Everyday People: Transcript with Simmz Cuisine
Coming to the end of the year, It's only right to look back and reflect on the challenges and experiences we had to face through people around us; most that we couldn't be in touch with for obvious reasons. Lockdown and inability to stay in touch has made it easy to feel like the only person going through alterations in life. 2020 had made a huge impact on every type of person. We will be exploring stories from different type of people; be it artist, business owner , college students and also person in the frontlines in the health department. Today, it's Simmz Cuisine, run by university student, Mercy Adeniyi. Simmz Cuisine is a small, Irish black-owned business. It caters food to your door in both Louth and Hull (UK). We spoke to the CEO, Mercy, to tell us about her popular, new food business. The Simmz menu is something you don’t wanna miss out on, from BBQ wings to king prawn fried rice, a range of seasoned sides and the pièces de résistance of the desserts: their deep fried oreos.... They aren’t lying when they say fulfill your cravings.
Logo by Favi Designz (IG: favidesignz)
What was your lockdown experience like? Has anything changed for you?
I’d like to think I’m a social butterfly, so lockdown was tough the first time around. I just had to keep my mind occupied with things that I enjoyed. I was at home with my whole family so we did try and keep to ourselves.
During the first lockdown there was something new happening every week, from house party to 10v10 on Twitter, which was good because it kept me occupied. In all honesty, I did enjoy the lockdown, it taught me a lot. If anything, I’ve changed and I’ve learned how to be happy on my own. I enjoy my own company which is something I used to struggle with before lockdown. It made me value my friends and family even more.
The biggest change is that I am now CEO of Simmz Cuisine.
What is it like for you having uni online? (The COVID-19 experience as a second year student)
Personally I’m not a fan of online uni, I prefer to be taught in person. I find it very easy to get distracted and lose focus when watching lectures from home as there are 101 things going on around me. If I’m being honest, there’s times where I've logged into a lecture and just left it there and haven't listened to a word.
In regards to social life as a college student up until November 5th, Hull wasn’t in lockdown so restaurants, bars, shops etc were all open so I got to enjoy the first few months of university and meet up with friends and other university students. However, that has all changed now because the UK has gone into a full lockdown.
Tell us a little about Simmz Cuisine.. did lockdown inspire you to start it or have you always wanted to have your own business?
I have wanted to start a food business for a few years now but I never really knew how to go about executing it, and I let fear of failure put me off the idea for a long time. When I had to come back home to Ireland during the first lockdown, I felt that it was the perfect opportunity to finally start Simmz.
There were no restaurants open, only takeaways, so I thought why not start now especially with all this free time on my hands. I’ve always always wanted to have my own business, lockdown just gave me the push I needed to get out of my comfort zone and start it.
You had a launch party for Simmz Cuisine in Hull recently, how did that go? How is the business operated in Hull vs in Louth?
The launch party went really well thank you, it was hard to work our way around all of the restrictions and we could only have a limited amount of tickets due to the pandemic, but we found a way to make it work. Everyone that attended had a chance to try some food from the Simmz cuisine menu and also got to learn a little bit about the business. It was a success, so I thank God for that.
The business is pretty much the same in Louth and Hull. We operate on a pre-order basis from Sunday afternoon to Friday afternoon, so customers Dm us on Instagram telling us what they’d like to order & payment is taken immediately to confirm your order. All the food is cooked on Saturday, and deliveries are sent out on Saturday evenings.
Simmz Cuisine recently announced that they are doing a ‘21 & Under With Simmz’ budget-friendly series for students. Tutorials are being released every Sunday @7pm with live trips to the supermarket, and suggestions being taken for each meal on their Instagram stories. Tune in weekly to see Simmz cook a student friendly meal for under just £21.