UK
Appointed by Shift, a London-based social innovation charity, Think Hospitality was brought in to support the evolution of Box Chicken — a street food concept originally developed to provide healthier, affordable alternatives to traditional fried chicken outlets near schools. The initiative was supported by Guy's & St Thomas' Trust and developed across the London boroughs of Southwark and Lambeth.
Our brief was to help transition Box Chicken from a mobile street food truck into a bricks-and-mortar unit, taking a delivery-first, virtual brand approach to further develop the initiative and build a commercially sustainable model.
We repackaged and commercialised the Box Chicken proposition, improving partnerships with delivery platforms including Deliveroo and Just Eat to maximise reach and revenue. The focus was on creating a model that could operate profitably while maintaining the social mission at its core — making nutritious food accessible, affordable and appealing.
Beyond the Box Chicken operation itself, we then supported the further evolution of the programme, working with Shift to determine how the learnings could encourage other takeaway operators to improve their own offerings. This led to the Stealthy Healthy programme — a series of subtle, operator-friendly interventions designed to improve the nutritional quality of fast food menus without alienating customers or reducing profitability.
The work delivered a scalable model that extended far beyond a single outlet. Over 500 takeaways across London signed up to adapt their menus, applying the principles developed through the Box Chicken and Stealthy Healthy programmes — from menu repositioning and portion redesign through to the introduction of healthier alternatives.
The project demonstrated that meaningful public health outcomes could be achieved through commercial thinking and operator engagement, rather than top-down regulation — a model that has since informed broader conversations around food policy and community health in urban areas.
