The UK’s market leading foodservice business, Compass Group UK & Ireland has taken another pioneering leap into the future of foodservice with an exclusive partnership with street food giant, Kerb.
In a ground-breaking move which complements the caterer’s desire to provide its clients with innovative, modern solutions and its customer base with cutting edge, authentic menus, this collaboration is hot on the heels of joining forces with enterprising nutrition tech platform, Feedr.
Founded in 2012 by street food trader Petra Barran (pictured right) and joined by events extraordinaire, Simon Mitchell (pictured left with Jon Davies, Levy UK's MD centre) in 2016, Kerb is an assembly of talented street food sellers bringing their inspirational dishes to the streets of London.
Not only does Kerb operate six markets across the capital, including its first permanent indoor market, in Covent Garden, housing 25 independent food businesses, but it is dedicated to inKERBating and accelerating the most promising street food disrupters. Kerb currently has over 70 traders, who sell more than 1.5 million dishes a year.
Kerb will partner with Levy UK, the sports, leisure and hospitality arm of Compass, headed up by Jon Davies, to bring new menus and food experiences for fans and visitors when stadiums and venues reopen in 2021. Additionally, other Compass businesses like Chartwells and RA Group are also set to benefit from the bright young innovators born out of Kerb’s ecosystem.
Robin Mills, Managing Director, Compass Group UK & Ireland said this of the collaboration, “Street food has had a profound effect on the way we eat in the UK over the last decade. Kerb, as elite experts, will enable Compass to deliver the very best from the diverse street dining scene.
“While the Coronavirus pandemic has paused sporting events and restricted activity at leisure venues, it has given us the time to work with clients to innovate in anticipation of stadiums and venues fully reopening.
'We are always looking at how we can provide our customers with a fantastic experience, with great food at the heart of our offer, and our partnership with Kerb will see us bring more variety for our customers.
“We have a track record of food excellence and our passionate workforce continually strive to be innovators in our sector. In Kerb we have found a company which matches our ambition and that we can grow together with.”
Mitchell commented, “The rise of street food over the last 10-15 years has been one of the great food success stories of the 21st century and Kerb has been at the forefront of this movement.
'Partnering with Compass Group UK & Ireland allows us the opportunity to provide a space to street food traders nationwide and bring their deliciously tasty wares to consumers at some of the biggest and most prestigious event spaces and stadiums around the UK.
“Both companies have the common goal of wanting to move forward into different arenas and we can learn a lot from each other’s experiences. We’re all very excited about the prospect of scaling up our business with the largest foodservice company in the UK and going from strength to strength.”