Eight years since launching the very first of his street food van fleet, Screaming Peacock founder Guy Wade is still likely to be asked the same question while on the job:
‘Do you sell any ‘normal’ burgers?’
The short answer to this is no.
You won’t find any massed-produced beef or chicken patties served from these azure blue trailers that have become a common feature at festivals and market events across the country.
Instead, wild venison and pheasant sourced from estates in Fife are the name of the game for a business inspired by a chance roadside encounter.
“I remember once when I was around 16 years old, we were driving through the middle of nowhere and came across a food van parked in a layby," Wade said.
“I ordered myself a bacon roll with a cup of tea and something twigged in my head.
“I knew that I wanted to run my own business and thought this was the most brilliant idea in the world.
“Later, during the summer holidays of my first year at Nothumbria University, I had months' worth of time to fill so decided to take the plunge and buy my first three-metre burger van.”
When it came to developing the brand of his new venture, it was always going to be a family affair for the budding entrepreneur.
“Mum has worked in market research for 30 years, so she had a really good idea of what the consumer wants and helped me to settle on the name,” Wade continued.
“The foodie inspiration came from my dad who operates a deer stalking business up here.
“We also have a sister company, Woodmill Game, which retails venison and game bird products.
“Using all of that background and knowledge, we developed a menu that is still in place today and has had very few modifications.”
At the heart of this core selection, you’re guaranteed to find The Screamer, crafted with wild venison, and The Scratcher with Scottish pheasant, both topped with a secret recipe burger sauce that’s made in-house.
It’s been that way since the start, but now with an impressive collection of six trucks, gazebos and huts, Screaming Peacock looks very different from Wade’s first year of solo shifts behind the counter in a layby just outside of Strathmiglo.
“That was actually the toughest part of it,” he said, “having to let go and have someone behind a grill without me.
“It feels like your baby so letting go and accepting that it won’t just be me working on my own in a wagon forever was a bit of a transitional power shift.
“That meant employing people who could do the job as well as, or in a lot of cases better than, me who we could have working across the units.
“The key to that is Woodmill Game.
“We hire people on the basis that they can butcher an animal and make sausages but also flip a burger or fry some chips.
“We’ve now got a team of 10 who work across both companies.”
While this group of highly trained burger slingers and butchers know exactly what sets their menu of locally sourced fare apart from any traditional offering, Wade says customers can still take some convincing.
“Game is still scrutinised by a lot of people because of what I call the ‘Bambi effect’.
“There’s an idea that its cruel to cull animals, but we believe that there’s room to educate on why hunting is not only an integral part of Scottish tradition and culture but also necessary in certain environments.
“It also offers an alternative to intensive farming.
“We have a fantastic protein source out on our hills that’s being culled and at Screaming Peacock, we’ve taken it upon ourselves to take that scary pheasant that people wouldn’t usually touch and make it accessible by turning it into a burger.
“Before you know it, they’ve given it a go and are coming back for a second one.”
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Helping to encourage adventurous appetites across the board is an increasingly diverse offering of street food currently available in Scotland.
From Nepalese Momos at Choola to plant based tacos from Antojitos, Screaming Peacock often find themselves in fine company while catering at events.
Wade said: “Big events in Scotland have traditionally been run by high output food vendors with little creativity within their cuisine and menu offerings.
“But even in the last five years the street food scene has started to change which is very exciting to be a part of.
“There are events we’re booking because of how experimental our menu is and it’s the same for another core line up of small vendors working across Scotland.
“They’re a cracking bunch of people who love customer service, people and food just as much as we do and there are so many opportunities for us all within the movement.”
The latest of these opportunities for Screaming Peacock has been the launch of their biggest mobile food outlet to date.
Nicknamed ‘Jabba’ or ‘The Big Daddy’, this fully kitted out kitchen on wheels capable of cooking up over 800 covers in one sitting means that the team will be able to cater to an even wider range of occasions from weddings to festivals or sporting events.
No matter where this takes them, for Wade it’s the chance to truly celebrate Scottish game that will continue to fuel the fires beneath their grills.
“Everyone from big corporations to supermarkets are now going out of their way to say that they work with local farmers.
“I think what makes us interesting to people as a brand is that’s something we’ve always done.
“Since day one I’ve thought about having some sort of permanent takeaway shop and that’s very much on the cards.
“For now, we’ve got some great events lined up this summer where we’ll keep showing people what a fantastic and abundant food source Scottish game is.
“It’s meat that’s ok to eat.”
For more information on Screaming Peacock, visit their website at www.screamingpeacock.co.uk.
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