WELCOME

Welcome to our food business startup course: KERB Classroom.
It's an entry-level, online course from KERB+ that packages up eight vital lessons that distil the wisdom we have gained over 10 years spent working with food startups, from the KERB up.  

We have worked with over 300 independent food businesses, and been a springboard for the likes of Bleecker, Bao, Pizza Pilgrims and Club Mexicana as they soared from just an idea in their heads to big players in the London food world. 

Now we want to kickstart your food idea - and help you to avoid some of the mistakes that typically hold rookie business owners back.



KERB CLASSROOM IS FOR YOU IF:

  • You love food, have a great idea and no clue where to begin

  • You want to tap into straight-talking, insider knowledge as you develop your idea

  • You want to be expertly guided through the vital stages of creating your food startup

  • You are busy and want to be free to learn in your own time

  • You are curious about food entrepreneurship and want to grow your understanding

  • You know just the person to gift this to!

FULL COURSE PRICE £150

Ready to start learning? Click below

SIGN ME UP

HOW IT WORKS

In each lesson we focus on a different section of launching a food business - from Vision to Ops, Product to Pitching - guiding you along and helping you to get your idea out of your head and into the world!

  • 8 X KERB Classroom lessons

  • 8 X insider case studies

  • 8 X expert-led videos , 1 X expert-led podcast

  • KERB commentary throughout

  • Self-guided worksheet to build out your idea from

  • Personalisable pitch deck

  • 8 hours lessons, 4 hours video content, 6 hours home study

  • All content is yours to keep and to work through in your own time, at your own pace.

COURSE CURRICULUM

  • 1

    Welcome to KERB Classroom *Entry Level*

    • Welcome!

    • Course Summary
  • 2

    Lesson 1 - Vision

    • INTRODUCTION

    • LESSON 1: Defining your USP

    • EXPERT INSIGHT: Zan Kaufman - Bleecker

    • ROUND-UP

    • SELF-GUIDED LEARNING: KERB Classroom worksheet (Vision)

    • LESSON 1 EVALUATION
  • 3

    Lesson 2 - Product

    • INTRODUCTION

    • LESSON 2: Creating a hero dish

    • EXPERT INSIGHT: Tom Browne - Decatur

    • ROUND-UP

    • SELF-GUIDED LEARNING: KERB Classroom worksheet (Product)

    • LESSON 2 EVALUATION
  • 4

    Lesson 3 - Business

    • INTRODUCTION

    • LESSON 3: The ins and outs of business finances (Fun Version)

    • EXPERT INSIGHT: Maria & Jon Knowles - Makatcha

    • ROUND-UP

    • SELF-GUIDED LEARNING: Business Tool - Product Costing (Business)

    • LESSON 3 EVALUATION
  • 5

    Lesson 4 - Brand

    • INTRODUCTION

    • LESSON 4: Designing and building your brand

    • EXPERT INSIGHT: Richard Makin - School Night Vegan

    • ROUND-UP

    • SELF-GUIDED LEARNING: KERB Classroom worksheet (Branding)

    • LESSON 4 EVALUATION
  • 6

    Lesson 5 - Operations

    • INTRODUCTION

    • LESSON 5: Nuts, Bolts & Logistics

    • EXPERT INSIGHT: Joel Bowen - Oh My Dog! (The Tour)

    • EXPERT INSIGHT: Joel Bowen - Oh My Dog! (The Sit Down)

    • ROUND-UP

    • SELF-GUIDED LEARNING: Business Tool - Equipment List (Operations)

    • LESSON 5 EVALUATION
  • 7

    Lesson 6 - People

    • INTRODUCTION

    • LESSON 6: Enlightened hospitality - front and back of house

    • EXPERT INSIGHT: Siew Yen Chong - Learning & Development

    • ROUND-UP

    • SELF-GUIDED LEARNING: KERB Classroom worksheet (People)

    • LESSON 6 EVALUATION
  • 8

    Lesson 7 - Sustainability

    • INTRODUCTION

    • LESSON 7: Being a future facing business is good business

    • EXPERT INSIGHT: Lily Bovey - STAKEHAUS

    • ROUND-UP

    • SELF-GUIDED LEARNING: KERB Classroom worksheet (Sustainability)

    • LESSON 7 EVALUATION
  • 9

    Lesson 8 - Trading

    • INTRODUCTION

    • LESSON 8: How to pitch for a pitch

    • Bad Boy Pizza Society Pitch Deck

    • EXPERT INSIGHT: Meriel Armitage - Club Mexicana

    • ROUND UP

    • NOW OVER TO YOU: Get that idea out of your head and into the world! Create your Pitch Deck (Trading)

    • LESSON 8 EVALUATION
  • 10

    *Bonus Lesson* - Lifestyle

    • INTRODUCTION

    • LIFESTYLE ADVICE FOR THE NEW BUSINESS OWNER

    • INSIGHTS ON 'THE LONELINESS OF THE CEO'

    • ROUND UP

    • KERB Classroom: Feedback & Evaluation

GET STARTED HERE

Sign up for the full KERB Classroom course - to take in your own time, at your own pace.

