I have been asked to be a vendor at a Christmas Village, which they are expecting around 15,000 people over 3 days. Has anyone done something like this and if so how have you handled that? I do not have a mobile truck or a trailer.
We did an event once where we closed for the day and just transported pizzas all day in hot bags. There was a booth set up and people sold them. That was our first and only time doing it. The pizza quality would not last too long after it was delivered so it would need to be sold right away.
I try to avoid vending events like the plague! You can either make a pile of money quick, or you can lose your arse, it is a total crapshoot.
Understand that the main job of the event organizer is to sell real estate at the event, they may inflate attendance numbers, they may have 15 booths selling the same thing, the spot rental may be way out of line. Weather can and will affect sales in a huge manner.
See how many other food vendors are there, see what they are selling, and figure about 12% of people in attendance may get food there, and divide that number by the number of vendors to get an idea of your sales.
Then look at your health department inspection/licensing fees, if the organizer wants a percentage of your gross sales, figure loss at your restaurant and labor and see if it is worth the chance.
Then there is logistics, transport, delivery, mileage, maintaining quality. Etc.
if you decide to do it, I wish you luck.
i did one over the summer and lost my ass! first and last time for me…the guys that usually work these things are pros and know how to squeeze every dime out of you… i would say don’t do it from my experience…but also say do it to experience it for yourself. here is a link to the thread i bumped back to life http://thinktank.pmq.com/threads/spring-summer-carnivals-festivals.2232/
Back about 20 years ago we were very active in supplying conveyor ovens and other equipment for pizza operators to participate in fairs and other functions. No one ever reported losing money.
Our biggest rental was 30 Middleby PS 360 ovens for the 2nd Woodstock festival. We brought the ovens in and set them up at 30 separate locations and had a crew on site during the festival to handle any problems.
The operator sold over 250000 pizzas.
George Mills