Top 10 Festive British Street Food Tips
We hate to start ringing the sleigh bells before we’ve even had Halloween. But there’s no getting away from it. Christmas is just around the corner. And now is the time to start planning if you want to make it work for your British street food business.
It’s a time for fun. It’s a time for shopping. It’s a time for food. It’s a time for you to get out there and sell to hundreds of potential customers at a Christmas market. Busy lives are even busier at this time of year. With less time to buy the groceries and cook, the public is looking to you to come to their rescue, serving up delicious food on the street as they shop.
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Street food is an essential part of the atmosphere of any Christmas market. With more and more of these events popping up in every city and town, there’s no shortage of places to set up your stall and no shortage of customers looking to try something new. Make the most of this festive frenzy with our top 10 tips:
1) Find the best British street food and Christmas markets near you by asking around or using a guide like TimeOut or christmasmarkets.com. Pitches may be pricier at larger events, but the number of potential customers will also be bigger. Bath, Birmingham, Bournemouth, Glasgow, Leeds, London and Oxford all have high profile markets, which last for a week or more. Many smaller towns around the UK also organise one-off market nights. Don’t dismiss these. They may attract fewer visitors, but competition for food sales may also be lower.
2) Create a festive special. People visiting a Christmas market want to enjoy a thoroughly Christmas-y experience. Anything involving mulled wine, turkey, and mince pies go down a treat, so see if you can introduce some festive flavours to your British street food menu. For proof of the unswerving popularity of festive novelty, Flic and Barny Luxmoore hit the papers a couple of years ago with their Christmas dinner toastie.
3) Add a warming drink to your stall. Christmas markets can be cold places to stand around, so hot drinks go down a treat and will often tempt passers-by to make a purchase. As in 2) above, if you can make this festive – such as mulled apple juice, cider or wine– then you’ll be on to a winner. Just remember you’ll need an additional alcohol licence to serve anything alcoholic.
4) Take a cue from high street fast-food joints and see if you can up-sell. At evening markets your customers are likely to have come straight from work and will be hungry. Offer extra side dishes or drinks to every customer. Any extra items you can tempt your customers to buy will boost your profits.
5) Tell people where your food comes from. Customers like to know they are buying something authentic. If you’re serving classic British street food, made from prime British ingredients, make sure you tell your customers. Have clear signs stating where individual ingredients are from.
6) Have business cards handy. You never know who is going to be passing. That satisfied customer might be organizing a wedding and just looking for a mobile van like yours to do the catering. Make sure you can give them your contact details.
7) Dress your stall for Christmas. Get everyone into the party mood – and the mood for parting with some cash – by giving your street food stall a festive overhaul. From some twinkly fairy lights and simple glitter stars to an all-out tinsel takeover, it will help your stall to stand out from the competition and lure in new customers.
8) Nurture relationships with suppliers all year round. This is important, as you don’t want to find yourself let down, and without the ingredients you need, just before a big event. Take the time to build a trusting relationship with your suppliers and always pay your invoices on time.
9) Don’t forget to do your homework first. If you’re selling your British street food for less than the cost to buy the ingredients, run your van and pay for your pitch, then you’re going to go bust pretty quickly. Write down exactly how much each item costs in ingredients and take a percentage of your fixed costs, such as loan repayments, insurance, and any staff costs. Make sure you’re charging enough to cover your costs and give you some profit too.
10) Don’t forget the paperwork essentials, such as your food licence and insurance. Without them, your festive opportunity to make some serious money could turn into a nightmare before Christmas. Specialist street food insurance can cover everything from your wheels and stock to public liability, in case something unfortunate happens and a member of the public sues you for damages.
Insurance you can trust
If you’re too busy trying out new recipes and giving your stall a festive refurbishment, trust a specialist broker like Park Insurance to handle your essential insurance needs. With 30 years experience helping the catering trade, our expert team understands all the issues street food vendors face.
We know what insurance you’ll need and what you don’t, and could save you money by creating a bespoke policy. We’ve also built close relationships with some of the UK’s top insurance companies, so we can negotiate the right price without any compromise on your cover.
Receive a no obligation quote today.