Wisborough Green 13-year-old sets up own sushi business during lockdown

Brooke Meurer has delivered boxes of the traditional Japanese dish to 49 customers over the last two months – and made 56 boxes in two days on her busiest weekend.

She said: “I started off making sushi for my family, then my grandmother recommended I start it as a little business.

“I needed to raise money for a computer for my new school, so we thought it would be a good idea.”

Every Saturday and Sunday she gets to work in the 
kitchen, waking up at 6am to have the sushi ready by midday for her customers to enjoy for lunch.

With Radio 1 and the TV on in the background, she carefully puts together the sushi pieces, which she said took ‘quite a lot time’ to arrange.

Luckily she can call on her mum for assistance when things get really busy.

The sushi has had a warm response from family and friends, who have had their boxes delivered to their doorsteps by Brooke’s dad.

“I’ve had some really good feedback, they said they really liked it,” Brooke said.

The fish is all sourced from Cranleigh Fish, a family-run business on Cranleigh High Street, which she said had been ‘amazing and so supportive’, supplying fresh sashimi grade salmon and tuna at a ten per cent discount.

Brooke has now raised enough money to buy a computer to take with her when she starts at Wellington College.

She has also donated £170 to the Marine Conservation Society.

The teen first developed a taste for sushi after trying it for the first time at school and has been making it herself for around a year after receiving a sushi-making kit for Christmas

“It’s really healthy and it’s really nice,” she said, adding that her favourite type was the salmon, avocado and cream cheese california roll.

Brooke is planning on continuing the business for two more weeks before stopping to focus on her school work – but hopes to revive it once more during the summer holidays.