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London food trucks: How American food trucks influenced a historic European street food scene (part 1)

The London street food scene is much older than America's, but one London visionary was motivated by some things she noticed in the U.S. street food scene to create private street food markets.

Photo courtesy of iStock.

May 31, 2017 by Elliot Maras — Editor, Kiosk Marketplace & Vending Times

Editor's note: This is part 1 of a series about how London and American street food brands are learning from each other. 

In London, the emergence of private marketplaces has helped professionalize "street food," which includes both food trucks and food tents, known as "gazebos." Given the fact that similar markets have emerged for food trucks in the U.S., a closer look at how private marketplaces impact the London street food scene in a positive way could shed insight on how the U.S. food trucks can be more successful.

According to The Independent, a London-based newspaper, the U.K.'s capital city is now leading Europe's rising street food movement. The growth of food trucks in recent years has pumped new blood into the city's multi-cultural street food scene and made it even more diverse.

Interviews with London food truck owners and gazebo operators indicate food trucks have made major headway in recent years. There is also reason to believe they have brought more organization to the characteristically informal venue, but in a way that continues to foster individuality, entrepreneurship and high quality food.

One change that observers point to since food trucks have entered the London fray has been an increase in the number of private marketplaces for both trucks and gazebos.

Londoners mimic Americans

London food truck owners are similar to their American counterparts in that they are entrepreneurs driven by their love for certain food.

Douglas Ritchie was a restaurant chef who launched Crabbieshack, a food truck specializing in shellfish dishes, four years ago. He has done well working at KERB markets, private marketplaces that have revolutionized the London street food scene, as described in part 1 of this two-part series..

"I didn't want to be constrained to one location, and I wanted to have my own business," he said.

Ritchie thinks a key to his success is the uniqueness of his product – shellfish dishes with seasonal produce. He gets fresh shellfish and produce daily at local markets.

In the four years he's been in business, Ritchie has witnessed continued growth in both food trucks and gazebos as the venues have become more popular, thanks in part to the visibility and organization that KERB markets provides.

"Most people (vendors) in London start with a gazebo, then they go to a truck," he said.

While the business has gotten more competitive, Ritchie said the sense of camaraderie remains strong among vendors.

"We all work together," he said. "There's no rivalry."

Like most of his colleagues, Ritchie's biggest challenge is finding good help and managing his cash flow.

KERB markets help get the word out about his truck. He also uses Twitter and Instagram.

A foundation for growth

Baba G's has expanded from one truck to two stationary locations and a second truck.

Like their American counterparts, some London food trucks migrate to the brick and mortar space.

Baba G's, which specializes in "Indian fusion," began seven years ago with a truck and has since opened two stationary locations in addition to a second truck.

"Lots of us have gone on to do more permanent sites," said Liz Selway, Baba G's co-owner.

Originally known as Bhangra burger, Baba G's parks daily at KERB's Camden market and at another London site called Pop Brixton.

Pop Brixton is similar to what's known as a business incubator in the U.S. It is a physical work space supported by a local government, in this case the Lambeth Council, that showcases 53 local businesses. The location also offers delivery services via motor bikes and bicycles.

Selway has noticed a recent development in the London street food scene: big shipping containers retrofitted with kitchens.

Growth continues

Nick Friedman, who operates a Jamon Jamon, a London gazebo selling Spanish food, said the number of London's private marketplaces is growing in order to accommodate the industry's growth.

"There are a lot more markets," he said. "There are more places to sell food."

Friedman, whose website boasts of winning the 2010 British Street Food Award, operates in a KERB market as well as a London public space called Portabello. He appreciates what private KERB has done for his business, although the public markets like Portabello are less expensive and better controlled.

"The council (public) markets are the best to get into," he said.

While he has witnessed the entrance of food trucks into the London street food scene over the years, Friedman doesn't think the trucks will replace gazebos. One reason is that trucks are more expensive. Another reason is that trucks are restricted in where they can operate.

Friedman doesn't think it's as easy to operate a food truck in London as it is in the U.S. on account of the licensing requirements.

"You can't just arrive curbside and start making food," he said.

