I have turned my passion for potatoes into a profession and have Tom Walker as a customer
TIKTOK fans have a growing new obsession: with the humble pudding.
The hashtag #potato has racked up 750,000 posts on TikTok, as hordes of carb lovers around the world flock to city center food vans day and night.
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Some even travel across countries, lining up for the versatile root vegetables snaking around the block.
A couple flew 6,000 miles from Malaysia and then rented a car at Gatwick airport to solve their problem.
In the US, spud fans are even making their own baked beans in an attempt to recreate the Brits’ favorite cheese and bean topping, because you can’t buy Heinz beans in the States.
Ben Newman, known as The Spudman, is an unlikely icon.
He joined TikTok to keep an eye on what his kids were watching and started posting videos about making a potato.
He now has 2.8 million followers. Tamworth seller Staffs once claims to have sold 1,500 jacket potatoes in one day.
But close behind is mother-of-three Lauren Jones from Barnsley, South Yorks.
Known as Tatie Lady, she has turned her teenage obsession with spuds into a thriving business.
Lauren started her business in November, operating from a Wickes car park just outside the city centre.
Despite only being open on Saturdays, she now moves over 400 steaming hot spuds in four hours.
Lauren and husband Ryan, 39, are struggling to meet demand, selling out by 2pm as hungry customers queue for up to two hours.
The success we have had has been phenomenal. We can’t believe it
Laurens
“The success we have had has been phenomenal. We can’t believe it,” she says.
“I have 6,000 followers on Facebook, but things have gone crazy on TikTok. I joined three weeks ago and have 11,000 followers.
‘We’re attracting attention far and wide with one chap saying he didn’t like his wife being dragged out of London to try one of ours, to see if we could change our minds.
‘He said it was the best meal he had ever eaten.
“The Spudman has really helped our business by joining us on TikTok and we even had singer Tom Walker visit.”
Lauren, 37, decided to open a spud trailer after Ryan had to stop working as a bricklayer due to a bad back.
“There was a Tatie Man in town who sold potatoes for The Baked Potato Company for 40 years, but after Covid he never came back,” she says.
“I remember eating jacket potatoes there at the time.
“When I was a teenager and worked in the city, I had two to three a week.
“The people of Barnsley, including myself, were devastated when it happened, so we thought it was a good idea to open again – but this time with me, the Tatie Lady.
“We bought the company, including the trailer and old ovens.
I think the potato fascination is crazy
“And the original owner Des, now 72, has come on board to show us the tricks of the trade.”
But according to Lauren – who is a personal assistant at Premier League club Sheffield United during the week – baking the perfect pudding is not easy.
“They take a long time to get perfect and if you make them too far in advance they lose their crispy skin,” says Lauren, whose favorite topping is cheese and beans with herb butter, crispy onions and chilli sauce.
“Everyone is happy to have us back and we are so proud to be part of the history from Barnsley.
“I think the potato fascination is crazy. I only made one video and it went crazy.
“I couldn’t have timed the launch of my company and the potato craze better, but I’m here on the wave and loving it. And who doesn’t love jacket potatoes?”
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