With four sites and a production kitchen in place the Jamaica Patty Co. is geared up for expansion across London and then beyond as it continues to tempt people into trying its authentic patties.

Set up by Andrew Roberts and his wife Theresa Roberts, who is also cultural ambassador for Jamaica, in 2014 the plan was not to open in an obvious place like Brixton but to instead spread their love of Jamaican patties to as many people as possible. Covent Garden was the perfect starting point, according to Andrew, who says 95% of people entering the small store had no idea what was being sold inside.

To educate the palates of the passing public many samples were given away. But as well as introducing a largely unknown product the company was also selling an authentic patty priced at £3.95 versus more like £2.50 for the other versions that he says contain a type of paste rather than full-on meat that is used to fill the Jamaica Patty Co. range.

As well as setting the product apart from those sold in retail stores via wholesalers Andrew also highlights how they are very different to the Cornish pasties sold by the likes of West Cornwall Pasty Co.

“They are full of carbohydrates, mainly potato, versus ours which are just meat. The ingredients are very different. We also uses spices including Scotch Bonnets. We’ve gone back to the old style of patty and do not use a paste. We’re a unique product,” he explains.

Following Covent Garden came outlets in Liverpool Street, Canary Wharf and Farringdon. With the concept well and truly validated Andrew says the business is now ripe for rolling out, with 15-20 sites in London the target and then the rest of the country. The ability to deliver on such a plan is made possible by the central production kitchen, located in Oxfordshire, which can produce up to 2,000 patties per hour. There is also the possibility of overseas expansion on a franchise basis as he suggests the product is much more suited to international markets than the parochial Cornish pasty.

The concept can operate from within a footprint of 150-250 sq ft so rentals are low and one staff member can run a single unit that can turn over £400,000 per year of which £100,000 is profit. The payback on a site is therefore a swift 12 months because the investment required is around £100,000 – that will likely include a deposit of £30,000 with the landlord.

The preferred landlord right now is Transport for London, which owns the Farringdon site and has recently acquired Jamaica Patty Co.s Liverpool Street unit. It is also the landlord of the company’s forthcoming sites in Stratford and Brixton where it had been approached to take on the units. The latter site will be an interesting one because Andrew says the agreement of the lease is to open from breakfast onwards.

“We’ve struggled at breakfast as it’s difficult to get people to break their coffee habit in a morning. But we do well in the evenings when Pret and Greggs struggle,” he says, adding that between 5-7pm the business can do as much as 50% of the lunch trade in terms of sales as people pick up a pasty on their way home from work.

There is also a delivery service for corporate orders that used to involve Deliveroo but this was curtailed because of the high fees charged and instead Jamaica Patty Co. now simply books an Uber to deliver such orders.

Glynn Davis, editor, Retail Insider