How we sell food around the world – in pictures

The way food is sold around the world offers a fascinating glimpse into the diversity of cultures and traditions. From vibrant beach shacks to bounty-laden boats, the way food is sold varies greatly across regions, adding colour and life to local communities. 

 

In this blog, we take you on a journey of intriguing food-selling experiences around the world, using images from our unearthed® Food for Sale category. From bustling floating markets to snoozing vendors, each scene tells its own story about the people and the culture.

 

THE SHOPFRONT

The shop front always sets the tone for the retail experience…

 

Strawberry Chocolates by Kris Jacobs, Shortlisted, 2015

Chocolate covered strawberries are carefully prepared in the window of luxury chocolatier, Godiva, at their shop on Grand Place in Brussels, Belgium. This was Godiva’s first ever shop, established in 1937. Reflected in the shop’s window is the Brussels Town Hall; built in the 15th century, it is considered a masterpiece of Gothic architecture. 

 

Helen’s Bar BQ Brownsville, Tennessee by Simon Urwin, Highly Commended, 2022

Helen's Bar-B-Q is a Tennessee institution, renowned all over the Deep South for its barbequed meats, slow-cooked over hickory and oak. When owner-come-pit-mistress Helen Turner retires, the community favourite will close, and 'Miss Helen', as she's universally known, will take her secret recipe for special barbeque sauce to the grave.

 

Wistful longing by Sue Foll, 3rd, 2024

An elegant greyhound waits patiently outside the famous butchers ‘Lidgate’ in Holland Park, West London. Longfully staring at the meat in the shop’s window.

 

The Ice Cream Shop by Derek Snee, Shortlisted, 2024

This image was taken at Battersea Power Station in London, which has been transformed into a premium shopping and leisure centre. Through the distinctive window of the busy ice cream shop a queue of customers, which includes a small dog, expectantly await their turn.  Though perhaps the dog is not entirely thinking about ice cream. 

 

One Stop Shop by Donna Crous, Highly Commended, 2020

Set on the beautiful white beaches of Zanzibar, this little shop sold everything from razor blades and kitchen knives to foreign currency and candy. 

 

The green butcher shop by Franck Tremblay, Shortlisted, 2024

Franck travels the length and breadth of France in search of butchers' shops from another era for his series, 'Ma famille est une boucherie'. This image was in the Loire region of France. 

 

THE BUY-CYCLE

Selling food from two wheels is the means of choice for the vendor looking for a simple and mobile option. 

 

Taking Pineapples to the Market for Sale by Moniruzzaman Sazal, Highly Commended, 2018

People from the village transport pineapples to the nearby market for sale.

 

Coconuts on a bike by Katya Willems, Commended, 2018

Katya says, “I immediately wanted to photograph this guy in Galle in Sri Lanka as soon as I saw him. He was full of character, as was the policeman. It felt like a typically colourful and fun slice of Sri Lankan life.”

 

Kanshat Mango Market by Muhammad Mostafigur Rahman, Highly Commended, 2018

Traders and buyers gather at Kanshat Mango Market, the largest wholesale mango market in Bangladesh and the second largest mango market in Asia. Over 2,000 farmers take their produce to the market. Farmers collect mangoes from trees early in the morning, pack them in wooden baskets or crates, and transport them to the market on cycles and motor vans. The two baskets placed on separate ends of each cycle or van can easily hold 200 kg respectively.

 

Market Scooter by Antonia Deutsch, Highly Commended, 2018

A vegetable market on wheels. Making use of every inch of the motorbike to display produce. Taken in Hespaw Town, Myanmar.

 

Side Street Hanoi by David Cotsworth, Shortlisted, 2024

A vibrant one-stop shop on two wheels in Hanoi, Vietnam. 

 

Shop on Two Wheels by Drina Cabral-Schramm, Highly Commended, 2017

A Moroccan tradesman selling freshly-cut herbs that have been heavily piled onto the back of his little 2-wheeler.

 

SLOW SALES

Selling food can be a tiring task, so of course a sit down, or a full on snooze, can be required.

Sleeping Ice-cream Man by Torben Hoeke, 2013

At the beach of Visakhapatnam in India, this ice-cream seller needed a little rest. 

 

Nap by David Martin, Highly Commended, 2017

While business is slow, a melon seller in Essaouira, Morocco takes a nap - amongst his produce!

 

Market Lady by Hein van Tonder, Highly Commended, 2024

A woman sits, surrounded by bananas, at the fresh market in Pondicherry, India.

