A beautiful city is home to Britain’s most popular food truck. New research from Vansdirect has uncovered the UK’s most followed street food vendors.
The research, which analysed social media followings of all British Street Food Award winners and runners-up over the last five years, found that St Albans’ Peddling Pizza (@peddlingpizzas) has the largest online presence with over 200,000 followers across Facebook and Instagram. The business was started in 2016 after he was made redundant, with just a bike trailer and a portable wood-fired oven. Now, Adam serves up his signature Neapolitan-style creations from a custom yellow truck. It was crowned Best-Looking Food Truck at the British Street Food Awards. St Albans is clearly a great spot for food trucks, with second place also being taken by a local business. In second was Waffle Wands (@wafflewands), which was launched by sisters Sophie and Lauren in 2018, turning childhood nostalgia into a viral sensation.
Their signature treat is fluffy waffle spirals on sticks, drenched in sauces and stacked with toppings. With a clientele that includes the English Football team and Reading Festival, it’s no wonder that this quirky treat has racked up over 165,000 followers.
The sixth most popular street food vendor, Killa Waffles (@killa_waffles) is also based in St Albans. Alex Gaffke serves up loaded cones of crispy chicken, mac’n’cheese and spicy waffles out of his 1941 GMC military truck.
In 2022, Kila Waffles earned national bragging rights by winning BBC’s Britain’s Top Takeaways competition, claiming the title of Best Fried Chicken Takeaway in the UK.
British Street Food Award winners with the most followers
Peddling Pizzas, St Albans – 202,300
Waffle Wands, St Albans – 165,300
Chicken George, Bedford – 94,900
Cheeky Burger, London – 42,800
The Old Skool Bus, Manchester – 34,900
Killa Waffles, St Albans – 32,400
Baldy’s, Wigan – 28,900
Unagi, Manchester – 25,900
Hash Hut, London – 23,300
Pizza Rana, Blackpool – 16,500
