Joe Faulkner is a British Sierra Leonean born in the United Kingdom to Limba and Krio Sierra Leonean parents. He is the founder of the Krio Kanteen, a West African catering company based in London that pride itself on being a family-run business that aims to provide authentic Sierra Leonean dishes to all of its customers.
Joe Faulker grew up in London with parents that were so connected to their route and wanted their children to know where they came from. For Joe Faulker, most of the time when he switches on his TV to watch news about his country where his family came from, all that he watched or listened to was about blood diamond, Ebola, corruption and a lot of negativities “ Everyone knows the Krio Kanteen for food, but I always insist on explaining that it is more than food, I was born and raised in the UK but my family has always been proud of their Sierra Leonean root and for me, it about promoting our culture, food is an important part of our culture and so when you speak to someone as British born Sierra Leonean like I am, when I speak to some about Sierra Leonean, all they know are the negatives. They know about war, they know about Ebola, anything that is bad, that is what they know, for me it is frustrating because I know on the flip side, there are a lot of amazing things about Sierra Leone that people don’t know. So this was my avenue to one give people food and to tell a different story” He told Stella Bangura on her popular program On the spot with Stella.
Joe Faulker passion and inspiration for using food to promote Sierra Leone started from his dad that he learned a lot from. His Dad took them to the market to buy ingredients together and when they returned home, his dad will force them to stay around and watch him prepare food. With this opportunity, Joe Faulker moved to a community where people enjoyed the taste of the food he prepared, He then see the reality that he could turn his hobby which was cooking into business, he establishes the Krio Kanteen, “Krio” is the name of a local tribe in Sierra Leone which he is part of. Since 2016, he has been running his business in London.
In London, you can locate them via their website or Facebook page
Instagram: The Krio Kanteen
Facebook: The Krio Kanteen