New Partnership: My Streats

My Streats founder Miles was fresh out of university with a degree in Sports Science when he launched his own company – Bark ‘n’ Render – specialising in slow-cooked Texas BBQ meats.

After working in a sales career that he wasn’t passionate about, fond memories of growing up helping his Mum with her catering business led him to purchase a smoker and teach himself the art of smoking a mouth-watering brisket for 12 hours a night. Miles hit local farmers markets in Hampshire to sell to hungry visitors before moving on to pop-ups and events, building up a loyal following in the local area. His homemade food stand eventually turned into a specially built trailer that he could pitch up at breweries, festivals and pub gardens.

While the perks of free social media advertising helped to an extent for businesses, Miles would find that posting about events he would be trading at didn’t always garner up the interest he expected. “I would speak to my mates on a Saturday morning and they would have forgotten that I was trading local to them on the Friday night. I’d post about my locations on Facebook during the week, but many people my age are trying to steer away from the traditional social media sites and so wouldn’t always know to come along. I knew something had to change. That’s where the concept for My Streats came from.”

Connecting vendors with customers

My Streats is a brand-new app, created by a caterer, for caterers. The app features live trading notifications, menus, and schedules all in one place. Featuring an interactive map, users can list their preferences for street food in an area and find the perfect match for them, while also boosting customer numbers and accelerating business growth. Live trading alerts and discount notifications are just some of the ways in which traders can access more customers than ever before.

Miles explains: “I wanted a way to contact people who love our food and tell them where and when we were trading. I often found myself on page 8 of Google looking for independents to eat at in a new area. People know how to find the chains, but they had no way of locating the independents – especially when it came to street food joints.

My Streats can access traders by cuisine type, hygiene ratings, reviews and pictures and send you their location with live menus so you know exactly what to expect before you arrive.”

Reducing food waste

Eliminating food waste is another major benefit of the My Streats app, as push notifications allow businesses to advertise discounts if dishes don’t sell out by a certain point in the day. “I was calling my mates and offering them really high quality pulled pork for free just to prevent it going in the bin at the end of a trading day,” says Miles. “I couldn’t pass it on to a food bank due to handling and so I decided to do something whereby I could at least make a turnover and improve profit margins rather than just throwing good food in the bin. It’s a win-win for businesses and customers.”

Six months free trial for NCASS members

Street food has had a major impact on the rejuvenation of many high streets up and down the UK, which is why an app that collates all current traders at certain times in specific locations will only help to boost visitor numbers. Gone are the days of scrawling Facebook to find out where your favourite traders are located; with My Streats, everything is listed free of charge for users. Not only that, NCASS members can benefit from a generous six-month free trial.

“We’re here to help the street food industry, not to make it more costly,” Miles explains. “A six-month free trial for NCASS members will help them to build their profile and start noticing a real upsurge in customer base. If you continue with the app after the six months, then it costs just £1 a day.”

“I’ll be your main account manager for the foreseeable future which purely comes down to the fact that I want to build an open, honest community amongst vendors. We’re already a really supportive bunch of people and the more we continue to work together, the better our industry is going to be.”

Quote from Nick Summers, NCASS Managing Director:

“We’re delighted to be working alongside My Streats to showcase the diverse range of street food options across the UK and to be introducing a brand-new customer base to our existing members.

“In signing up for the free 6-month trial of the app, members can be assured that food waste will decrease while profit margins increase. We hope that you will take full advantage of this new partnership to see how it benefits your business.”

How can NCASS members get involved?

The My Streats app is open to all street food businesses nationwide. Listings on the app will require businesses to demonstrate a good food hygiene rating and reviews.

For more information on the app, visit www.mystreats.co.uk or email Miles at [email protected].