12 start-up street food businesses win investment through McCain Streets Ahead programme

Marking the culmination of the Streets Ahead programme's first year, the 12 participants each secured investment having taken part in two-day event held at Mission Kitchen in London earlier this month. Of the 12, four received £10,000 investment each; five received £6,000 investment; and three received £3,000 investment.

The 12 businesses are: Bisan Bites; Utopia; JamaiKorean; Homely Delish; Jerk N Fusion; Yogi's Sri Lankan Kitchen; Kemi's Kitchen; RefreshMeant; Samarkand; Abo Saleem; Oceanside Hawaiian BBQ; and Sojok.

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.

Reflecting an investment of up to £100,000 from McCain FS, the programme initially saw around 115 people sponsored to join the KERB classroom, an online food start-up course that helps take food business ideas out of people’s heads and make them a reality. Those who successfully completed the course then progressed to the next stage, where they attended an immersion day and were given the opportunity to hone their business idea. 

From this group, 12 participants were selected to take part in the final two pitch days, where they cooked their hero dish and pitched it to a judging panel of representatives from McCain FS and KERB+.

“Our ambition for the McCain FS Streets Ahead programme was to help the future of operators flourish and support individuals in building skills where they wouldn’t ordinarily receive it,” says Richard Jones, McCain FS commercial director.

“What has become of Streets Ahead is a new network of soaring talent in the food service industry. I’ve been moved by the incredible resilience and passion of the participants and proud we have been able to support their dreams of becoming street food operators.” 

The panel interviewed each participant as they cooked their hero dish, asking them questions about their food and what led them to create their dish. They then deliberated on each dish and pitch to determine which of the participants would receive investment to help fund their business.

It was initially expected that only a select number of the final participants would receive investment, but having been blown away by what they saw as well as the taste and quality of street food, the judging panel eventually decided that all 12 deserved a level of funding to support each of them to continue their journey into street food.

“The McCain Streets Ahead programme has taught me a lot, I have been blessed with so much support from the team here,” says Kemi Ogulana, one of the Streets Ahead participants to receive investment.

“There have been times I’ve been nervous and unsure if I can do this, but they have always encouraged me to reach for my dreams and I wouldn’t have made it here without them. The Streets Ahead community and our shared love for food have made this experience for me.

“Today I watched everyone help each other; there is so much teamwork, we all want the best for each other, and I can’t thank enough the McCain FS and KERB+ team for bringing us here today.”

Of the £100,000 investment from McCain FS, £79,000 was used to fund the new street food businesses. The remaining £21,000 will be used to host a showcase market in partnership with KERB+ for the winning participants to trade at towards the end of this year.

McCain FS now surges into the second year of Streets Ahead where it continues to find participants from less advantaged backgrounds, who are driven and passionate about pursuing a career in setting up their very own street food business, with the goal of investing in the next cohort of Street Food entrepreneurs.

To ensure the initiative reaches those really in need of support, McCain FS is working with a range of UK charities including Food Behind Bars, a charity dedicated to improving food served in British Prisons, TERN (The Entrepreneurial Refugee Network), which supports refugees to become entrepreneurs, and the Westminster-based homeless charity Connections to find suitable candidates.

For more information on McCain Streets Ahead campaign, click here​​.​