You want to get your first pitch before you try anything with bigger organisations like KERB. Go earn some stripes, get on the streets and meet some potential customers. You might only sell 10 portions but this is how you learn. There are loads of local markets and events looking for vendors but often the best places are booked up.
Here is a guide to getting your pitch and making sure it is right for you!
These vary hugely in footfall and accessibility. Some of these are perfect for starting on and you should target your efforts. The best thing about these markets is that they are very cheap so if you are just starting out then you can practice without risking much money.
If you are doing a new but commercially viable product then high footfall council markets may take you on. They are only really likely to take on new products, although it is always worth a try getting on these types of markets.
Markets such as KERB Markets are on private land and are run for profit by a specific organiser. These vary hugely and not all of them are really busy, despite all of them being much more expensive to trade with than the council market equivalents.
Watch out for these! Some can be great but there are many out there that take on traders and sell pitches without much thought of how they all make money. Always work out why they want you there, how many traders are coming?, how much risk to I need to bare if I sell very little, what would may break event point be?
These are huge and only book in these if you know you can trader early on to get solid practice. This type of festival trading is risky and a different situation to the lunch market or night market.
A rough guide is that whatever your pitch fee is, you should hope to do that many portions. These are guide amounts but the rent you pay is always down to your business and what you can do. There is always exceptions to the rule and times when you want to trade at a loss for marketing gains and exposure.
Theo in his natural habitat, on the market
Theo is KERB’s Head of Markets and previously managed Maltby Street Market, one of London’s busiest weekend markets. No-one in London has had more requests to trade at a market than Theo.