What Farmer J’s $23M Raise And US Expansion Signals For Fast-Casual

Inside Farmer J's latest raise and US expansion plansFarmer JFarmer J began, as many food businesses do, with a problem its founder experienced daily. Working long hours in structured credit at Deutsche Bank, Jonathan Recanati spent much of his week eating at his desk. “I worked very long hours at Deutsche Bank, and often ate three meals a day at my desk,” he says. The options were reliable but repetitive: Pret, Leon, Pod, and Itsu on rotation, offering convenience but little sense of craft or curiosity. What was missing, he felt, was food that could be eaten quickly but still cooked properly.The idea for Farmer J was simple in theory and demanding in practice: fast food built around scratch cooking, generous portions, and ingredients with provenance, served at a pace that suited City life. To make it happen, Recanati and his wife Ali raised £850,000 [$1.14 million] from friends and family – enough to take the concept from paper to plate. The first restaurant opened in 2016 on Leadenhall Street, down the road from his old London Wall office, placing it directly in the path of the very workers he once counted himself among.The response was immediate. Farmer J turned over £1 million [$1.3 million] in its first year, driven by lunchtime queues for Fieldtrays and Fieldbowls that combined grilled mains with seasonal sides. From the outset, sourcing mattered. Lettuce came from a family-run farm in Kent; heritage tomatoes were supplied by The Tomato Stall on the Isle of Wight, prized for their flavour after long hours of sunshine; squash for the mac and cheese was sourced from Bedlam Farms, known for organic vegetables not typically used at scale in UK fast-casual kitchens. Even the Green Dukkah Slaw became a signature, setting a tone that Farmer J offered something genuinely different.MORE FOR YOUAli and Jonathan Recanati, founder of Farmer JFarmer JOver the next decade, Farmer J expanded steadily across London, building a customer base that returned out of habit rather than novelty. Today, the business operates 17 UK sites, with more opening in the year to come, and has delivered the kind of performance metrics that are rare in the fast-casual category. Sales increased by more than 55% in the year ending December 2024, with a similar rise expected in 2025, while company EBITDA more than doubled over the same period.That combination of growth and profitability is what underpinned a £17.5 million [$23 million] funding round, which closed this summer. Led by a new strategic investor with a global track record in hospitality, and supported by existing investor Beringea, the raise is designed to support both continued UK growth and Farmer J’s first move beyond Britain.“Over the past few years, we’ve proven that our model works with consistent growth, strong profitability, and a loyal following in London,” says Recanati. “We’ve built a scalable operational platform and, most importantly, a culture that delivers great food with genuine hospitality at speed.” In his view, the decision to expand internationally came only once those foundations were secure, and the choice of investor mattered as much as the capital itself. “There were opportunities for us to move faster, or to take capital from investors who didn’t fully align with our values,” he says. “We said no to anything that risked our brand or culture.” Of course, that discipline now faces its biggest test. Farmer J’s first international restaurant will open in the next month on 52nd Street in Midtown Manhattan, a 2,700-square-foot site positioned among office workers and a strong local community. Ambitious, sure, but for Recanati, New York was the obvious place to begin. “New York felt like the natural first step as it’s the global capital of food, culture, and energy,” he explains. “The way people eat in New York aligns perfectly with what Farmer J stands for: fast, fresh and quality-driven.”The Farmer J fieldtray buildFarmer JThe U.S. fast-casual market is crowded, but Recanati is clear about what sets Farmer J apart. “We’re not trying to be another salad brand,” he says. The emphasis is on food that feels generous and grounded rather than instructional. Customers, he notes, can “smell the grill, see the kitchen, and talk to the team serving you.” Internally, this approach is referred to as the “Farmer J Magic”: a focus on warmth, visibility, and hospitality in a segment increasingly shaped by automation.Operationally, the business has spent recent years tightening systems to support that experience. Recanati credits the EBITDA growth to “controlling waste, optimising labour, improving menu engineering, and tightening operations across the board,” but is quick to add that the biggest driver has been investment in people. “We’ve invested in people, training, development, and accountability,” he says. “When teams are motivated and proud of what they do, performance follows.”That thinking shapes the U.S. rollout strategy, too. Rather than pursue rapid expansion, Farmer J plans to focus on getting New York right before moving further afield. “The plan is to learn, refine, and adapt,” Recanati says. Expansion beyond the city will depend on strong unit economics and consistent customer satisfaction, with an East Coast rollout planned before any move West.“We’re not changing who we are, but we are listening to the local market,” he says. The core offer – scratch cooking, bold flavours, seasonal ingredients – will remain intact, with adjustments made to sauces and sides for local taste. The tone, he adds, will stay “friendly, confident, and a bit cheeky,” blending “London attitude” with “New York energy.”Farmer J: From London to New YorkFarmer JLooking back to the early days, the scale of the business has changed dramatically, but the motivation has not. “Back then, it was all hands-on-deck,” he says of the Leadenhall opening. “Today, it’s about leading a team of incredible people who are better than me at what they do.” If Recanati could offer advice to his 2014 self, it would be straightforward. “Stay patient,” he says. “Growth takes time – culture, brand, and operations all compound slowly. Don’t rush the process, trust your instincts, and build the business the right way. And never compromise on food or people.”As Farmer J prepares to open in New York, it does so with a decade of operating discipline behind it and a funding round designed to support measured expansion rather than momentum for its own sake. Whether the model translates across the Atlantic remains to be seen, but the foundations – scratch cooking, clear economics, and a tightly held culture – suggest big opportunity, considering they’re the same that turned a City lunch frustration into a London institution.