Cereal Killer Cafe
{{Short description|Chain of cafés serving branded breakfast cereals}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox company
| name = Cereal Killer Café
| logo = File:Cereal Killer Cafe logo.png
| logo_size = 160px
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| image = File:Cereal Killer exterior.JPG
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| image_caption = The branch in Brick Lane
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| type = Café
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| fate = Closed (UK only)
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| foundation = {{Start date|2014}}
| founder = Alan and Gary Keery
| defunct = (UK only)
| location_city = East End, London, Dubai, Doha
| location_country = England
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| locations = 5
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| website = {{URL|cerealkillercafe.co.uk}}
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Cereal Killer Café is a chain of cafés that serve branded breakfast cereals. The original café was located on Brick Lane in Spitalfields,{{Cite web|url=https://www.towerhamlets.gov.uk/Documents/Planning-and-building-control/Strategic-Planning/Neighbourhood-Planning/Spitalfields_v9_Officer_Rec_Area.pdf|title=Spitalfields|website=towerhamlets.gov.uk}} London and was the first cereal-themed café in the United Kingdom.{{cite news|last1=Petroff|first1=Alanna|title=London's first cereal cafe milks nostalgia|url=https://money.cnn.com/2014/12/09/smallbusiness/london-cereal-cafe/|accessdate=9 December 2014|publisher=CNN|date=9 December 2014}} The chain announced the closure of its UK locations on 8 July 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.{{Cite web|title=A sad Cheerio|url=https://us12.campaign-archive.com/?u=881479965510d04682c51094c&id=82cd42f19f|access-date=8 July 2020|website=us12.campaign-archive.com}} As of 2023, the Dubai cafe remains open and the chain's website continues to offer customers over 100 different types of cereal.{{Cite web |title=Login • Instagram |url=https://www.instagram.com/accounts/login/?next=/cerealkillercafe_dubai/ |access-date=2022-04-14 |website=www.instagram.com}}{{Cite web |title=CEREAL KILLER CAFE, Dubai - Downtown Dubai - Menu, Prices & Restaurant Reviews |url=http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaurant_Review-g295424-d12356019-Reviews-Cereal_Killer_Cafe-Dubai_Emirate_of_Dubai.html |access-date=2022-04-14 |website=Tripadvisor |language=en-GB}}{{Cite web |last=Cafe |first=Cereal Killer |title=Cereal Killer Cafe |url=https://thedubaimall.com/en/shop/cereal-killer |access-date=2022-04-14 |website=The Dubai Mall |language=en}}
Development
Identical twins Alan and Gary Keery, from Belfast, came up with the idea of selling breakfast cereal after experiencing a morning hangover during a lunch break in Shoreditch and craving a "sugary cereal fix".{{cite news|last1=Malone|first1=Ailbhe|title=There Could Be A Cereal Cafe Coming To London Soon|url=https://www.buzzfeed.com/ailbhemalone/there-could-be-a-cereal-cafe-coming-to-london-soon|accessdate=13 December 2014|work=BuzzFeed|date=17 May 2014}} The brothers were initially dissuaded from pursuing the project but continued after conducting their own market research. Inspired by established cereal cafes in the United States and the premise of the 2005 film Flakes, they went about asking consumers on the streets whether or not they would buy into the concept.{{cite news|last1=Brown|first1=Brigid|title=WATCH: First Cereal Cafe Opens in East London|url=http://www.bbcamerica.com/anglophenia/2014/11/watch-first-cereal-cafe-opens-in-east-london/|accessdate=9 December 2014|work=BBC America|date=5 November 2014}} They discovered that more than half of the people they had asked would consider visiting their cafe. Funding for the proposal came from a business loan following an unsuccessful £60,000 crowdfunding attempt on Indiegogo.{{cite news|last1=Rucki|first1=Alexandra|title=Cereal café could be coming to Shoreditch if crowdfunding campaign is success|url=https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/cereal-caf-could-be-coming-to-shoreditch-if-crowdfunding-campaign-is-success-9387341.html|accessdate=9 December 2014|work=Evening Standard|date=17 May 2014}} They claimed they found it difficult to rent a location based on their business venture but eventually settled on an old video store.{{cite news|last1=Jefferies|first1=Henry|title=Can the Cereal Killer cafe, which sells only cereal, really make a killing?|url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/shortcuts/2014/dec/09/cereal-killer-cafe-london-breakfast|accessdate=9 December 2014|work=The Guardian|date=9 December 2014}}{{cite news|last1=Bell|first1=Stephanie|title=Cereal Killer Cafe: Belfast brothers open UK's first ever cafe selling nothing but cereal|url=http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/life/cereal-killer-cafe-belfast-brothers-open-uks-first-ever-cafe-selling-nothing-but-cereal-30761373.html|accessdate=9 December 2014|work=Belfast Telegraph|date=21 November 2014}}
Business
File:Cereal Killer interior.JPG
The two-storey café was situated on Brick Lane, near Shoreditch, and employed eight staff. The interior was designed to reflect a retro style with exposed brickwork, formica furniture and 1980s and '90s music. Among the decor were novelty cereal boxes, vintage milk bottles and other cereal related memorabilia.{{cite news|last1=Barrie|first1=Joshua|title=Have A Look Inside The UK's First Breakfast Cereal Cafe|url=https://www.businessinsider.com/cereal-killer-cafe-2014-12?r=US|access-date=9 December 2014|work=Business Insider|date=9 December 2014}} The cafe offered more than 100 different varieties of global cereal brands, 12 kinds of milk and 20 toppings. It also sold coffee, toast and poptarts.{{cite news|last1=Jones|first1=Rachel|title=UK's first cereal café to open in London|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/foodanddrinknews/11209121/UKs-first-cereal-cafe-to-open-in-London.html|accessdate=12 December 2014|work=The Telegraph|date=4 November 2014}}
