Hey, nice to meet you!
We’re Hey! Food is Ready, an online marketplace for cooks to sell their culturally inspired dishes at events across the UK.
It’s super simple: you let us know about your event, we find cooks and your guests enjoy meals inspired by different countries from around the world. Pretty amazing, right?
Now, you have exclusive access to the secret culinary talent near you, all with the click of a button.
New voices
to the table
That's why we chose the speakerphone for our logo: to show how people can share their stories, culture and identity through their food.
Food is a powerful communication tool.
Our founding story
When Yuru moved to the UK, she realised she could no longer get the same authentic meals back home. Like many other international students in her position, she made compromises or chose the alternative option in the British market: Cornish pasties instead of empanadas, pot noodles over pad thai.
However, she soon discovered that while it may be unavailable on the high street, behind closed doors, there was a thriving food scene. All around her, from her household’s weekly hotpot to celebrating festivals with her friends, there were incredible cooks from different cultural backgrounds who could make these traditional dishes.
And so, at Durham University, she decided to start her business venture: Hey! Food is Ready. The idea was simple: create a marketplace where cooks from around the world living in Britain could have their food served at events. Through building these connections, she would help businesses to contribute to the local economy by providing cooks in their community with a meaningful income, and improve the representation of minority food cultures.
She founded the company in September 2021. After months of planning, meetings, pitching, and eating A LOT of food, they gathered a group of talented cooks and set to work!
Now, Hey! Food is Ready represents cooks from across the UK. Everyday, there are different voices, recipes, and cooks who come to us with their unique experiences and stories.
And we are proud to represent them all 🧡
Our journey so far…
Pop-up store in Oxford street
Durham University Blueprint Award Winner
Guest speaking at Hull University
The Pitch UK finalist
EPIC community impact award winner
UK Young Innovator Award Winner
Our community
Hey! Food is Ready is all about bringing people together. We host foodie meetups each month and run online support groups with our community, where they can share tips, inspiration and recipes.
We always want to promote the flow of knowledge between cooks, because running a food business is challenging; it comes with a lot of uncertainty and can be an isolating process. It is our mission to empower and inspire as many cooks as possible, from all backgrounds living across the UK.
Learn more about how we support our community by heading over to our ‘social mission’ page.
