# Tell me about running a catering van



## mr steev (May 20, 2013)

I'm toying with the idea of setting up a falafel van in town or an industrial estate during the week and events and festivals at the weekends in the summer.
Has anyone got any experience of doing similar? Any hints and tips or hidden pitfalls?


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## stuff_it (May 20, 2013)

Not really - of course you need food hygiene, gas tests, inspections etc. To set up in the street somewhere you will likely need a street trader's licence and depending on where you pitch you may need to rent the pitch as well.


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## Pingu (May 20, 2013)

and not forgetting finding a pitch and fighting off other street vendors


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## mincepie (May 20, 2013)

It sounds hard work...
I would guess it's all about location location location....


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## joustmaster (May 20, 2013)

I don't think its as hard as people are making out.. They do it on The Apprentice each year, and they get it done in less than a day.


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## wiskey (May 20, 2013)

The woman over the road has two vw vans she sells ice cream out of one and churros out the other. She has a 5star council hygiene rating and a booked pitch for the ice cream van at weekends and they both roam local events. She's clearly making enough to be comfortable.


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## Wilson (May 20, 2013)

you need to think about where the van will be parked up when not in use, if you need to have a freezer on board you need to plug it in to the mains, or possibly you might need other premises to do prep and storage...

If you haven't worked in a catering van before I would suggest that you try to give that a go first somehow.


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## stuff_it (May 20, 2013)

Wilson said:


> you need to think about where the van will be parked up when not in use, if you need to have a freezer on board you need to plug it in to the mains, or possibly you might need other premises to do prep and storage...
> 
> If you haven't worked in a catering van before I would suggest that you try to give that a go first somehow.


Mains, lol.

If you need a fridge or freezer you may need a generator built in.


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## Wilson (May 20, 2013)

stuff_it said:


> Mains, lol.


 
yes while the van is parked up, not being used, and the generator is switched off, the freezer needs, ideally, to be kept running, in order to keep the contents frozen.


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## DotCommunist (May 20, 2013)

take a leaf out of the 90s scottish ice cream traders book. Fallafel and stone ???? profit.


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## mr steev (May 20, 2013)

A fridge would be useful I think, but not imperative at first. I'd need a hot plate and a fryer, but they can both be gas.
I'm thinking that maybe I could use/hire the kitchen at my local pub for any prep work as my kitchen at home would need a lot of work to meet hygiene standards.


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## geminisnake (May 20, 2013)

If you want to do festies you will need a fridge and a genny. I will ask my pal, she ran her own van but went back to working in a petrol station after about 6 years. I think it is considerably more time consuming than you realise.


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## Kanda (May 20, 2013)

You also need to work out where your food prep will happen. If that's at home, you have to register it with Enviromental Health etc... (It's not that hard. you'll learn all bout the requirements on your food safety course) your local authority website will have all you need to know. Also, if selling food after 11pm.. you need a Liquor licence, very easy to get. Took me a day.

Not sure where you're based but it's a saturated market right now. A lot of people doing the same thing....

(also, call your local authority now, run your ideas past them, they'll tell you if a) you're likely to get a pitch and b) what is required... you have to get the van registered as a food premises, this can take 30 odd days)

I planned to do similar a few months ago, decided to fuck off to Thailand and learn to become a Scuba instructor instead


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## mr steev (May 20, 2013)

I'm based in Wolverhampton. There are a few other mobile caterers (burger vans, curry, jacket spuds etc) but no falafel... I don't even know of a take-away that does them around here.
I'll be looking at a trailer at first if that makes any difference, and as I said, maybe using my local pub's kitchen for prep work.
I'm going to make the most of being on benefits and get on a few courses over the summer. Good advice on speaking to the local authority before


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## equationgirl (May 20, 2013)

Do you know there's a market for the food you're trying to sell? 

Have a look at this site for more information about doing this:
http://www.streetfood.org.uk/


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## purenarcotic (May 20, 2013)

Environmental health are very helpful at answering questions in my experience, well worth having a chat with them. 

And as eq says, is there a market for falafel?  No point trying to flog to an audience who aren't interested.