As the London food truck industry expands, organized marketplaces are playing an important support role for an industry that hitches its post to entrepreneurship and individualism.

Similar venues in the U.S. like Spark Social in San Francisco could might also play a bigger role as the U.S. food truck industry expands.

Want to hear more about how Europe and U.S. restaurant brands are learning from each other? Click here to register for the Franchising & Innovation Summit, July 18-20 in London.

(Photo courtesy of Baba G's.)

Food trucks are not a North American phenomenon. The opportunity to serve favorite recipes from a mobile kitchen is being embraced worldwide. In many countries, food trucks are simply the latest addition to what's long been considered "street food," food sold from stalls to passersby.

Where food trucks are the hot new thing in America, in Europe they are simply the latest entrants into a long established street food scene. In Europe, food stalls are as much a part of the culture as they are in less developed regions such as Asia and Latin America.

Despite this fact, America's food truck movement is still influencing other continents.

Ginger's Comfort Emporium is among the many trucks that have found success at London's KERB markets.

London's street food scene

Petra Barran, a food truck owner who has led a revolution of sorts in the U.K. street food scene with her KERB markets, was inspired by her visits to New York City and San Francisco in 2009 and 2010.

"The thing I was most excited by was the people behind the trucks, more so than by the food," Barran said. "I was incredibly inspired by that."

Barran was especially impressed by The Street Vendor Project in New York City, a membership-based project that began in 2008 and now has thousands of members. The project reaches out to vendors and teaches them about their legal rights and responsibilities, and provides business training and loans.

Barran was also inspired by the 2001 book by Mike Davis, "Magical Realism," which explores the Latinization of the U.S. urban landscape, including its impact on Los Angeles street food. The book inspired Barran about the importance of improving urban environments.

Barran's KERB markets in London are similar to food truck marketplaces in the U.S. such as Spark Social in San Francisco, which provides fixed locations for vendors to operate in. These organized marketplaces act as visible destinations for customers to discover and patronize food trucks. Groups like Spark Social also market their venues to the public, creating a support structure for food vendors. The organizations also broker their vendors' services for catering events.

Private markets arrive

Barran stressed the fact that her motivation in launching KERB markets was not commercial, but lifestyle focused. When launching her own food truck in 2005, she recognized the challenges facing both food trucks and tents, known as "gazebos," and became inspired to change the laws restricting them.

London's street food dates back centuries. Over time, government regulated markets determined where gazebos could set up shop.

"We have antiquated laws on running markets," Barran said. Food trucks and gazebos had to go through a lengthy process to get permission to do business in a government market.

Barran also realized the unique experience a food truck delivered was the social aspect combined with eating. When people bought from her truck, they stuck around to chat.

"I don't think that's something people would have felt as comfortable doing if they didn't have that food to connect them," she said. "It made me feel connected to London in a way that was really, really meaningful."

Barran met with other street food vendors and formed a collective called "Eat St." The vendors held their markets at different London locations.

In 2011, she received a call from a real estate developer that offered the collective a location for a market. The developer wanted to have food vendors at a certain location on a newly-built street.

"That was really a great move for us," Barran said. The first KERB market began in 2012 at an area called King's Cross with 20 traders. The market attracted a lot of business and has since grown to 70 traders. There are now five KERB markets in London.

"We're creating a new kind of market that didn't exist until recently," she said.

A stage to tell a story

The KERB market is a stage where people come to tell their story, she said. The food vendors tell their stories through their food.

"Street food's kind of the coming thing," Barran said. "You've got street food concept restaurants. Street food menus."

"It's the lowest barrier to entry to a profession anywhere in the world," she said. "You don't need any certification to join the London street food industry."

"People can experiment and try something without feeling they've got to answer to their financial backers," she said. "Everyone belongs there and no one owns it."

Barran said the success of the KERB markets rests on the careful selection of traders.

The success of London's KERB markets might indicate the role that such markets will play in the U.S. as the food truck industry grows.

Part two of this two-part series will explore what the U.S. can learn from the London street food scene.

About Elliot Maras

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Elliot Maras is the editor of Kiosk Marketplace and Vending Times. He brings three decades covering unattended retail and commercial foodservice.