Alumnus brings global street food to London Metropolitan University

With the help of the Accelerator, London Met’s business incubator, Ayden Kappo-Hector established his business which brings global street food to London

Date: 18 March 2016

London Met alumnus, Ayden Kappo-Hector, has gone on to run his street food business, Melting Pot LDN, which has sold at many markets and festivals across London.

Melting Pot LDN is a street food business which sells global soul food inspired by the Pan African and Pan American cuisines.

Ayden, alongside his business partner Jasmine Holland, left the traditional 9-5 routine after realising it was not the lifestyle for them. The two travelled together in 2012 where they had the opportunity to try many exotic cuisines. It was at this moment they saw a niche in the market and returned to London to set up their business together.

With the help of the Accelerator’s Launchpad programme, Ayden and Jasmine propelled their idea into a reality.

“We highly recommend the Launchpad programme to other students or graduates if they have an idea and don’t know where to begin,” says Ayden.

“Never be afraid to speak to other people about your idea and get as much feedback as you can. The more you share about your business the stronger it will become.”

Melting Pot LDN is currently a pop up shop as well as pop up catering at markets and festivals. They offer a range of menus to suit the occasion. Ayden says their aim is to open a restaurant under the same franchise and extend their business further.

“You can send the business in the direction you want, and it’s nice to be able to share that with other people,” says the former Small Business Enterprise and Entrepreneurship student.

The idea for Melting Pot LDN arose in conjunction with the recent trend increase in the UK; street food. It is estimated £2.5 billion is spent on street food in the UK alone.