In 2014 the brothers were challenged by Channel 4 over the price of their bowls of cereal in Tower Hamlets. Despite being shown the London borough had some of the highest rates of poverty in the country,{{cite news|last1=Molloy|first1=Antonia|title=Cereal Killer cafe owner cuts short interview after he is grilled about his prices |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/cereal-killer-cafe-owner-cuts-short-interview-after-he-is-grilled-about-his-prices-9918454.html|accessdate=11 December 2014|work=The Independent|date=11 December 2014}}{{Cite web|title=Poverty rates by London borough|url=https://www.trustforlondon.org.uk/data/poverty-borough/|access-date=2020-10-07|website=Trust for London}}{{Cite news|last=correspondent|first=Rupert Neate Wealth|date=2019-12-23|title=A tale of two cities: London's rich and poor in Tower Hamlets|language=en-GB|work=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/dec/23/a-tale-of-two-cities-londons-rich-and-poor-in-tower-hamlets|access-date=2020-10-07|issn=0261-3077}}{{Cite news|date=2014-10-15|title=London has highest child poverty rates across the UK|language=en-GB|work=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-29626705|access-date=2020-10-07}} Gary denied this was the case and said his cereal was "cheap for the area" before refusing to continue with the interview.{{Cite news|last=Cowburn|first=Ashley|date=2014-12-13|title=The C4 reporter had a pop. And the Cereal Killer cafe snapped back …|language=en-GB|work=The Observer|url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2014/dec/13/cereal-killer-breakfast-east-london-channel-4-row|access-date=2020-10-07|issn=0029-7712}}{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=Cereal cafe stops interview over price questions {{!}} Channel 4 News|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0kn7AwbSU0|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141211081218/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0kn7AwbSU0&gl=US&hl=en |archive-date=2014-12-11 |access-date=|website=YouTube}}
Media commentary ranged from praise of their entrepreneurship from Boris Johnson{{cite news|last1=Johnston|first1=Boris|date=15 December 2014|title=Don't murder the Cereal Killers – we need people just like them|work=The Daily Telegraph|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/11293491/Dont-murder-the-Cereal-Killers-we-need-people-just-like-them.html|accessdate=19 December 2014}} to criticism pointing at gentrification around Shoreditch,{{cite news|last1=Chakelian|first1=Anoosh|title=In defence of the Cereal Killer café: why lazy hipster-bashing won't solve inequality|url=http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2014/12/defence-cereal-killer-caf-why-lazy-hipster-bashing-wont-solve-inequality|accessdate=12 December 2014|work=New Statesman|date=12 December 2014}}{{cite news|last1=Hardman|first1=Isabel|title=In defence of the smug Cereal Café owners – and the mugs who eat there|url=http://blogs.spectator.co.uk/isabel-hardman/2014/12/in-defence-of-the-smug-cereal-cafe-owners-and-the-mugs-who-eat-there/|accessdate=12 December 2014|work=The Spectator|date=11 December 2014}} with the Keerys terminating a 2014 interview with Channel Four after reporter Symeon Brown asked "Do you think local people will be able to afford £3.20 cereal?"{{Cite web|date=2014-12-13|title=Cereal Killer Cafe owner pens angry letter to Channel 4 in row over|url=http://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/cereal-killer-cafe-owner-writes-angry-open-letter-to-channel-4-news-in-pricing-row-9922784.html|access-date=2020-10-07|website=Evening Standard|language=en}} In response, the brothers wrote an open letter to the broadcaster on Facebook, characterising the reporting as "unfair" and announced plans to provide free breakfasts for underprivileged children; however, no schools, youth groups or charities were approached.{{Cite web|title=Cereal Killer|url=https://www.facebook.com/cerealkilleruk/posts/903157606385368|access-date=2020-10-07|website=facebook.com|language=en}}
On an evening in September 2015, anti-gentrification activists threw paint at the building and wrote the word "scum" across it.{{Cite news|date=2015-09-27|title=Cereal Killer cafe damaged in Shoreditch anti-gentrification protest|language=en-GB|work=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-34373485|access-date=2020-10-07}}
By 2017 the brothers had opened cereal cafes in Birmingham, Dubai, Kuwait and Jordan.{{Cite web|url=http://felixonline.co.uk/articles/2017-11-24-worth-the-hype-cereal-killer-cafe/|title=Worth the hype? Cereal Killer Cafe|date=24 November 2017 }}{{Cite web|date=2017-04-06|title=Cereal Killer founders: 'People thought we were geniuses, others hated us'|url=http://www.theguardian.com/small-business-network/2017/apr/06/people-thought-we-were-geniuses-others-hated-us|access-date=2020-10-07|website=The Guardian|language=en}} The London branch of the cafe closed in 2020, with the brothers remaining to operate in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates.{{cite news |last1=Brennan |first1=Ailis |title=London's Cereal Killer Cafes to close permanently 'due to Coronavirus' |url=https://www.standard.co.uk/reveller/restaurants/cereal-killer-cafe-london-close-coronavirus-a4492601.html |access-date=27 January 2023 |work=Evening Standard |date=8 July 2020 |language=en}}
See also
{{Portal|London|Food}}
References
{{Reflist|30em}}
External links
- {{Official website|http://cerealkillercafe.co.uk/}}
{{Restaurants in London}}
{{Authority control}}
{{Coord|51.52391|-0.07160|display=title}}
Category:2014 establishments in England
Category:Buildings and structures in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets
Category:Coffeehouses and cafés in London