[00:43.86]M-Br: Good evening everyone.
[00:45.10]My name’s Jon and I run Veg Out, a street food business selling vegan food.
[00:51.26]Since 2012 I’ve been travelling all around the country cooking vegan food in my converted van and selling it at all kinds of outdoor events.
[01:00.98]I’m here to give you some advice based on my experience.
[01:05.27]The good news is that there’s never been a better time to start your own street food business.
[01:12.58]Street food continues to grow in popularity. I think there are a couple of reasons for this.
[01:19.56]The first is that street food is a reaction against fast food.
[01:25.36]Street food ranges from high quality burgers to vegan curries and everything in between.
[01:31.84]But while fast food is cheap and easy to find, it’s not particularly good for you.
[01:37.68]It’s also the same everywhere.
[01:40.56]What you get with street food on the other hand is something different.
[01:44.56]People like the idea of trying something they can’t get anywhere else.
[01:49.76]They also like seeing food prepared in front of them and which hasn’t come straight out of a freezer.
[01:56.45]You need to think about the best place to sell your street food.
[02:00.49]People always think music festivals are an obvious place to start but the cost of renting a space can be huge.
[02:07.49]And there’s always a lot of competition.
[02:10.77]Food markets, on the other hand, are great because customers are always really interested in food and give great feedback.
[02:19.61]And if you can get a spot in your local park – fantastic.
[02:24.21]Usually very relaxed but with lots of customers passing by.
[02:28.81]Once you get established you’ll start getting asked to do parties – which can be really challenging but lots of fun.
[02:36.14]Having street food at weddings has become quite fashionable too – but you need to really know what you’re doing as everything needs to be perfect.
[03:32.75]Setting up a street food business costs a lot less than opening a restaurant or café but you’ll have to buy some basic equipment.
[03:41.43]I’d try to get things like hobs and fridges second hand if you can.
[03:45.87]You can replace them with better quality stuff if your business takes off.
[03:50.35]Renting is another option but you’ll end up spending more money rather than saving it.
[03:56.30]You’ve probably got a good idea about the food you’re planning to sell.
[03:59.90]I expect you’ve done some research to find out if anyone else is selling a similar product.
[04:04.98]And you’ll have thought about any possible allergies to nuts or eggs etc.
[04:10.28]But there’s one thing people don’t always think about and that’s how you’re going to serve it.
[04:16.32]On a plate? In a bag?
[04:18.80]Will you provide a fork?
[04:20.52]Will it all be easily recyclable or reusable?
[04:24.48]It’s got to be easy to eat and look attractive or customers won’t come back.
[04:30.93]Once you get started, you should be prepared for things to go wrong.
[04:35.17]Every business faces problems and here are a few examples from street food businesses that I know.
[04:43.50]My friends who run Thai Basil started by juggling their street food business with their day jobs in a restaurant.
[04:51.46]Their work-life balance was non-existent as they were working til midnight in the restaurant all week and then took their food truck to markets on their days off.
[05:01.94]The owners of Basque found it was hard to make a profit because the price of fish – essential for some of their dishes – was so high.
[05:09.90]And it was hard to charge customers a lot more for those dishes.
[05:13.86]So they had to stop focussing on fish dishes and include more vegetarian food.
[05:20.04]The owners of Lou’s kitchen were making salads to order from their van and some of their dishes were quite complicated.
[05:27.60]At one of their first events they ended up with people standing in a long queue for more than 15 minutes – and many of them lost patience.
[05:35.93]So make sure whatever you offer can be served quickly and efficiently.
[05:42.36]The owners of Chip Chop had found a perfect venue near a beach where there weren’t any other street food trucks.
[05:49.96]But what they hadn’t realised was that they’d need a special licence – which individual businesses don’t need at markets or festivals.
[06:00.13]It was a complicated process and in the end they gave up.
[06:05.17]So I hope that’s given you a flavour of ….
