According to Deliveroo’s annual report bowls were the lunch of choice for diners in 2023. Sandwiches were out in favour of healthier ‘build your own bowl’ dishes; trending amongst office workers in particular, Poké, salad and burrito bowls made up 40% of the UK’s top 10 trending list. And it’s no surprise that the popular Poké bowl pipped the post at number one for the top trending dish of 2023.
Recent research also found that over half of Brits (52%) have tried more than three new dishes or cuisines for the first time in the last 12 months and this has led to a spike in demand for an array of delicious dishes.
One chain capitalising on the popularity of Poké is Poke House. The chain launched back in 2018, first operating as a dark kitchen in Milan. The founders Vittoria Zanetti and Matteo Pichi saw the potential of poke bowls in the European market and took their love of the Hawaiian classic and experience within the hospitality industry to open their first site.
“At one point, we were opening a site a week, and we needed to open as quickly as possible,” said Alberto Vernazza, chief operating officer. “With 130 locations, our needs are now very different from when Poke House first opened and scaling fast calls for an efficient system which is exactly what our ePOS system is.
“It’s a 30 minute procedure to open a new restaurant from a technology standpoint because the menus are already set up and the payments are embedded. Everything is consistent across locations,” Alberto added.
With multiple locations come a multitude of challenges, but for Poke House, processing payments isn’t one of them. “Compared to legacy systems, our ePOS is a much smarter solution and it’s ready to start using within one minute.” Alberto said. “What’s more, it’s really easy to reconcile all the store financials since every transaction is recorded on the ePOS. This also saves time and is easier for our financial departments,” Salvatore added.
Despite the multitude of economical challenges throughout 2023, Poke House has gone from strength to strength, opening a new site in Mayfair last October. Their growth is testament to their loyal fan base and they offered £1 Poké bowls as a way of thanking their valued Poke House customers for their unwavering support.
From one store at the start to 130 in 2023, Poke House is scaling across the globe with a mission to bring positivity, wellness and fresh ingredients around the world, one bowl at a time.
Poke House has implemented Lightspeed.
