The Staffordshire baked potato vendor with two-hour long queues thanks to TikTok fame
A jacket potato vendor has taken social media by storm.
Spud Man, @spudarmy on TikTok, even has customers travelling across the world to have a baked potato – and a chance to feature in one of his videos to his 2.1 million followers.
Ben Newman, the man behind the spud, has been serving up good, hearty jacket potatoes to Tamworth locals and people from all over the world who have watched the videos he makes from his humble food van in the town centre.
Some shoppers have reported seeing a queue hundreds of people long and a two-hour wait – by which time one would likely be so ravenous that they feel dizzy and they'd ask for double their original order with chilli, tuna, beans and cheese on each one.
With about a million views on each video – and a huge 41 million likes in total – it's no surprise that everyone wants a piece of the potato – Ben now serves up about 1,500 spuds a day.
In one of his latest clips, Ben – who is easily recognised by his pink mohawk – served a couple from Malaysia who had never tried a baked potato before, and came all the way to Tamworth just to meet Ben. The first thing they did on their week-long trip was visit his food van and get served four potatoes on the house.
More recently, Ben documented a day where he handed out free potatoes morning 'til night, speaking to his happy customers while they waited in line.
Although he has seen some negative comments – the most common being that his 'fame won't last' – Ben said he is 'riding the wave' and enjoying his time in the limelight, but agrees that "what goes up, must eventually come down".
Spud Man merchandise is also being sold through a link on the TikTok page in the form of keyrings, tote bags, aprons and clothing.
