Case study to trial our exciting, revolutionary concept Hot2Home™ Fries Thursday 25 July 2019

Alfy Fowler, owner of DoppleGanger Burger, a vegan restaurant in Cambridge.

Hot2Home did live up to the hype, according to Alfy, founder of the vegan burger store DoppleGanger. With this business case Alfy hits three big trends:

1. Food Delivery
2. Air Frying
3. Vegan Diet

We could think of no better case study to trial our exciting, revolutionary products than with fresh thinking, self-starter restaurateur Alfie Fowler, owner of DoppleGanger Burger, vegan restaurant in Cambridge.

Alfie initially set up DoppleGanger as a series of pop-ups after going vegan for a month ‘purely for the cookery challenge’ and loving it.  “I enjoyed it, felt better for it, so stuck with it.  It makes more sense as a diet when you look at all the other factors like environmental, animal welfare etc.” says Alfie.

That was two years ago and he’s since built up a thriving business with ‘healthy yet indulgent plant-based food with a bent towards foodies who appreciate depth of flavour and more interesting combinations’.

Alfie trialled Lamb Weston’s new concept Hot2HomeTM Fries for four weeks, and they proved to be real winners, both in the restaurant and for home delivery.  He said, “I was a bit sceptical about how a chip can be so much better, but it did live up to the hype.  Hot2Home is definitely crispier and they do maintain in their crispiness.”

They were a perfect fit for DoppleGanger’s offerings, which Alfie describes as ‘healthy and delicious vegan food with a twist, made to impress with meatless recipes, and a focus on burgers’. 

DoppleGanger’s customers include university students and early adopters wanting to explore new tastes and vegan food.  Thursday to Saturday are the busiest days, especially with deliveries, at weekends.  Evenings are generally busier than lunch but they also hold events like selling tickets for a few pounds to come and brunch, and try out (as well as vote on) new recipes to see what should be featured on the menu.

“Quality and consistency are key when offering a vegan burger for around £10”, says Alfie but one of the daily challenges they face is a shortage of space – their small kitchen has to cope with storage, preparation and delivery of food to go all at the same time.

Uniquely, air-frying and baking are their main food preparation methods; Hot2Home were tried both ways and Alfie was won over by their performance.  “We were very impressed with the quality of the temperature retention and crispiness of the Hot2Home fries.  We have tested many other brands before, but they didn’t perform like these Lamb Weston products,” says Alfie. “Our customers loved them!”  The main benefits Alfie found, were being able to serve the same quality for delivery as in the restaurant.  “We offer loaded fries as well, but they get soggy quickly – Hot2Home stays recognisably crispy for longer,” says Alfie.  “We really like the products, and want to move to Hot2Home.”

Alfie’s top three tips for outlets looking to serve outstanding fries on their menu are to buy high quality products to get the best outcome; try new things – it doesn’t need to be always fries in a deep fat fryer; and to involve your guests in recipe creation, like loaded fries, new dips for fries and desserts using sweet potatoes!

Recipe from DoppleGanger - Vegan Nutty Mocha Chocca Sweet Potato Fries

Recipe from DoppleGanger - Vegan Teriyaki Jack Fruit Filled Potato Skins

Recipe from DoppleGanger - Vegan Dipping Fries with Flavours of ‘Romesco’