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## mr steev (May 20, 2013)

equationgirl said:


> Do you know there's a market for the food you're trying to sell?


 
I think there is. There definitely is at events and festivals. I believe there is in town too, but I would do some proper market research before. A thread on food vendors on the local council's facebook page seemed to show that next to hygiene, more choice and veggie options were what people were looking for


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## Corax (May 20, 2013)

_Falafel_?

Fuck off.

Do pies. And chips. And gravy.

But mainly pies.


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## equationgirl (May 20, 2013)

mr steev said:


> I think there is. There definitely is at events and festivals. I believe there is in town too, but I would do some proper market research before. A thread on food vendors on the local council's facebook page seemed to show that next to hygiene, more choice and veggie options were what people were looking for


Until you're a bit surer, you might not want to just do falafel to start with. Have 3-4 options and see what sells for a few weeks.


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## stuff_it (May 20, 2013)

mr steev said:


> A fridge would be useful I think, but not imperative at first. I'd need a hot plate and a fryer, but they can both be gas.
> I'm thinking that maybe I could use/hire the kitchen at my local pub for any prep work as my kitchen at home would need a lot of work to meet hygiene standards.


Are you sure? It depends what you are selling but it may well be compulsory.

Many catering units that you might buy used will already be fitted with a small fridge and a generator. EBay is a good place to start.

Don't get an IVECO.



mr steev said:


> I think there is. There definitely is at events and festivals. I believe there is in town too, but I would do some proper market research before. A thread on food vendors on the local council's facebook page seemed to show that next to hygiene, more choice and veggie options were what people were looking for


There are other veggie options that might go down well too - easy to also do cakes and veggie burgers.


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## Corax (May 20, 2013)

stuff_it said:


> There are other veggie options that might go down well too - easy to also do cakes and veggie burgers.


And cocaine.  Massive profit margin.


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## stuff_it (May 20, 2013)

Corax said:


> And cocaine. Massive profit margin.


Always popular at festivals as well.

TBH if I was doing festival catering for profit I would definitely look into getting one of those hot plates for crepes - how much do eggs, flour, sugar and lemons cost after all. In fact the profits on crepes can exceed the profits on cocaine if you sell enough.


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## mr steev (May 20, 2013)

equationgirl said:


> Until you're a bit surer, you might not want to just do falafel to start with. Have 3-4 options and see what sells for a few weeks.


 

I meant the public wanted more options than hotdogs and burgers. I'd just stick to the one thing at first.



stuff_it said:


> Are you sure? It depends what you are selling but it may well be compulsory.
> 
> Many catering units that you might buy used will already be fitted with a small fridge and a generator. EBay is a good place to start.
> 
> Don't get an IVECO.


 
Thinking about it, I would need a fridge. I'd get a trailer rather than a van though


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## miss direct (May 20, 2013)

Falafel is a nice cheap food to make. I think it would go down well. Could you pitch up near the Civic Hall? 
I used to live in Wolves...


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## mr steev (May 20, 2013)

stuff_it said:


> Always popular at festivals as well.
> 
> TBH if I was doing festival catering for profit I would definitely look into getting one of those hot plates for crepes - how much do eggs, flour, sugar and lemons cost after all. In fact the profits on crepes can exceed the profits on cocaine if you sell enough.


 
I've  considered crepes before. If I managed to do festivals then I'd offer a bit more... I've got a mate with a marquee too, and love the idea of a putting on a bit of music as well... but one thing at a time! Learn to walk first and all that


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## miss direct (May 20, 2013)

Go and have a chat to the guy who does curry and rice in a tray down by the shopping centre...they were amazing, if they're still around. 
Waffles would work well too.


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## mr steev (May 20, 2013)

miss direct said:


> Go and have a chat to the guy who does curry and rice in a tray down by the shopping centre...they were amazing, if they're still around.


 
Yeah, he's  still around


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## stuff_it (May 20, 2013)

miss direct said:


> Go and have a chat to the guy who does curry and rice in a tray down by the shopping centre...they were amazing, if they're still around.
> Waffles would work well too.


