The founders of London’s popular Cereal killer café have announced that they will be permanently shutting down their two venues due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The hipster cafe, which is famed for serving bowls of classic American cereals that cost up to £7.90, has become a popular location for those looking to indulge in bowls of breakfast within the confines of a 90s themed setting.
However twin brothers Alan and Gary Keery, co-founders of the cafe, have now confirmed that they will be saying closing their two establishments in Brick Lane, Shoreditch, and Camden, after the Covid-19 crisis rendered their business ‘not financially viable’.
In a statement on Facebook the brothers said: ‘After 5.5 years we will be saying Cheerio to our Cafes, for now.
Co-founders of London’s Cereal killer café, Alan and Gary Keery (pictured), have announced that they will be shutting down their two venues in Brick Lane, Shoreditch, and Camden
The brothers opened their first Cereal killer café in Brick Lane (pictured is the interior of the cafe in Brick Lane), Shoreditch, in 2014
‘After a long period of closure due to Coronavirus, and with the future of the hospitality industry looking very uncertain, we have made a decision that our Cafes on Brick Lane and Camden will not reopen their doors.
But it’s not all bad news, you can still buy all the awesome unique and hard to find Cereal we are famous for on our website. Cereal Killer will carry on as an online store selling the world’s best boxes of Cereal, we also have loads of toppings and a Cereal subscription box for the cereal super fan.’
The brothers, who opened their first Cereal killer cafe in Brick Lane, Shoreditch, in 2014, went on to say that they would continue to sell their cereal on their website.
They continued: ‘This is not Cheerio forever, we have goals of seeing our Café open again, but due to the current climate it won’t be financially viable for us to run our Cafes.
‘Fast forward a year or 2 and we hope to re-open our door, but until then we will be putting our efforts into growing our online store, creating our own line of products and delivering awesome cereal.
‘Over the last 5.5 years, we have sold over 1 million bowls of cereal and made a lot of people smile with our 90s themed cafes and cereal themed menu.
‘We have released a cookbook, been in countless press, and TV shows, inspired a musical, and instigated a riot! We couldn’t have done any of this without the support of all you amazing cereal fans, so thank you all for letting us live our dreams!
‘And to your cafes, we will see you spoon.’
The co-founders of the hipster venues went on to share their hopes of reopening in the future
The brothers opened a second branch in Camden (pictured) in 2015 as business continued to bloom
In a statement on Facebook the cafe’s owners said that after more than five years they had decided to close due to the coronavirus pandemic
After opening their very first store, the brothers opened a second branch in Camden a year later.
They have also launched international stores in Doha, Kuwait and Dubai.
When they first opened, the café was challenged for selling basic bowls of cereal for £3.20 just a stones throw away from the borough of Tower of Hamlets- one of London’s poorest areas.
Meanwhile other bowls, which included extras like marshmallows, were selling for as much as £7.90.
In an interview on Channel 4 in 2014, co-founder Gary Keery was asked by a reporter on the news channel whether he thought it was a lot to charge for a bowl.
The restaurateur seems surprised by the question, responding: ‘I think it is quite cheap for the area’.
When challenged by the interviewer, who pointed out that the cafe was in one of the poorest parts of London , Mr Keery justified the extraordinary cost, explaining that many of the brands were ‘imported from America’.
In 2015, the cafe was vandalised by members of an anti-gentrification protest – because of its position in one of London’s poorest boroughs.
Just a few years later in 2018, the cafe fell foul of hygiene inspectors who said a ‘major improvement’ was needed to improve the establishment’s one star health and safety rating.
Inspectors looking into restaurants and cafes in Tower Hamlets said the cafe had to take action to ‘ensure food sold or served is safe to eat’ after it gave it a very low one on the ‘scores on the doors’ system.
Speaking about the rating at the time Alan Keery said the cafés score had been due to a leaky kitchen roof.
He told The Docklands and East London Advertiser: ‘We had the rating when we relocated to our new Brick Lane site, and due to a leak when the premises was vacant, it caused the kitchen ceiling to crack. This was resolved and we are waiting on a new inspection.’