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Food & drink

Street food trader

Street food traders run their own businesses, serving customers food and drinks from a stall or van.

Annual Salary

variable

Average UK salary in 2022 was £33,200
(source Office for National Statistics)

Working hours

41 to 43 variable

You could work: in your own business; managing your own hours

1.5%
Future employment

There will be 1.5% fewer Street food trader jobs in 2027.

Day to day tasks

In your day-to-day tasks you may:

  • stock up on food ingredients and drinks
  • drive your mobile unit to a venue and setting up
  • check the temperature of fridges and food
  • handle raw food safely
  • prepare and cook food to a high standard
  • serve customers and build up repeat business
  • wash up and keep your work area clean, tidy and safe
  • keep track of finances and promote your business

Working environment

You could work on festival sites, on the streets or on a market stall.

Your working environment may be physically demanding and outdoors some of the time.

You can get into this job through:

  • an apprenticeship
  • working towards this role
Apprenticeship

You can prepare for this job by doing a senior production chef advanced apprenticeship.

Entry requirements

You'll usually need:

  • 5 GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C), or equivalent, including English and maths, for an advanced apprenticeship
For more information
Work

It's common to get experience working in a cafe, pub, restaurant or hotel kitchen first and then set up your own street food business.

Requirements and restrictions

You'll need to:

More information

Career tips

Experience in catering or customer service will be useful.

Further information

You can find out more about becoming a street food trader from the Nationwide Caterers Association.

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With experience, you could build up and manage a number of pitches.

You could base your business in permanent or larger premises and employ staff.

Extra training in cooking and cuisine could help you to improve or widen the range of products you offer.

You can find out more about careers in catering from the Hospitality Guild and the Nationwide Caterers Association.

Skills required and how your skills match up

What skills are required?

You'll need:

  • customer service skills
  • the ability to work well with others
  • maths skills
  • patience and the ability to remain calm in stressful situations
  • the ability to sell products and services
  • knowledge of transport methods, costs and benefits
  • excellent verbal communication skills
  • to be thorough and pay attention to detail
  • the ability to work on your own
  • to be able to carry out basic tasks on a computer or hand-held device
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