Except that most small waffle irons are electric and take a lot of power. You can get gas ones though. 

On the plus side waffle and pancake batter use similar ingredients so you wouldn't have any wastage if you did both.


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## lizzieloo (May 20, 2013)

That'll be one hell of a hair-net mr steev


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## miss direct (May 20, 2013)

Plenty of students in Wolves who might go for falafel. It might not be post pub food but it's a great snack/meal. 
Are waffles popular street food in the UK? They are popular here in Turkey. So wonderful....they put chocolate, fruit, sweets, nuts and other stuff on, then roll it up and put it in a cone and stick a fork inside it.


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## stuff_it (May 20, 2013)

miss direct said:


> Plenty of students in Wolves who might go for falafel. It might not be post pub food but it's a great snack/meal.
> Are waffles popular street food in the UK? They are popular here in Turkey. So wonderful....they put chocolate, fruit, sweets, nuts and other stuff on, then roll it up and put it in a cone and stick a fork inside it.


Not really seen it but crepes certainly are, and if you have the plate thingy you could do dhosa as well.


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## mr steev (May 20, 2013)

lizzieloo said:


> That'll be one hell of a hair-net mr steev


 
They're not quite as long as they used to be, but I think some sort of hat/bandana will be needed


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## not-bono-ever (May 24, 2013)

the crepe stall in the Turman Brewery on brick lane on sundays sell 200-400 crepes a day @ 3.00-5.00 each. Many are made from 6Am onwards - takes a minute or so each and they are reheated on a simple leccy hotplate with the filling when the punters buy them. you need a shit load of buckwheat flour and eggs to do them properly, but work about 25p + the filling each . big profits if you can get the location.

good luck


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## Montgolfier (May 25, 2013)

I had mine nicked..

Make sure you get insurance!


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## wiskey (May 25, 2013)

on the subject of falafel there has been a static truck in the center of Bristol for as long as I've lived her (7yrs) and it's always done well both with locals and tourists . . . and I noticed the other day an actual falaffel shop has opened up too. So they are obviously thinking they'll sell well.


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## stuff_it (May 25, 2013)

not-bono-ever said:


> the crepe stall in the Turman Brewery on brick lane on sundays sell 200-400 crepes a day @ 3.00-5.00 each. Many are made from 6Am onwards - takes a minute or so each and they are reheated on a simple leccy hotplate with the filling when the punters buy them. you need a shit load of buckwheat flour and eggs to do them properly, but work about 25p + the filling each . big profits if you can get the location.
> 
> good luck


Buckwheat? For crepes? Since when?


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## Dillinger4 (May 25, 2013)

I am going to run a van that sells stew


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## Maurice Picarda (May 25, 2013)

I'd quite like a souffle van, tough though the logistics would be.


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## DotCommunist (May 25, 2013)

Dillinger4 said:


> I am going to run a van that sells stew


 

Irish stew. In the name of the law


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## xslavearcx (May 25, 2013)

During the new deal days i got sent on a "how to start your own buisness course" alongwith a group of other budding entrepreneurs on long term dole. So at the end of the course we had this consultation with buisness start up experts from RBS. Each of us had to give a presentation about our proposed buisness idea.

One of the chaps gave this presentation about his idea of having a catering van. It was well rad and innovative i.e. it tapped into existing established tastes in the market, but also offered different stuff for those of us with more 'quirky' tastes. Clearly the guy had done his research which justified the rather nonchalant tone in which he delivered his presentation. He mentioned the perfect pitch. Genius.

Someone stuck up their hand and said "...... but there is already a catering van there....."

His reply ".......... is there?????........"

He sat down with his head bowed. The dissapointment was palpable.


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## Red Cat (May 25, 2013)

Think about Brum too. I think it's a bit shit for good cheapish food (too many chains in the city centre) and I always struggle to find somewhere I want to buy lunch. Veggie options aren't great here either for the same reason.


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## Part 2 (May 25, 2013)

Dillinger4 said:


> I am going to run a van that sells stew


 


DotCommunist said:


> Irish stew. In the name of the law


 
Tip: Don't park the van on Letsby Avenue


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