Foodservice forum: Street food

How important is street food to your offer?

Pete Redman
Chef director, BM Caterers
Street food has always, and I’m pretty sure will always, have a place in the restaurants we run at BM. When you think about it, it’s the perfect fit for the catering world.

At its core, street food is delicious, authentic to its cuisine, produced and served quickly, scalable for large numbers and delivers great value for money. All of these are boxes we tick with menu items across the UK.

Before “street food” became what it is today in our industry, we were already drawing influence from chefs and cookbooks like David Thompson, Roy Choi, Koji, Franklin BBQ and Momofuku. These dishes quickly became part of the repertoire at BM, and they have only improved over time, as the scene has grown and more talented people continue to influence our chefs.

I still remember the look on [founder] Wendy Bartlett’s face the first time I showed her the kimchi we had made to load into our homemade bao buns. She was not a fan and still is not, but that is food all over. It is subjective, which is why we always offer a variety of dishes in our restaurants so there is something for everyone – including those who aren't keen on kimchi.

We even have our own in-house team of pop-up chefs, called The Pioneers, who travel the country every day delivering street-food inspired dishes with their own authentic recipes, bespoke marketing and unique flair. It is essentially street food brought indoors.

Even our chef consultant Adam Byatt went down the street food route with his Trinity Outside concept, showing that it is still current and not going anywhere anytime soon. My rule of thumb is simple: if one of the best chefs in the UK is still pushing it, then we are definitely on the right path.

Nathan Miller
Managing director, Fooditude:
At Fooditude, we embrace street food. It’s more than just a trend, it helps drive continual engagement and conversation with our clients. 

When we talk about the importance of street food in our offer, we’re really talking about people. Street food is not just a concept about dishes served from a dressed service point or pop-up. It represents far more than that: fun, immediacy, authenticity and the freshness of offer that people are craving right now. It gives us a chance to further celebrate and champion food with character that is very often rooted in diverse cultures and is always evolving. 

For our clients and customers, street food delivers excitement and a real point of difference at breakfast, lunch or dinner. Its bold flavours, global influences and clever creativity keep workplace dining and events from ever feeling predictable.

But its value goes way beyond the plate. By tuning into and really understanding what street food trends all about, we gain real-time insights into the changing preferences of our clients. This gives us the platform to research, develop and deliver on specific street food styles that they crave, with food that feels personal, diverse and reflective of today’s world.

Understanding our clients means recognising that they don’t just want food that fuels them. Equally, they want food that inspires, sparks conversation and drives genuine interest. Street food has the power to capture this perfectly. 

So, how important is street food to our offer? Vital. Not because it’s fashionable, but because it’s a way to connect and engage further with the people we serve. Street food keeps us close to our clients’ expectations, their tastes and their own internal company culture, ensuring our offer is always fresh, super tasty, on point and, importantly, always about them.

Sam Hurst
Chief grazing officer, Grazing
Street food brings something different to our catering offer. It gives us the chance to tap into world cuisines and bring a real sense of variety to the table. The food is bold, full of character and doesn’t feel watered down or over-polished. It’s gritty, honest and true to its roots.

For us, street food is a way to keep things fresh and evolving. It lets us step outside the standard menus and try new ideas, whether that’s showcasing flavours from different parts of the world, experimenting with produce or picking up on food trends that people are genuinely excited about. It’s a chance to show creativity while giving people something they may not have tasted before.

What makes it work is the authenticity. These are dishes that feel real, the kind of food you’d expect to find on the streets of the places they come from, not a toned-down version. This gives people confidence that they’re trying something that’s true to its origins.

Street food also changes the atmosphere around food. It’s more informal, creates a bit of a buzz and feels social. A street-food-style station or a grab-and-go dish has an energy that you don’t always get with traditional service. It’s straightforward, accessible and fun to eat.
 

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