Ilford man declared Mercato Metropolitano (MM) winner, securing a rent-free pitch at new site
Published: 14 July 2023
London-based sustainable food market, Mercato Metropolitano (MM), has announced the first trading partner that will be setting up shop at its brand-new Ilford sustainable community food market – and it will be their home completely free of charge for the first three months, as part of MM’s dream initiative.
Community building lies at the heart of Mercato Ilford. All residents and visitors will access good and nutritious food from small artisans and independent food businesses–bringing local farmers and producers closer to the local community
Arjun Manikandan, age 26 from Ilford, has been crowned MM’s official ‘dreaMMer’ and winner of the dreaMM initiative, securing a three-month, rent-free tenure for his business ‘The Malayali Project,’ in MM’s newest community market in Ilford.
Inspired by the vibrant culinary culture of Kerala, India, The Malayali Project aims to bring the diverse and delicious flavours of authentic Kerala cuisine to Mercato Metropolitano. The inspiration is taken from the aromatic kitchen of Kerala and the love of Arjun’s own mother’s practice in their family kitchen – which he will now be showcasing in the MM marketplace.
As part of the prize, MM will also provide Arjun and his team with access to free 1-2-1 consultations to help create a successful and long-lasting business plan, support in sourcing sustainable, local ingredients, and all-important branding and marketing advice, plus much more.
Mercato Metropolitano launched the dreaMM campaign back in April this year with the aim to help ease the strain of the current cost-of-living crisis and help one local citizen to take the first step towards turning their ‘dreaMM’ business idea into reality by joining the movement. The movement symbolises everything that MM stands for; bringing people together through community engagement and helping to provide good, nutritious and affordable food for all.
Commenting on his win at the ceremony, Arjun Manikandan said: “It was a surreal moment finding out that we won the dream campaign. We felt like a minority in the top 10 finalists because they’re all amazing, so to know that we are the winners is a really amazing feeling for me.
“Being from Ilford myself, it really means a lot to me that this campaign started there, and we will be able to be based in the new Ilford sustainable food market and bring our authentic Kerala cuisine there. People don’t really know about Kerala and its culinary values. Kerala is known as ‘God’s own country’ because of the natural beauty and culture of Kerala in south India. It’s a beautiful place for a holiday, and hopefully, people can experience a Kerala holiday through our food at The Malayali Project.”
“Having never run a business before, we don’t know what to expect, but we know that the MM team will be supporting us all the way, and that gives me the confidence to say, ‘Okay, let’s do this!”
The Leader of Redbridge Council, Cllr Jas Athwal, added: “Bringing Mercato to Ilford is part of our wider work to transform our town centre, offering delicious food and drink to hungry visitors and boosting our local economy. I’m so pleased for Arjun and his fantastic business, The Malayali Project, to win three months of free trading at our Ilford Mercato market. Arjun’s story of being inspired by his mother’s home cooking was incredibly moving, and I’m looking forward to visiting his stall at Ilford MM soon.”
Andrea Rasca, Mercato Metropolitano’s CEO and Chief Leader of the MMovement, commented: “It has been such a joy to launch our dreaMM campaign and to see so many enthusiastic dreaMMers share their dreams with us. Our panellists, including myself, were blown away by Arjun’s passion to bring authentic Kerala cuisine to our markets, and after achieving a perfect score, we knew we had to name him our winner. We can’t wait to see what he cooks up in our new sustainable community market in Ilford when it opens.
“I’d like to say a huge thank you to everyone who was involved in bringing the dream campaign to life. This initiative has been a real passion product that reflects MM’s dedication to building a community around good, nutritious food that’s accessible to all.
“It was a pleasure to get to know all of our inspiring finalists throughout the dream process, and one way or another, we will make sure that every single one of our finalists will be involved in the new Ilford market and join our movement.”
Find out more information on the dreaMM campaign and the new MM Ilford site.
