The research was conducted to ascertain, assess and diagnose street food vendors’ entrepreneurial marketing characteristics and practices in BOP/subsistence marketplaces and what lessons could be leant that may be of use to improve food marketing in BOP/subsistence marketplaces. The research was conducted via a qualitative abductive research method using secondary sources of data and information provided from case studies on street food vendors’ marketing practices from 12 countries: Bangladesh, Botswana, Brazil, Cameroon, Ghana, India, Nepal, Niger, Republic of South Africa, Tanzania, Thailand, and Zimbabwe. The collected secondary data and information, was analyzed on the one side using content analysis and on the other side, using a more open approach, grounded theory. In the analysis seven entrepreneurial marketing characteristics out of the total 19 characteristics found were the same or related to a degree to street food vendors’ marketing characteristics. In specific, in terms of street food vendors’ entrepreneurial marketing characteristics, it was found that networks, knowledge of market demand, risk-taking, self-confidence (calculated risk-taking), low production costs (resource constrained), customer-relationships, and value creation were all an integral part of practice. It was found also that street food vendors’ marketing characteristics were a ‘mix’ of entrepreneurial, micro, small and traditional marketing. The lessons learnt were, that for food marketing to be effective in BOP contexts, requires not simply knowing a market, but having a full understanding of the market (immersion), which for example attempts to understand not just the market, but the social ties and other aspects that may underline, for example, market demand. Immersion in such markets enables to build effective networks with, for example, social relations, word of mouth and social media. Further BOP contexts are risky and such risk can be mitigated via market immersion and networking so as to enable to take calculated risks and ensure risk is managed in appropriate ways. Costs must be kept low so as to be able to provide for low food prices, for example, in food marketing and customer relations are a vital necessity for food marketing in the BOP context. Such practices can support improved and more intensive food distribution and possibly support the reduction in malnourishment, hunger and starvation. Clearly there may be more lessons to be learnt for marketing food in BOP contexts that can contribute further to food marketing knowledge and also to marketing knowledge more in general. Thus further research is called for in this realm.