T's Fried Scoop, located outside Backyard Market every weekend, sells a selection of fried ice-cream options. It offers one of the best, most unique, and most affordable desserts in London, and it's named after the owner Natasha, called 'T' for short by her friends and family, who first launched the stand in July 2020.
I spoke to Natasha about how she got the idea for the business, her aims to support the local community, and her experience of launching a business during the pandemic.
How did you come up with the idea of fried ice cream? It’s not something I’ve seen anywhere else...
Basically, I was just sick and tired of craving desserts and paying £10 or over for something simple as a brownie and ice cream in London. I would also find that those desserts would usually make me feel a little sickly after. I just wanted an affordable dessert that would satisfy my cravings. Since the hot and cold combo satisfies me, I wanted to come up with something that did that. Hence, fried ice cream!
I did find different variations of fried ice cream across the globe, but all of them used egg white and I wasn't a fan of that texture. So I developed my own version instead – trust me, I tried a lot of different recipes!
How did you go from idea to setting up your first stand?
Going from idea to stall wasn't easy. I was ready and I had the motivation to start, but I needed money and no one was taking me. Luckily or unluckily, the pandemic opened up space for new traders like me and I got my foot in the door!
I knew it would be very hard in the beginning, as it was something totally new. So I was prepared for below average sales. But, the people who did buy loved it! And that kept me motivated. My family and partner were also the biggest help.
How did you create your branding? It's all so nice!
Thank you! I absolutely love cute adorable stuff! I wanted to stand out and be different. I knew fried ice cream isn’t a conventional dessert, so with the branding, I thought let me be different here too.
Let everything be in sync and be weird, fun, cute and playful. So with the help of an amazing friend and her graphic design skills, she bought my characters to life. I designed it by hand and she turned them into real adorable little scoops of joy.
I noticed that there's an 'ethics' page on your website, where you talk about both your impact on the environment and your aim to support vulnerable British children through your business, could you share a bit about that?
Sustainability is very important to us! Although we are small, we believe we shouldn't wait for the big companies to start first - any change we make now can have a huge impact on our future.
So we are going to go a step further with sustainability. We are currently in talks with a carbon neutral partner that is globally verified, and they will be releasing reports detailing how we impact our environment, the steps we are taking/have taken already, and the amazing projects we are putting our money into, such as providing clean water for developing countries and planting trees in the Amazon.
In the coming weeks, this will be released on our website with an audited tracker for full transparency.
We also want to focus on giving British children a happier experience of their childhood. So we are researching boroughs in London with children's homes and trying to organise a day where we can come in the summer and treat them all and educate them on diets. There is a lot of miseducation about food - it's not right to just say X is bad for you but X is really good. Everything has to be balanced, so it's okay to have a treat once in a while.
We are also planning to revisit during winter periods and have set aside some money and raised from a certain event to donate gifts to them. So our aim is to create a list of these children's homes and revisit them. We don't want it to be a one off thing, as we want them to feel we really do care about them, which we do. After all, we are a family brand.
What has been your favourite part about having your business up and running?
No one tells me off for being late! I always had an issue getting on time. My other favourite part is just being a part of the growth. When you look at your next step, it's crazy to think where you started and it always excites me and I'm always grateful.
How can people find you/get in touch?
Find us Truman Brewery every weekend. Outside Backyard Market, opposite Ely's Yard and Cafe 1001.
We are also doing a lot of events:
11th - 27th Eat & Drink March
Foodies Festival Syon Park, 3rd-5th June
Hyper Japan, Evolution London SW11 4NJ, 22nd -24th July
Halal Food Festival 25th-26th July
Surrey Food Festival, Richmond Park, 30th-31st July
Hampton Court Palace 27th-29th August
Pub In Park, Chiswick 2nd-4th September
Dog Show, Roxbourne Park, Harrow - 18th September
Visit T's Fried Scoop's website to learn more, or find them on Twitter and Instagram.
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