KERB CLASSROOM EXPERTS

KERB Founder

Petra Barran

Originator of KERB Classroom *Entry Level* is KERB founder, Petra Barran. Street food trader 2005-2011 via Jimmy, the choc-mobile. KERB followed in 2012 and some pretty heady accolades - from being named one of the 'Ten People Who Changed the World' by The Independent, and 'Barran has changed the face of British cuisine' by The Sunday Times. Get ready for some straight-talking commentary from Petra as we go through the course.

Bleecker

Zan Kaufman

Moved from NYC to LDN, bringing the burger knowledge of America with her. Her drive to make the best burger in Lond.. Engl... THE WORLD is hard to match. In recent years, Zan has turned her attention not only to perfecting the burger, but to a progressive and inclusive company culture. She is one of our favourite street-soothsayers and she packs no punches. Her favourite question to be asked: "What are angry fries?"

Makatcha

Maria & Jon Knowles

Jon & Maria were actually retired when their daughter took them to Street Feast back in the day. The lure of running their own business again was too much, so they dived back into business and started Makatcha in Broadway Market Schoolyard. Six years later and they are one of the top festival traders in the country and have had fixed sites in both Bang Bang Oriental in Colindale and Camden Market.

Decatur

Tom Browne

A Newcastle United fan who grew up in Nottingham and cooks the best Louisiana dishes in London? You betcha. After falling in love with New Orleans, he threw himself deep into the food culture of the city and has grown the largest collection of spices, rubs and mixes in the UK. The man truly knows his product and cuts no corners on authenticity and taste. Check his Instagram every Sunday at 6pm sharp to try and nab a shrimp boil - and get ready for some real pearls on Week 2.

Oh My Dog!

Joel Bowen

Hotdog Jedi, owner of multiple fryers and a futurist when it comes to how machines will be able to cook hotdogs for you. Joel is an absolute fountain of knowledge on the operations of getting something from raw ingredients, cooking it and then into your hands in the most efficient way possible.

Learning & Development Expert

Siew Yen Chong

One of the earliest team members at LEON, helping them shape the culture of their business, Yen has moved on to help the likes of BAO, Chefs in Schools & E5 Bakehouse develop their company cultures. We are delighted to have her join us and impart vital insight on the most important part of your business: your team.

GROUND

Lily Bovey

Lily is a boss, started up with STAKEhaus in 2015, then HENhaus and GREENhaus in 2018/19. Her newest business GROUND is upping the game for sustainable British meat and taking her product off the kerb and into the supermarket. She will be dropping knowledge, both practical and future facing on the course.

Club Mexicana

Meriel Armitage

Meriel founded Club Mexicana in 2014, sick to death of lentils, chickpeas and whatever other vegan food was like back then. Coming from a career in branding, she has revolutionised vegan food in London and built a powerful, known brand, with the impact she's made getting her voted 'Timeout's #2 most influential Londoner' behind Idris Elba. She is a visionary and a force.

Richard Makin

A KERB alum (Blu Top Ice Cream) and now vegan food blogger extraordinaire, Rich joins us as our marketing expert to talk about all things social media and brand. Rich is an expert in engaging people, building a following and selling his story, and he’s here to give you all of his pro advice in our lesson on Branding.

WHAT OUR STUDENTS SAY...

"I'm more focused and confident now"

Thais Girao - Holy Sugar

"KERB Classroom helped me understand all the different aspects of starting a food business, they showed me the right tools to help me with administration tasks that I was not familiar with (a lot of it I’ve applied to my day to day and it’s been such a huge help). But the best part of it was the insights from the other traders, hearing from people who were just like me at the beginning of their journey and now run successful businesses. I’m more focused and confident now. I can’t recommend KERB Classroom enough!

"I'm forever grateful!"

Büke Tosun Güvenç

"At the beginning we had an idea but didn’t know where to start and how to organise our thoughts and ideas. After KERB Classroom everything fell right into place and we finally got a clearer vision and a proper place to get started. I’m forever grateful! "

"Don't lose the chance!"

Enrico Fabiani

"You will find super clear content, with tons of examples and suggestions from true specialists and business owners, sharing their knowledge, but above all you will start to discover a wonderful and lovely community. KERB is making a huge effort to foster us to have the opportunity to make our dreams come true. Don’t lose the chance! "

"We've now got a really solid foundation to launch from"

Sebastian Eyre - Tanio Pizza

"At the start we had a shell of an idea and lesson by lesson we were able to work on it and see it grow quite quickly. We’ve now got a really solid foundation to launch from, thanks so much!"

ABOUT US

KERB launched in 2012 with the aim of making London taste better. Our goal was to serve expertly made dishes to food lovers on the streets of London, all while creating trading opportunities for our growing crew of KERBanists. We have been running all day immersive workshops since 2012 and our inKERBator programme since 2013. On top of lunch markets and events, we have built a successful event catering business. and opened a food hall, Seven Dials Market, in 2019.