Mobile catering/food truck help/questions

[hJs1246]

I'm a vet student (4th year, 5 years total) but have been thinking about a food truck/mobile catering business selling pasta.

I love cooking but want this to be a viable business/side business alongside being a vet (maybe part-time) when I graduate. The eventual aim is to have a food van doing the festival rounds seasonally. I have a catchy name, great recipe and have made a business plan with cost breakdowns, cash flow forecasts, break-even analysis's and loan repayments (if I need a loan). I've calculated the cost per portion at £1.07 when buying in bulk for 10,000 portions (found suppliers for the ingredients). I have kept this simple to start with - one pasta type and my favourite sauce, the ingredients are all stored ingredients (e.g. dried pasta, sun-dried tomatoes jarred etc). I have done calculations for fuel costs, the pitch fees for each festival, costs of serveware etc just to see if it's viable, I know I'll probably run into unforeseen expenses but I still think it is a viable business.

However the issue I'm having is I would like to start small before investing large amounts of money by attending small local events with a gazebo type set-up, I was wondering if anyone with experience could help me with the most cost effective way to do this. With a food van, I would invest in the LPG bain marie, stoves, refrigerator etc. However with just starting on small events for feedback/experience I would like to keep costs as low as possible. The small events near me are gas only, does anyone have advice on what equipment I would need to start off whilst keep costs low? I need to boil the pasta, have a basic hand wash facility, blend the sauce and warm it. I think I could get away with just having 4 table top gas burners, but if anyone has any practical advice I would really appreciate it! Unsure with these small events what you do with waste water, would I need a LPG fridge etc?

I did message someone locally asking to volunteer on their mobile food events but didn't get a response but will keep trying this alongside my studies.

 

[Mark T Jones]

It's good that you've given proper thought & planning.

Your biggest variable/unknown is demand - which was well illustrated this weekend - Outdoor Christmas markets cancelled at 1 days notice, indoor ones very poorly attended as people stayed indoors.

Helping out is a great idea - a great way to be thrust into the middle of things to see how demand varies by weather, event and competition.

I'm guessing there are some accepted norms - but by definition they won't be reliable

 

[Paul Kelly ICHYB]

As Mark said, well done with the planning - some questions:

10,000 portions

How many events will deliver this? Bare in mind that big festivals will have a waiting list of caterers and they will take probably more than 30% of your TURNOVER!

one pasta type and my favourite sauce

It is unlikely that this would be enough - a meat or vegan option would be a minimum

I have done calculations

Did you include staff? These are potentially 12 open hour days you are looking at, plus prep & cleaning time!

attending small local events with a gazebo type set-up

This is the best way to try things out. The issue is finding suitable locations that have space availability and good footfall! Speak to local councils and markets.

 

[hJs1246]

As Mark said, well done with the planning - some questions:


How many events will deliver this? Bare in mind that big festivals will have a waiting list of caterers and they will take probably more than 30% of your TURNOVER!


It is unlikely that this would be enough - a meat or vegan option would be a minimum


Did you include staff? These are potentially 12 open hour days you are looking at, plus prep & cleaning time!


This is the best way to try things out. The issue is finding suitable locations that have space availability and good footfall! Speak to local councils and markets.

Thanks for your response, my 10,000 portion was an estimate for portions sold at Glastonbury, I went with reports that said most food vendors sell to 2-6% of attendees, and with glasto getting 200k visitors, and then I made a spreadsheet for all the festivals with attendees and estimated at 5% for each.

I could not find any validated info on % cuts each festival takes, I saw some saying 30% and others saying 5%. It would be great if I could get accurate info on this but I have estimated 10% for each festival for now.

I can definitely have more sauce options, to reduce waste I would ideally want to keep this as low as possible, maybe 2 options. The original pasta is vegan anyway. I would also want to offer a side of garlic ciabatta but in initial planning have tried to keep it simple.

I have not accounted for staff, my partner and mum would be keen to help and I know you can get volunteers at festivals as I've done this myself, but based on estimates so far I could definitely afford staff members.

I am really keen on trying out at local events but still need advice on what equipment I can use for this, as it would be just for trials I would like to keep the cost low.

 

[hJs1246]

It's good that you've given proper thought & planning.

Your biggest variable/unknown is demand - which was well illustrated this weekend - Outdoor Christmas markets cancelled at 1 days notice, indoor ones very poorly attended as people stayed indoors.

Helping out is a great idea - a great way to be thrust into the middle of things to see how demand varies by weather, event and competition.

I'm guessing there are some accepted norms - but by definition they won't be reliable

Thanks for the response. I will definitely keep looking to help out with other food vendors to get an idea of how they're run, exciting

 

[fisicx]

Each festival is different. One local musical event charged £5000 for a weekend. And they are already booked up for 2025 and 2026.

10% is very low. I’d work on 30% and hope to get a lower cut. You may find it will be higher for new entrants.

And don’t expect to get anything decent in 2025. Even 2026 is already getting booked up. Mostly by incumbent caterers.

 

[hJs1246]

Each festival is different. One local musical event charged £5000 for a weekend. And they are already booked up for 2025 and 2026.

10% is very low. I’d work on 30% and hope to get a lower cut. You may find it will be higher for new entrants.

And don’t expect to get anything decent in 2025. Even 2026 is already getting booked up. Mostly by incumbent caterers.

Thanks for this, I will change my estimates to 30% for each, better to overestimate than underestimate.

I am not in any rush so that works out well, I will try volunteering at festivals and doing smaller events then

 

[Jprandss]

You have done great research and sounds like you have a solid plan, although it is pretty hard work.

To point you in the right direction, if going gas only, wok burner on stand https://www.gasproducts.co.uk/foker...2y6G8yNNqMWIGabArFfeLZ9_ET_9lF1QaAlJ5EALw_wcB

Three way (3 way) campervan fridges run on LPG and dont need power https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/39551446...-8K5aIK5R6OlHSDh0Xlwikqu87k7RTdkaAo4eEALw_wcB. Some events will have shared fridge/freezer facilities to store bulk.

Water solutions such as https://boxio.uk/products/mobiles-w...B&shpxid=bb85bbbd-332c-40a2-b81a-a1a4d789795b

Or https://www.nisbets.co.uk/vogue-mob...iwobioiezwLP8pc8ggdDcnmrZolG0UZoaAqu5EALw_wcB

You would have clean and fresh water tanks, there will be toilets or wash stations at events that you refill clean, and empty grey water at. Depending on how 'on the case' (and if they attend) a health inspector may want to see warm water for handwashing.

A major part of the business plan is branding and stand appearance, if your stand looks crap then you cannot assume to get 5% of the hot food custom at an event. You have to have a great looking stand, and you need to find a way to display the portions of food that you are selling, in a way that customers can see what they are buying before they buy.

The other side is location, as with any business location there are good and bad pitches. See what you are offered and think about the flow of visitors to the events. Big events are going to offer you crap pitches until you have attended many times.

Some events charge a flat fee to attend, and some charge a %. Flat fees can be as high as £4000 for a four day event (and far more if a good location at Glastonbury etc), and % can be 10% to 30%.
I have a friend who works for a fairly major F&B event company who appear to be taking over many events, who would be good to get into- I believe they take 20% commission. I know they just won the tender for the Devon County Show, if you phoned the showground then you would be able to find the company name and contact them. They have enough events around the UK to fill a season, I believe.