The British Street Food Awards is back for its 12th year and will be the most sustainable yet with Eighth Plate and NCASS helping them to deliver a zero food waste final.
Launched in 2009, the British Street Food Awards (BSFA) is all about recognising the best of the 10,000 new food vendors who are selling food on the streets.
Starting with four regional heats, with one heat taking place at Chow Down in Leeds from 20 – 23 August. The awards will culminate in a final, which will take place at Freedom Festival in Hull, from 3-5 September.
Alongside everyone’s favourite ex-pro football player Chris Kamara, the judges on the day will include Danny Malin of Youtube’s famous Rate My Takeaway, as well as pro-food input from Michael of Manjit’s Kitchen and Yorkshire Food Guide’s Jonathan Harris.
British Street Food and the British Street Food Awards were founded back in 2009 by Food Mutiny, the events company started by award-winning food journalist and broadcaster Richard Johnson
The first BSFA was held in 2010 in Ludlow, Shropshire,a farming community with a foodie pedigree.
Street food took off to such an extent that, in 2017, the company decided to launch the European Street Food Awards and, in 2021, the USA Street Food Awards, snowballing it into the biggest street food competition in the world.
Street food has various influences and inspirations, however, it is generally considered to be artisan food sold on the streets, or more accurately, not served from restaurants or cafés. The UN estimates that street food is eaten by 2.5 billion people per day across the world.
Due to restrictions caused by the pandemic last year, the regional heats had to be postponed twice, and in one case three times, changing dates, traders and locations.
The finals of the award was last held in Leeds in 2014 but the city has played home to the regional Northern heats many times over the years.
Jonathan Harris from Yorkshire Food Guide says: “The Yorkshire and northern street food scene is packed with talented traders showcasing cuisines from all corners of the globe right now.
“Previous winners of the Yorkshire and northern heats have gone on to build hugely successful brands, so the competition this year is hotter than ever.
“I’m really looking forward to seeing what dishes this year’s traders bring to the table. The British Street Food Awards at Chow Down is a must-visit event in every foodie’s calendar.”
The Northern Heats Contenders:
Thursday & Friday :
On a Roll Sushi • Seitan’s Kebab • Tigellae • Colombo Street • Skullduggery
Saturday:
Archchi’s • Broke ‘N Bone BBQ, • Mor Mor • Vegan House Foods • Greidy’s
Sunday:
Bao Bros 23 • South Manny Flavaz • Posh Street Food • Pellizco • Hun Street Kitchen
Richard Johnson from the BSFA said: “It’s been a rough year for hospitality. But, slowly, the world looks ready to break bread together again. Informally, in the open air, or in big, high-ceilinged warehouses. Not at cramped tables in restaurants.
“Street food is the food people want to eat right now, served up the way people want to eat it. The British Street Food Awards, back for its 12th year, is part of the biggest street food competition in the world – and it always finds the best that’s out there.”
This year’s BSFA will be the most sustainable ever, with Eighth Plate through The Nationwide Caterers Association (NCASS) helping BSFA to deliver a zero food waste final.
Eigth Plate is an initiative set up by NCASS that salvages festival food waste and transforms it into meals for vulnerable members of society.
Every day, one in eight people in the world go hungry. 8th Plate strives to feed that eighth person by working with event organisers to tackle the 400 tonnes of food that ends up in landfills each year in the UK from festivals, a saddening statistic given that 4.1 million children are currently living in poverty in Britain.
In 2018 alone, the organisation worked with 80 traders over 15 festivals and managed to save 12 tonnes of surplus food from ending up in the bin, creating the equivalent of over 28,000 meals and saving 48 tonnes of CO2 emissions
The BSFA will also be partnering with the Sustainable Restaurant Association, which will be behind the scenes running the award for Most Sustainable Trader..
After the four regional heats (Scottish, Welsh, Northern and Southern Heats), the national cook-off final will be judged by the general public alongside a stellar line-up of judges.
Previous BSFA winners include 2017 winner Wingmans, who recently opened their second ‘proper’ restaurant, in Soho, and MEATLiquor, who won in 2009 and now have 12 MEATLiquor venues across the country.
