Company was founded in 2010 by husband and wife business partners Peter and Elaine Kinsella and is now looking for a warehouse as it pushes to take its deli offering across the UK. Tony McDonough reports
Liverpool-based Spanish restaurant and deli business Lunya is looking to expand again with ambitions to open a warehouse to cope with increased demand.
The company was founded in 2010 by husband and wife business partners Peter and Elaine Kinsella when they opened their now popular restaurant and deli in Liverpool One.
Lovers of Spain and Spanish cuisine, it was the realisation of a long-held dream for the couple.
In 2015 they opened a second outlet in Manchester’s Deansgate and are also selling to customers online.
Lunya imports more than 1,300 products from over 50 carefully-selected suppliers in Spain and now claims to be the largest Spanish online deli in the UK. It employs 92 people.
Now it is looking to expand its deli range further and is seeking warehouse space. It is also considering new sites for restaurants.
The warehouse will also have a kitchen to produce a wider range of baked goods, food to go, salads and dips for the delis, to capture the growing demand for this type of product.
Peter explained: “We initially personally selected more than 50 suppliers across Spain after bi-monthly trips to make sure we had a true full service continental deli, the likes of which had rarely been seen in the UK before.
“To give us greater control of supply and manage the increased cost pressures from low exchange rates, we are aiming for 75% of all our Spanish products to be directly imported.
“Investment in a warehouse and further increasing the volume of Spanish products with our expansion, will enable us to negotiate better prices with producers and suppliers.
“Already, we have seen the benefit of that with reduced prices in our restaurant menu. It will also enable a similar price reduction on our deli range too, as soon as our warehouse is operational.”