seeing the pleasure they brought them. We felt we had built up too much to let it go and our customers were a driving force to find a way to continue. We had so much love for our sauces and the demand was there so it made sense to look at how we could bring them to market.
What steps did you take to pivot the brand, instead offering a product for customers to enjoy at home?
BeFries was an eat-in venue, where we offered our customers a selection of sauces to accompany their fries. Without the physical store, we had to find a different business model. This meant scaling up the production of our sauces without sacrificing the unique flavours our customers had come to know and love. Finding a manufacturer that could recreate our homemade sauces was the biggest and most challenging part of the puzzle.
With the idea sparked in our minds, we then spent countless hours doing further research, shaping our strategy and creating a solid business plan. We began looking for investment smack bang in the middle of the pandemic and at first we were unsure we'd gain the funding needed, given the uncertainty of everything. However as time went by, it became clear that this was in fact the perfect time to launch our product. We feel very lucky to have found an investor that shares our vision and sees the potential in our brand.
What's next for BeSaucy?
We have launched in 18 stores throughout Sussex with a focus on independent shops. Our mission is to continue stocking great independent stores across the UK, bringing flavour and happiness to people's homes through our mayos. We'd also like to collaborate with other food brands to create delicious dishes, dips and fillings. We want to become leaders in the vegan condiment sector and aim to do this by sharing recipes that use our products as an ingredient, not just a condiment. Our mayos are for everyone to enjoy and we hope that for those looking to give up or eat less animal products we have created sauces that will make those decisions easier. In the future, our plan is to become a global brand. Of course, we're taking one step at a time and we have a lot of work to do first here. Supporting our community and the planet is incredibly important to us. Our ethos is to bring happiness through our sauces whilst being kind to the planet - hence our motto: BeHappy BeKind BeSaucy
Find out more at: https://www.besaucy.co.uk/