It follows the culmination of the latest Streets Ahead pitch day where seven participants (pictured) presented their culinary concept along with a hero dish to a judging panel of representatives from McCain and KERB+ in hopes of securing up to £10,000 in investment.
Launched in June 2022, the Streets Ahead initiative was born out of a partnership between McCain FS and street food membership organisation KERB with an aim to provide individuals from less-advantaged backgrounds with the opportunity to bring their dreams of becoming a street food entrepreneur to life.
Across its first two pitch days, the first held in June 2023 and the second in February 2024, a total of 19 start-up street food business secured investment, reflecting an investment of £146,000 by McCain FS.
Many of those businesses have subsequently gone on to secure weekly spots at KERB’s various lunchtime markets across London. They include Syrian-inspired concept Utopia, and palav specialist Samarkand Palav.
At the latest pitch day, which was held at Mission Kitchen in London last month, the judging panel decided all participants deserved a level of investment, reflecting an additional £58,000 in funding McCain FS, bringing its total investment in the programme so far to £204,000.
Four participants secured the maximum investment of £10,000. They included Corn & Crunch, which specialises in corndogs and spiral potatoes; Syrian concept Omama’s Kitchen; Jamaican brand Yardish; and the Turkish-focused Jasmin’s Kitchen.
The remaining three participants each received between £4,000 and £8,000 depending on the individual needs of their business.
Each winning participant invested in by McCain FS will go on to have further coaching with KERB+ to ensure they invest wisely and have the support to move them successfully into the world of street food.
For more information on McCain Streets Ahead campaign, click here.