Event catering- can anyone help?

[PugwasHDJ80]

Hi Guys,

Toying with the idea of a change in life direction.

Used to own some succesful fast food restaurants. Always thought about event catering, now thinking about going back into it.

The only unkonwn i have is how much a pitch at an event might cost, and how many customers you might see for a slightly different (but highly tasty and easy to sell) fast food service?

Can anyone help? thinking country fairs- basically events where the demographic is wealthyish couples and families.

Edited by PugwasHDJ80 on Sunday 2nd September 08:29

[Simpo Two]

PugwasHDJ80 said:

The only unkonwn i have is how much a pitch at an event might cost

You ring up the organisers of the shows you are interested in attending and ask them how much a pitch costs.

If you have a hog-roast in mind, they are popular as wedding buffets in summer, which gets you into a different market. You also get paid in advance, so no risk of financial loss.

[PugwasHDJ80]

Simpo Two said:

You ring up the organisers of the shows you are interested in attending and ask them how much a pitch costs.

If you have a hog-roast in mind, they are popular as wedding buffets in summer, which gets you into a different market. You also get paid in advance, so no risk of financial loss.

some of them are surprisingly coy and want you to "bid"! difficult if its your first and you don't know what the copmetition are doing!

not hog roasts- nor anything close- hopefully a relatively new idea that 90% of the population will enjoy the taste of! problem is cost of setup will be 10-15k

[rog007]

PugwasHDJ80 said:

... thinking country fairs...

Edited by PugwasHDJ80 on Sunday 2nd September 08:29

http://www.kentonline.co.uk/kentonline/news/2012/july/14/county_show.aspx

http://www.horseandcountry.tv/news/2012/07/12/more...

http://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/s/2117204_black_ch...

et al. Good luck!

[E31Shrew]

Local fairs and shows here tend to charge a minimum of£1000 per pitch, approx 3m x 3m

[missdiane]

We visited a food show last week

organic butcher cooking burgers and sausages; 1 customer
hog roast; 10 ish customers in the queue, it never went down til they sold out

Can't help with prices on catering side, only had quotes for craft tent side which for the posh house locations are £300 ish

[E31Shrew]

Just to add. A friend of mine does large festivals and shows cooking on one of those 1 metre diameter wok thingies. Mainly Moroccan chicken with rice as well as paella. A good show will see revenue of between 5k - 10k per 3 day event.
He kips in his transit van so no real overheads besides raw materials, gas, pitch costs and his van.
If you could do 20-30 of these a year then a reasonable income could be realised.
He also does in the region of 10-15 private garden parties a year.

[LooneyTunes]

Not sure if there's any truth to them, but I'm assuming you've heard the rumours that this might not always be a pleasant business?

[singlecoil]

E31Shrew said:

Local fairs and shows here tend to charge a minimum of£1000 per pitch, approx 3m x 3m

I've just done the Bucks County Show, and my 6M x 6M pitch was a tenth of that. The other costs were quite a bit more, of course, marquee hire, electricity etc.

Having said that, I wasn't selling food.

[E31Shrew]

singlecoil said:

E31Shrew said:

Local fairs and shows here tend to charge a minimum of£1000 per pitch, approx 3m x 3m

I've just done the Bucks County Show, and my 6M x 6M pitch was a tenth of that. The other costs were quite a bit more, of course, marquee hire, electricity etc.

Having said that, I wasn't selling food.

Life's cheaper 'down south'!

[rogerthefish]

Friend of mine did Glastonbury 3 times, pro baker owned 10 shops and would pay £10k for a pitch selling stir fries/noodles/curries etc. Would take up to 130k but you need lots of reliable staff (he eventually used to take a mixture from his shops) otherwise expect 30% of staff/friends to go watch a band/have drink and not return, on his first glast it was him and the misses on the last night, security of monies has to be tight..welded safe in the van as you are a big target and expect to work 20 hour days, the organisation is huge.. booking freezer trucks 6 months ahead etc. he expected to make a gross of 50k, but gave it up after working the enormous time/labour spent over the year that was devoted to his initial dream.

Edited by rogerthefish on Monday 3rd September 08:49

[bulldog5046]

By where i used to work there was a burrito van, it was the most popular lunchtime venue by a long shot.

Funnily, it's not something i've ever seen anywhere else and yet the food is amazing even at £6 a pop.

I know they started doing some events but i imagine there would be alot of money in doing it full time.

[PugwasHDJ80]

Thanks for all the feedback guys

Wouldn't think of doing somewhere like glasto- far too big for a first run- but on the flip side wouldn't want to do anywhere tiny either.

Much food for thought (Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha)

[V8mate]

I looked into this a while back and it appeared to be almost impossible for a smal business to make money. In fact, many have tried the event scene and lost money. Pitch fees are very high and it's only the larger outlets who can cover several locations at the event which seem to make anything.

Most event organisers will let a single contract for catering and it's then that firm who will divi up the pitches to their trusted suppliers.