SushiDog: the new face of grab and go sushi

What is the history and concept of SushiDog? SushiDog was launched by myself and childhood friend Nick. We felt that there was quite a large gap between the freshness of restaurant quality sushi and fast casual sushi, so we set out to create a brand and concept that delivered on freshness, experience and convenience. SushiDog was created to provide people with restaurant quality sushi in a grab and go, convenient format. At SushiDog, you can choose exactly how you want your sushi, what ingredients, and you can watch it freshly-rolled in front of you before taking it away in a burrito or hot dog style format, allowing you to eat it on-the-go. Our menu has something for everyone, from salmon and tuna for the sushi purists, to chicken katsu and prawn katsu, and even a vegan teriyaki chicken. We opened our first store in Westfield in 2018 and then opened our second store in Seven Dials in March 2020 just before Covid struck. We achieved some great things during the lockdowns, first with an NHS initiative delivering over 5,000 SushiDogs to frontline NHS staff, and then we created a Roll-at-Home DIY kit for people wanting to enjoy the SushiDog experience at home. We're delighted now to be able to focus on growing the business, opening at Brewer Street on 10 May, and then our fourth store in Bishopsgate in the summer. What inspired the company’s expansion? Both Nick and I live and breathe SushiDog. We spend a lot of our time in the stores speaking to and serving customers, which means we can see just how much people love the product and the whole experience. What's incredible is being able to see the wide range of people we appeal to, from five-year-old kids to our regular local office workers. From seeing how popular it has become, we really want to open in new areas where we're currently less well-known so that we can show more people that convenient grab and go sushi doesn't need to sit in the fridge all day, gradually deteriorating, but it can be quick, fresh and made to order, exactly how people want it. What inspired the partnership with Ai No Mochi? We've known the guys from Ai No Mochi since we started. Their product is incredible and they're a small business like us. There's something great about small businesses working together, leveraging value from each other whilst both simultaneously succeeding. There are obviously more well-known offerings on the market but, wherever possible, we prefer to partner with smaller businesses like Ai No Mochi, who hand craft their mochi and they are absolutely delicious. How will this partnership benefit the new site on Brewer Street? The partnership will really benefit Brewer Street in the same way as it benefits our other locations; it gives our customers the option to have something sweet after their SushiDog without having to commit to a full size dessert. What can customers expect from this new site, as well as the upcoming Bishopsgate site, and what will be different? We've got some incredible new products like our yakitori pulled chicken and roasted red pepper options as well as the usual fan favourites, such as SushiDog's Signature Salmon and our Teriyaki Chicken Katsu. Our new stores will feature digital menu screens and will generally benefit from the learnings we've developed from our first two stores. Customers can also expect some exciting new collaborations we have planned at both new sites which we're very excited to announce. How will the new sites build on SushiDog’s partnership with Teenage Cancer Trust, and how does the partnership/donations work? The new sites will allow us to really expand on our existing partnership with Teenage Cancer Trust. We have created a special Teenage Cancer Trust Roll which we sell in store and online, with 50p for every roll being donated to TCT. We also allow customers to add £1 onto their payment at checkout if they wish to do so, which also goes directly to TCT. Does SushiDog have plans to expand outside of London? For now our focus is fully on London. We have plans to open several units throughout the capital, however our longer term vision is to expand both nationally and internationally. There are several countries in which we can see SushiDog flourishing, which is a very exciting prospect. What is next for SushiDog? SushiDog Soho opens 10 May, and SushiDog Bishopsgate is set to follow sometime in June. We're then planning on opening a further four locations within the next year. We have huge plans for the future and we can't wait to roll them out.