Popular Manchester pop-up makes 'frustrating' statement after cancelling events

A popular supper club and pop-up in Greater Manchester has issued a ‘frustrating’ statement after being forced to cancel a number of events.

The Little Sri Lankan has been serving authentic Sri Lankan cuisine since launching in Levenshulme in 2020 as a delivery service. In 2022, they began to focus on pop-ups, supper clubs and private events.

Led by Malanie Tillekeratne and her partner Michael Hooper, the pair have been nominated for Trader of the Year at the Manchester Food and Drink Festival Awards for the last two years in a row.

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In recent months, the pair have hosted supper clubs at a number of venues across Greater Manchester including Reddish Ale, Kampus and A Bloc. But, in a post on Instagram this week, they revealed they had been forced to cancel a number of other events this year.

In the post, the pair said: “We just wanted to apologise for any inconvenience we have caused regarding us cancelling supper clubs and pop ups! It's really frustrating, disappointing, disheartening when we do this as we try so hard with our business and for us cancelling events, it's really upsetting.”

Adding more context to the situation, the owners of The Little Sri Lankan explained how their supper clubs needed to have a minimum of ten people in order to be ‘financially viable’. If they do not reach the target, they have to be cancelled.

“This year has been bad for cancellations, we have also had low sales and turn out on pop-ups,” they explained. “We honestly think the cost of living, having to rely on Instagram and Facebook (sometimes we only get 20 people viewing our content) isn’t helping the situation.

“Not only is this frustrating this is happening to us but it's also really disheartening as it feels like set back after set back, we both are managing to do this while trying to do agency as our main income.”

In a plea for people to turn up to their events, the pair continued: “We are hoping next year will improve, so please support small businesses where you can, we don't have the exposure compared to larger businesses or the marketing budget!”

Speaking to the Manchester Evening News in 2022, Malanie, who previously worked at Scott’s in Mayfair, explained how the food venture had been created as a way for her to honour the recipes passed through her family - including from her mum Marion.

Joined with fellow chef Michael, they both used it as an opportunity to showcase the wealth of Sri Lankan flavours - often also featuring flickers of Portuguese, Dutch and British cuisine - with popular dishes including fried pork belly curry, a parippu dhal, and a 'soaring' coconut and kitul jaggery baked watalappan custard.

Responding to their latest Instagram post, many of The Little Sri Lankan’s regular customers, alongside local and similar businesses, urged the pair to continue doing what they do so well.

North Devon-based supper club SORU said: "We feel you. Every day is a struggle with promoting the events! Coming up with every possible way of putting out content but still not able to reach people. Hope things get better next year.”

Indian street food venture Chiit Chaat said: "It’s incredibly tough, but hope you guys are able to smash in 2025. Everyone, please support small businesses, your support is an absolute lifeline.”

You can follow The Little Sri Lankan on Instagram here.