Advise on a pizza van please

[Hattey]

Pizza is always a good idea in my book! I think by the slice or the 8", for example if with my fella we would no doubt buy an 8" to share but if I was with my vegetarian mate we would grab a slice each and continue on our travels!

I like burgers etc but a freshly made pizza would outweigh the cheap frozen supermarket burger, laying in fat keeping warm without a shadow of a doubt!

Our market does ostrich burgers, all fresh and lovely (not my cup of tea) and they go down a storm.

Can't really comment on the oven and van but if I could see it cooking I wouldn't mind waiting 5 mins at all!

Good luck with it and do let us know how you get on!

Hattey

 

[bigjay]

The more I think about it the more places I think would be good places to go to sell so I am really excited about getting the idea up and running!

 

[tony84]

Its the sort of thing you could potentially franchise.

How many people know how to kit a van out with a pizza oven, fridges, electricity, some type of cover to eat/queue under etc etc.

Also incase your interested, ive started a catering directory www.catering4functions.co.uk - sorry for the shameless plug

 

[Hattey]

The more I think about it the more places I think would be good places to go to sell so I am really excited about getting the idea up and running!

Go for it?! I haven't seen one around that I remember!

Take the excitment and run - Good luck!

 

[bigjay]

I intend to, just need the money to get it up and running first!!!

 

[jonathanfigaro]

I think as long as you provide , your customers with great pizza, whether from a van or from a store, you will have a great income. Just make sure the product is Great, and word about your pizza will spread!

Word of mouth is one of the best , marketing methods, that exists.

 

[bigjay]

Exactly! That is the main focus. Hopefully if I can get the pizza's tasting really good and get everything else perfect then the business should do really well.

 

[Chris Ashdown]

I am more concerned with the time lag

You take time to get to the front, then have 2-3 mins worth of people waiting for the food, , crowding the serving area, which may well put others off.

If you go the slice route then you have speed and maybe 2-3 choices available instantly, if you make up individual orders then you soon get a bottleneck

I suggest you keep the choices to a minimum

 

[bigjay]

That is my main concern chris. I think the best option is to have say 4/5 choices of pizza;s and then garlic bread. I am going to offer full pizza options but also have pizza slices readily available and then if there is only say 4 choices they should go quickly. I would just have to work the cost of potential wastages into the price.

I think it's really just going to be a case of trial and error and eventually I will find the best way of doing things.

Thankk you for your input.

J

 

[JDX_John]

At a festival or somewhere busy, wastage will be zero and you'll be cooking flat out to keep up with demand. You can keep pizza warm for quite a few minutes without it losing quality.
I agree on further thought that cooking to order sounds tricky when you have a scrum of people queuing to order, AND then more people waiting to get their food. It works at Tesco's butcher counter where they give out tickets but that's a supermarket, different atmosphere entirely.

 

[bigjay]

pm sent jj.

cheers

 

[What2do]

I read with interest your desire to start a mobile Pizza business in 2009. I just wondered whether you did start a new business and how it is going?

 

[ecommerce84]

Me too! I've just read through this thread and cannot believe how hungry I am now.

Since I discovered how to make fresh pizzas about a year a go we haven't eaten a ready made pizza since. I cannot tell you how much nicer it is.

 

[dizzybrunette]

We own a mobile wood fired pizza business and are aware of a significant recent increase in this type of business (which is set to rise due to people being encouraged into the trade by wood oven builders). I'm concerned about the sustainability of the wood required in order to run these companies. Are we heading for a shortage of available fire wood? My wood supplier seems to think so!

 

[Dan101]

I have planned to do something similar myself. Visiting the USA in the past I clocked that buying Pizza by the slice is really big. It has caught on in London and is huge in the West End. Towns like mine though have no such thing. The only option is to go into Pizza Hut or order a home delivery Pizza...both of which miss out on the punter who wants that fast, cheap(er), easy option of just grabbing a nice big slice of Pizza on the go.

I looked at the mobile wood ovens and decided that whilst it is a great gimmick and attention grabber, they just aren't convenient. Setting one up in the pouring rain etc would not be fun. I ended up deciding on a converted Ice Cream van with electric Pizza ovens.

It's a great idea and I encourage you to look into it to the full. Massive profit margins on Pizza from the raw ingredients to what you charge for the finished product too! My target is to be in a position to do it myself towards the end of this year.

PM me if you want to chat further.

 

[JacobCook715]

I think it's a good idea, just remember to keep your costs to a minimum so prices can stay low

 

[Joe Stubbs]

As a new poster, although I've looked at this thread from time to time. I'd be interested to know how bigjay's project turned out?:|

 

[LauraTRJFP]

We own a mobile wood fired pizza business and are aware of a significant recent increase in this type of business (which is set to rise due to people being encouraged into the trade by wood oven builders). I'm concerned about the sustainability of the wood required in order to run these companies. Are we heading for a shortage of available fire wood? My wood supplier seems to think so!

Would be keen to talk to you about your business if possible? I am part of a social enterprise and we are looking at starting up something similar...
thanks

 

[Mr D]

Would be keen to talk to you about your business if possible? I am part of a social enterprise and we are looking at starting up something similar...
thanks

No posts in 5 years, you may be pushing your luck.

 

[Noah]

Would be keen to talk to you about your business if possible? I am part of a social enterprise and we are looking at starting up something similar...
thanks

Would be better starting a new thread, but since you're here : Maxine seems to have made a success of it.

 

[Jessica A.]

Do you think a mobile pizza oven/stall is a good idea?
Do you think it would be better to have a trailer or have an oven built into a van?
What other venues would be a good idea to advertise to on top of regular markets?


A mobile pizza van is an excellent idea. I found one in New Zealand and it was selling like pancakes. It was sooo good and it was cheap too. People were lining up and we had to leave and come back for our orders because of the lot that everybody else was ordering. They have a trailer van and their oven was built in to it. They could just unfold the oven and tables out of the trailer to set it up and return them when they need to move someplace else. You can create a Facebook page and advertise it there. Let people know ahead of time when you're visiting a certain place. Generate regular customers from each area you're visiting and of course find out how you can get more people to visit your stall. Word of mouth of a great idea to start.