Homemade & Healthy
We are fortunate to have ‘healthy take-away’ options still available in Ireland. And feel even luckier in Waterford that there’s one such offering, with-in driving distance, saving us from the ‘chicken fillet roll’ doldrums! Chef Jenny (aka Unbeetable Jenny) and her partner Adam serve delectable, homemade food from their roadside truck–stop, on the edge of Tramore Town. In their cooking, they use dairy products sparingly, very little oil as they grill instead, and they never add sugar but choose maple syrup as an alternative when a little sweetness is required. Jenny generously shares with us the story of her unique street food inspired enterprise…
Unbeetable Food is a small food-truck-style business serving breakfast and lunch. Our focus is on real homemade, healthy but delicious food that anyone can enjoy guilt free! We were crowned ‘All Ireland Street Food’ winners with Yes Chef in 2023, and ‘Best Healthy Takeaway’ winners for 2024.
For the ‘Buzz’ of Food
What’s your favourite thing about running your own business?
It gives me the freedom to experiment with the menu, to cook the food I love. And freedom to be able to change things around when I want to. I love the trust that people have built towards me and my food. Particularly when we often have things or ingredients people might not have heard of or sampled before. And over time, as they try some of our dishes they get more comfortable tasting new and different things. They know it will be tasty which makes me happy.
It gives me the freedom to experiment with the menu, to cook the food I love…I love the trust that people have built towards me and my food.
And what do you find is the most frustrating?
What’s frustrating is how hard the hospitality industry is in general- with rising food costs, high VAT levels, wage increases, electricity increases, and so on. It seems to keep rising up and up! This makes it so difficult to keep things going while keeping our prices reasonable.
Describe an average workday.
We usually start around 8/8.30 in the morning, then get set-up to serve breakfast from 9am while also getting our lunch menu prepared to go for 12 O’clock. We serve and prep what we can until 4pm, and then we get all our cleaning done. After this, we do some shopping for the next day, then it’s home time to catch up on ordering, paperwork, menu planning, payroll, book-keeping and all the other things that come as part of being a small business owner; behind the scenes. And then hopefully I’ll get time to relax and catch up on some T.V. before bedtime.
We’ve been fortunate to win a few awards over the last couple of years and this really makes us feel like we’re doing a good job.
Friendly Feedback
What keeps you going or inspires you?
The feedback from our many lovely customers keeps me going. And of course, support from family and friends and my partner Adam who runs the business with me. We’ve been fortunate to win a few awards over the last couple of years and this really makes us feel like we’re doing a good job and inspires us to want to keep going. To try our best.
Initially, did you manage to get any support or funding for your business?
Unfortunately, not, as I’d lived abroad in Canada for many years so I had no real credit history or income/savings to get much of a loan from a bank. After approaching the Local Enterprise Office, we found out that they unfortunately don’t offer start-up funding to food service businesses. Thankfully, family members came to our rescue and helped us to get things started.
We are always thinking of things we can do and looking out for opportunities.
Can you see your business expanding further or have you any other projects that you’re working on?
Yes hopefully, we are always thinking of things we can do and looking out for opportunities. We do have expansion plans that should start to move forward in the coming months and allow us to offer more to our customers.
Do you have any ‘time saving’ tips for business owners?
Oh definitely- lists, but most people know about these I think! I’ve always got a notebook with me because when you’ve got so much to remember you need to write things down or they just get forgotten. I’m a planner and organiser for definite. I like to have lots of food prep done and be well set-up and organised for service as it makes things run more smoothly. Then there’s no last-minute panics!!
Has having an online presence helped or hindered your business?
It certainly helps, even the simple things like business info, menu, opening times, or any changes/interruptions to usual business operations. It helps you keep your customers updated and informed. As well as the convenience that comes with online ordering which means fewer phone calls, so allows me to focus more on cooking.
How do you engage with your online customer?
I like to use *Instagram and Facebook mostly to keep our menus updated. Also, I use it to share photos of our food whenever I get a chance to.
When it comes to running a food business there’s a lot more work involved than you would think at first.
What advice would you offer someone who is thinking of starting their own food business?
They should know that, when it comes to running a food business there’s a lot more work involved than you would think at first. I was warned too but it always surprises me how there are always things to be done! However, if you love and care about what you do then it’ll be worth it.
Thanks for sharing Jenny and we wish yourself and Adam unbeetable success for 2025!
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BROWSE & ORDER FROM THEIR ONLINE MENU
LOCATE UNBEETABLE FOOD TRUCK ON GOOGLE MAPS
*FOLLOW UNBEETABLE FOOD on social for menu updates & opening hrs Instagram & Facebook
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