Known for its great coffee, tasty food, sustainable approach to business and its cheeky daily “Hey Frame” quotes, The Deli on Oxted’s Station Road East has become a mainstay of the high street scene in Oxted, despite actually being a relative newcomer to the town.
The Deli, owned by Matt Hagan and Lauren Loudon, first launched in January 2020.
Matt was a blow-in from South Africa, looking for something different after a career in Finance, while Lauren, originally a Lancashire lass, had spent her career working as a chef on super yachts. They met by chance through mutual friends and bonded over their love of coffee, food and hopes of opening a cafe one day.
Lauren was looking for somewhere to call home in England, and after a visit to stay with Matt, decided Oxted could be the place. The pair (#notacouple) then set up The Deli, with Lauren sharing her time between The Deli and sailing the high seas, until Covid hit, when she made the decision to quite the nautical life and settle on dry land full time.
Despite having to close The Deli over lockdown, Matt and Lauren made the most of the time, refurbishing the cafe and reopening in June for takeaways. Over the following year, and several other shorter lockdowns, they created a great outdoor space on the site of their walk-in fridge to enable al fresco seating.
They continue to develop their offering and host lots of very popular events on site, as well as doing off-site catering.
Find them at 85 Station Road East, Oxted, next to Adam James hairdresser and opposite Robert Leech.
Their approach to sustainability and recycling
Matt and Lauren use the Deli’s waste coffee grounds in their own gardens and happily bag them up for anyone who wants to have some. Just pop in and ask.
Their main focus is to be as close to Zero Waste as possible, and make a concerted effort to ensure that all their food is used up creatively, and that they produce as little recycling as they can.
“While we do have a recycling bin,” says Matt, “aside from our milk cartons we don’t really produce any plastic waste, because we try to avoid the use of plastics as far as possible. All our takeaway stuff is either biodegradable or paper/cardboard.”
They also try to encourage people to bring in their own cups and sell reusable cups by local entrepreneurs, Cupple.
The Deli also sells a range of other sustainable and eco-friendly products, such as Dr Bronner’s soaps and cleaning products, @beanberrycoffee and local honey from Southlands, Tandridge.
