Strategies, Secrets & Sea Urchin: One Food Tour Company’s Recipe to Rapid Growth

What’s the secret behind Secret Food Tours — one of the fastest-growing culinary experience brands in the world? Co-founders Oliver Mernick-Levene and Nico Jacquart join The Best Part of Travel co-hosts Janelle Visser and Stephen Joyce to share how they scaled from one city to over 100, all while keeping each experience personal, local, and delicious.

They open up about building their own tech, staying cautious about AI, and their two-pronged approach of organic growth and acquisition. Plus: their favorite food stories (yes, that's where the sea urchin comes in), and the secret to getting 50,000 five-star reviews.

🎧 Listen/watch for:

• 🍴 The origin story — from a London pub to a global food tour brand
• 🌍 How they plan to launch 30+ new cities every year
• 🤖 Data, AI, and the limits of automation in experiential travel
• 🫶 Keeping the personal, local flavor while going global
• 💬 Their secret to collecting thousands of five-star reviews
• 👥 How co-founders balance each other in growth and decision-making
• 🥧 Why culinary tourism’s “pie” is getting bigger for everyone

See also:

👉Arival research on the fastest-growing experiences categories (including food tours!)

👉What to Expect When You're Expecting... to Buy or Sell

👉Secret Food Tours has an Appetite for Acquisitions

👉Try Haggis for yourself with Secret Food Tours Edinburgh

The Best Part of Travel podcast is brought to you by Arival. Season Two is sponsored by Protect Group.