 

The bottle bank by Ming Tang-Evans, 2021

The seller of herb and flower water relaxes on his stall at the market in Fes, Morocco.

 

The watermelon seller by Syed Mahabubul Kader, Shortlisted, 2024

Taken in Tongi Bazar, Gazipur district, Bangladesh, the young watermelon seller sits on the sea of his wares. In the southern part of Bangladesh, watermelon seeds are sown in November - December and most watermelons are marketed in March and April. These watermelons are sent across the country by boat for sale.

 

A bed of onions to dream by Israel Fuguemann, 2022

In the Middle East and Asia there is a long tradition of night markets; there, sheltered at night, people watch their lives go by around a parade of products. So where do dreams rest? Some on a bed of onions.

 

SELLING ANYTHING, FROM ANYWHERE

From an old pram to an old car, from a stadium of thousands to an empty beach, food is sold from all sorts of apparatus in all sorts of forums. 

 

Cabbage full of Car by Piers Golden, Shortlisted, 2016

Roadside cabbage seller and his bumper crop of cabbage.

 

M Yousuf Tushar, Cock Hawker, Highly Commended, 2019

The cock hawker sells cocks around Dhaka city, Bangladesh.

 

Burden over head by Dheeraj Paul, Shortlisted, 2022

An old woman carries a heavy load of dried bottle gourd over her head to market for selling.

 

Thirsty Santas by Simon-James Smith, Shortlisted, 2020

Father Christmas needs refreshments too! This image captures three Santas queuing for a drink just before the 2019 Santa Dash at Brockwell Park in South London. The Santa Dash is a festive fun run where all participants dress up as Father Christmas. 

 

Octopuses drying in the sun by Jonathan Syer, Shortlisted, 2019

Jonathan says, “I like the context of this image with the tourists sunning themselves on the beach in the background while their lunch is drying in the hot sunshine in Naxos, Greece.”

 

The Fruit Van by Verity Walcott, Shortlisted, 2023

 

Street Vendor by Joseph Smith, Winner, 2021

Prams aren’t just for babies. A lady sells capers and other delicacies from her old pram on the streets of Marsaxlokk, a fishing village in Malta.

 

Fish selling by Md Mahabub Hossain Khan, Winner, 2023

Naya Bazaar is one of the oldest weekly fish markets in Dhaka, Bangladesh. It sells rare and expensive species of fish that cannot usually be seen in other markets.

 

Cabbages for Sale by Tim Clinch, 3rd, 2023

Cabbages for sale on a rainy winter's day in Merdanya, Bulgaria.

 

Township Egg Shop by Richard Humphries, 2021

A man peers out from his egg shop in the South African township of Diepsloot, just north of Johannesburg.

 

Old lady vendor by Mohammed Rimon, 2023

Tea at all altitudes! An old lady sells various products from her mobile tea truck.

 

Candy Floss by Charlotte Nott-Macaire, 2020

Candy floss for sale at the Yankee Stadium in New York. The baseball stadium is located in the Bronx and seats over 46,000.

 

Next please by Guy Harrop, 2017

A takeaway food outlet lonely awaits customers at a deserted Woolacombe beach in Devon, England, during mid-season.

 

KEEPING AFLOAT

A floating market is an extraordinary, colorful experience where vendors sell fresh produce, local dishes, and handmade goods from boats on rivers and canals.These vibrant markets are often found in regions with extensive waterways, such as Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia.

 

Tribal farmers sell their fruits every early morning at a wholesale price by Azim Khan Ronnie, Winner, 2024

Boats fan out across a stretch of Kaptai Lake in Rangamati, Bangladesh, creating a floating market selling an array of fresh fruit. Seasonal fruits such as jackfruit, pineapple and mango are all for sale. The tribal farmers sell their fruit every early morning at minimum price on a wholesale basis.

 

Floating market Bangkok by Tracy Smith, 2023

 

Inle Market by Aung Chan Thar, 2nd, 2021

The floating market here is unlike the usual floating markets on the river as it is situated on a lake, on Lake Inle in Myanmar. People in Inle live on water and seek their livelihood there. They trade on the water, they do agriculture on the water and sell and exchange all the fruits, which they have cultivated, at the floating market.

 

Have you taken a photograph of food in a sale context? Enter our unearthed® Food for Sale category.

 

See previous finalists of the unearthed® Food for Sale category and find out more here