A young entrepreneur from Sidmouth has made the most out a bad situation, starting his own business, making and delivering South-East Asian street food to the town’s residents.
Jack Dicks, who now lives on Salcombe Hill and grew up in Sidmouth, was working in South-East Asia teaching outdoor education in the rainforests.
But, during the pandemic, the 24-year-old was unexpectedly put out of work.
Speaking to the Herald, Jack said: “This is where my new business idea came from – taking the amazing food I was eating back home to the UK street food market.
“Coupled with a love of cooking and inventing recipes, I decided to start a small street food company called Bali Rice co.”
Jack launched his business, which features a lot on Indonesian flavours, with just one dish – the Bali Box.
Jack said: “The box is packed full of lots of dishes and colour. The main part is my own recipe based on the Indonesian staple called nasi goreng (fried rice).
“You then get interesting sides such as Korean barbecue, tofu and a fresh mango and pineapple salad which adds a nice acidic kick.
“I am also doing Vietnamese fried spring rolls with homemade sauces like satay and sweet chili.
“I really wanted to focus on colour. Lots of (natural) colours usually means lots of different vitamins and a high nutritional value. It also looks amazing.
“I really wanted to bring my passion and love for cooking and I hope people can taste all the hard work that goes into it. I even make my own vegan fish sauce with Sidmouth seaweed.”
Jack, said the idea is to eventually trade at festivals and food markets.
He added: “I am loving treating the people of Sidmouth to something new and exciting.
“It has turned out to be a total blessing and I have learnt so much and really developed my product and business.
“I have some amazing reviews on Instagram, Google, Facebook and Tripadvisor with people saying it’s the best takeaway they’ve ever had, someone said ‘It’s a riot of flavour’.”
Jack trades every Friday and Saturday evening, serving Sidmouth, Newton Poppleford and Sidbury.
Visit facebook.com/Baliriceco for more information.
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