Jess’s Underground Kitchen – from cooking at home for friends to an international business feeding hundreds

2022-11-08

{Disclaimer: this episode was recorded prior to their announcement of closing the cafes and focusing on their frozen meal range} Jess’s Underground Kitchen (JUK) started as a favour between friends, and quickly escalated to feeding hundreds of people every week. Nine years on, JUK is making and delivering thousands of home cooked dinners around New Zealand, and frozen meals to supermarkets here and overseas. Jess’ journey echoes typical kiwi values: making quality, fresh food with humility and authenticity, and innovating to do things in ways that suit both her and her cus...

{Disclaimer: this episode was recorded prior to their announcement of closing the cafes and focusing on their frozen meal range}

Jess’s Underground Kitchen (JUK) started as a favour between friends, and quickly escalated to feeding hundreds of people every week.

Nine years on, JUK is making and delivering thousands of home cooked dinners around New Zealand, and frozen meals to supermarkets here and overseas.

Jess’ journey echoes typical kiwi values: making quality, fresh food with humility and authenticity, and innovating to do things in ways that suit both her and her customers.

In this episode of Flying the Fern, host David Downs talks to Jess about:

How JUK grew from a casual thing to a real business
Her motto - do less, better by sticking to your core business
Building an authentic brand
How the New Zealand Fernmark is a symbol for everything JUK’s about – hard work, humility and passionately believing in what you’re doing
What hasn’t worked; what she’s learned and what she’d do differently
Expanding into Australia

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RESOURCES:

To find out more, head to www.juk.co.nz

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/myundergroundkitchen/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MyUndergroundKitchen/ 

To find out more about the FernMark Licence Programme please visit: https://www.fernmark.nzstory.govt.nz/

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