Festival Season is only around the Corner

15 May, 2017
MOBILE CATERERS… FESTIVAL SEASON IS ONLY AROUND THE CORNER

With festival season approaching, Lolly offers the essential mobile catering start-up check list

The Association of Independent Music Festivals has previously cited that: “Each visitor spent more than £466 on average at independent music festivals in 2014 (including the ticket price).” It’s a fact, festival goers are spending more money on food and drink, and festival catering has transformed beyond recognition over the years. The final result is a higher quality of food, a more varied choice and easy ordering and payment facilities for customers.For most campers, dry noodles, warm beer, and sausage rolls are no longer festival staples, as they have come to rely on the varied food available at these summer events; after all it’s all part of the experience.

This all presents an excellent opportunity for a range of mobile caterers, and one not to be missed due to a lack of, or problems with, technology.

With festival season nearly upon us, Lolly, the Point of Sale (PoS) specialist, offers its tips for mobile catering start ups and how to make sure they get it right with their festival business every time, in turn helping them to run more efficiently and profitably.Here is an outline on ‘sourcing a food van and trading at events’ essential check list include:

• What to trade from – first you need to decide what you’re going to trade from.  Are you thinking about a market stall, a truck or van, a cart or trailer?  Do you want to buy or lease it?
• Size – next think about size, is it big enough for you to prepare all your food on-site or will you have to do that somewhere else?
• Maintenance – have you considered the maintenance of what you chose, do you know a mechanic should you breakdown?
• Equipment – the equipment you keep on board will be determined by the space you have and what you’ll be cooking.  As minimum you’ll need to think about:

– A safe food preparation area– Good lighting– Storage for food, ingredients and utensils– Fridge / freezer– A grill / fryer / stove or other cooking equipment– Electrical outlets– Water heaters and tanks– A hand washing sink and a dish-washing sink (yes you need two)

• Licences – You’ll need a trading licence if you plan to operate on public streets or roadsides.  You don’t need a license, however, to operate on private land or at organised events.
• Insurances –You need public liability insurance to cover you for any injury that you may cause to the general public and you’ll need employers liability insurance for the health and safety of the people who work with you.
• Driver licensing – this can include tachograph requirements, drivers’ hours regulations, vehicle weights and length restrictions

And when it comes to the event, BE INFORMED. Make sure that you know everything about the event, what’s there, what power supplies will you have, where will you be located etc. That way there will be no surprises when you get there, which could potentially put you out of business before the opening band performs!

Lolly Smart offers an all-in-one EPoS system complete with integrated Chip & PIN card reader, cash drawer, printer and optional 2-D scanner, and with seven hours’ battery life it is perfect for the festival environment. For more information, check this information: https://www.itslolly.com/products/payments

Peter Moore, CEO at Lolly, said: “We specialise in supporting all small businesses across the UK’s hospitality industry to ensure they can maximise profits and sales even if they are in the middle of a field and miles from anywhere.”