BiB: A new future for looky looky men in Ibiza

Aim

Looky looky Ltd. is raising funds to carry out phase one of the proof of concept for a new restaurant format called "Bes i Beset".

Everybody knows the ever-smiling African "looky looky men" who sell counterfeit sunglasses and souvenirs on the beaches of Southern Europe's favourite tourist destinations. Most people hardly ever buy from them - but most people also hardly think about their stories and fates. Looky looky ltd was started 9 months ago with the vision of enabling multicultural inclusion and fair economic opportunity by connecting people from all spheres of life through fun culinary experience, with the aim to support the looky looky men of Ibiza.

Ibiza has more than 700 Senegalese migrants, out of which the majority has been in Spain for a minimum of 3 years; 90% have a residential permit. However, all of them end up selling sunglasses as “looky looky men” on the beach because they cannot find formal employment, making only 5-10 USD a day and living a life without perspective. While working as beach sellers, they get exposed to racism frequently and encounter legal issues with policy due to the sale of counterfeit products. It is mostly hard to find formal employment for them since a work permit can only be granted to them if an employer offers them a 1-year contract - but certainly, cultural bias and the generally high unemployment rate in Spain also play a role. 

Looky looky Ltd is a social enterprise aiming at improving the opportunities of looky looky men through our innovative restaurant “Bes I Beset” (Bes and Beset were the African Gods who are thought to have created Ibiza). During winter, we select and train Senegalese migrants as waiters and sous-chefs, alongside Spanish unemployed youth who need a job opportunity to build a multicultural team of Spanish and African staff. In the summer, our teams create an unforgettable restaurant experience in Ibiza that allows visitors to taste African-infused tapas and cocktails.

Over the past 9 months, our team of eight people has worked tirelessly on building out the idea behind BiB - and now we need your help! This summer, we are going to launch the pilot of BiB, which will consist of a food van selling African-infused tapas and 20 pop-up dinners at an exclusive beach location in Ibiza. We have already secured one of the leading African fusion chefs as our partner for the pilot, alongside the local association of looky looky men of the region to support the recruiting process. If the pilot goes well, we aim to open up a full restaurant structure in 2019. 

The crowdfunded funds will be used to finance the first phase of the pilot project, which will encompass: 

- Finalization of location selection in Ibiza
- First phase of trainee recruiting in Ibiza
- Development of marketing partnerships for the restaurant
- Hiring of full-time staff in Ibiza
- Sourcing of food ingredients for recipe development

Our minimum fundraising goal is 6,500 GBP. For questions, please contact [email protected]. Thank you so much in advance for your support!

This project successfully funded on 31st May 2018