Mobile Catering Solutions for Festival Food and Beverage Vendors.

The food and beverage vendor is usually the most prevalent vendor found on any festival site. This is driven by the need to feed and water tens of thousands of hungry festival-goers over a 3 or 4 day period. What options are available for catering vendors who do not want to invest in purchasing their own mobile kitchen.

With the costs of just about everything on the rise what options do food and beverage vendors booking festival pitches have to reduce their expenditure. Not every vendor can afford to purchase and run their own mobile catering van and may have even been forced to sell one they previously owned. For vendors that have a pitch space booked and paid for there are still options available to run their catering service at their chosen event without having to own a mobile catering vehicle.

On-site Facilities. 
Some festival organisers can supply ‘catering’ facilities on-site although in most cases this may involve little more than a tented space with a water and electricity supply. Vendors may still have to install their own kitchen facilities like sinks, preparation areas, stoves and grills for example. Vendors should have a discussion with the event organisers to determine what they can provide and what the vendor must install. The kitchen units must then either be hired or purchased and installed in the allocated pitch space prior to the event. 

Hiring Options. 
For more of a plug and play solution there are numerous options available for catering vendors who can hire a completely fitted out mobile kitchen. These mobile kitchens are either trailers that will need to be towed to the festival site or fully fitted mobile vans. The costs can vary depending on the sophistication required but expect to pay around £250 per day for a simple fitted kitchen trailer. The options are wide and varied and can include configurations for fast food, BBQ grills and coffee kiosks for example. Most can be hired with certified LPG gas supplies and are ready for connection to electricity and water supplies. The configurations available from most hiring companies allow vendors to order something that will meet their exact requirements.

Additional Considerations. 
For an additional fee some mobile catering unit hiring companies can provide a customised sign written van or even fully wrapped to reflect the vendors name and brand. Other interesting developments in this space is more use of solar power that can reduce the vendors electricity costs and help with their sustainability credentials. Hiring companies can also assist with any safety certifications that may be required for electricity and gas usage in hired trailers or mobile vans. If vendors are opting for a trailer, they should ensure that they have a vehicle suitable for towing the trailer to and from the festival site.

For festival organisers planning their events using a software management platform like Festival Pro gives them all the functionality they need manage every aspect of their event logistics including a specific vendor management module. The guys who are responsible for this software have been in the front line of event management for many years and the features are built from that experience and are performance artists themselves. The Festival Pro platform is easy to use and has comprehensive features with specific modules for managing artists, contractors, venues/stages, vendors, volunteers, sponsors, guestlists, ticketing, cashless payments and contactless ordering.

Photo by Kampus Production via Pexels

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