Inside the London cereal cafe that was attacked by an angry mob
The cafe stocks 120 colourful boxes of breakfast, from classics like Cornflakes and Coco Pops, to American favourites such as Lucky Charms.
Cereal Killer Cafe, in Shoreditch, London, is the idea of Gary and Alan Keery, twins from Belfast. Alan is pictured below pouring cereal. The pair crowdfunded the money to start the cafe.
Gary told Business Insider: "We've created a whole experience. It's not just about breakfast, but a brand, really. The interest in it all has been amazing — much more than we expected. We don't want to create a cereal empire, but we do think there might be options to grow. Places like Brighton or Bristol would probably work."
A small bowl of cereal (30g) costs £2.50 and a large one (50g) £3.50 — toppings are an extra 20p but milk is included.
The interior of the cafe is decorated with vintage cereal paraphernalia, retro milk bottles and pictures of Tony the Tiger. The menu features American and British products, a few options from further afield, as well as "cereal cocktails" and Poptarts.
The cafe stocks 20 different toppings and a crazy 30 varieties of milk.
The cafe has proved popular since launching last December. Lines to get in are not unusual.
In the week the cafe opened Channel 4 news questioned the founders on whether serving £3 bowls of cereal in one of London's poorest areas, Tower Hamlets, was excluding to the local community.
Gary Keery hit back in a Facebook post complaining about the coverage, saying: "I am a small business owner and am gambling everything I have in this business and you try to make a mockery out of me."
And on Saturday hundreds of protesters attacked a Cereal Killer Cafe in east London, daubing the word “scum” on the shop window and setting fire to an effigy of a police officer.
One protester who was at the demonstration told the Guardian the Cereal Killer Cafe was targeted as a “symbol of gentrification.”
Gary Keery told the Guardian: “It’s senseless violence, isn’t it? We’ve had some letters through the letterbox saying ‘die hipsters’ and stuff but nothing to this extreme. It just doesn’t make sense.”
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