'We're just two lads from Preston' - SpudBros address criticism over Ramadan support and halal meat
SpudBros said they have been ‘overwhelmed’ by support from the Preston community, after changing their opening hours throughout Ramadan
The viral potato experts have received online criticism in recent days, due to staying open til 11pm for Iftar, offering water and dates to those breaking their fast, and serving halal meat - despite being halal for more than two years.
The controversy saw the Preston-based business receive a raft of one-star reviews appear on Google, as well a host of new five-star reviews - both of which have since been removed.
Addressing the backlash in a statement on Facebook, the pair said: “During Ramadan a lot of our customers are fasting during the day, which means they can only eat at certain times. Because of that we actually lose a lot of daytime trade, and that’s why we open later so people can come in once they’re able to eat.
“The dates and water we handed out were also given to us, we didn’t go out and buy them as some sort of campaign, we simply passed them on to customers who were breaking their fast.
“We try to do things throughout the year for the community too. At Easter we give out Easter eggs, at Christmas we give out gifts and donate ingredients to the food bank so people who might be struggling can still come in and eat a spud.
“At the end of the day we’re a potato shop that just tries to do nice things for people when we can. Nothing more complicated than that.”
SpudBros told Lancashire Post: “Over the last few days we’ve been overwhelmed by the support from the Preston community. One of our recent posts online ended up reaching over 4 million people, and while there were some negative comments, the response from our customers and the wider community has been incredibly positive.
“Someone from the community even donated £250 so we could give out free meals, which honestly blew us away. As a thank you we’ve decided to match it, so we’ll now be giving out 90 free spuds to customers this Tuesday.
“At the end of the day we’re just two lads from Preston trying to build a business, look after our team and do good things for the community whenever we can.
“Our focus has always been simple: serve great food, look after our customers and continue building a business we’re proud of.
“Seeing the support from the community over the last few days has meant a lot to us and to the team here.”