Street Food Truck

Batigol309

Hey all,

Ive just got back to Cork after year travelling and having experienced so much great street food in Asia and South America its something that I think is really lacking in Ireland and Western countries in general....getting few withdrawal symptoms at moment

I really like the food cart/truck culture you find in the States too...its such a big business and some of the food is unbelievable that they can put out from a small food truck.

So putting the 2 together, I would love to bring this food cart culture into Ireland. I guess it exists to an extent at Farmers Markets but what i want is somewhere which would just rock up to a street, park and serve fresh tasty food at good prices..especially lunch time office crowd.

Ive been looking into HSE regs and that and have been thinking up few recipes to try.

just wondering what people would think about this...can you see it catching on in Ireland or are we a bit too traditional and would find it difficult top associate a mobile food truck with healthier food...

Cheers guys

andrew

Create a truck which sells nice burritos and you've a license to print money. I'd love to see street food over here, I dunno why it hasn't been done yet

Markcheese

First thing is to get a pitch , or pitches .... If it's on private land it'll be easier ... Dealing with a local authority here is usually a nightmare ....Hse you can talk to ... Main thing they're worrying about is storage temps and risk of cross contamination.... Keep the menu small
Keep it simple ....

Fart

It's also something I want to do in a couple of years.

So many ideas I have, and other countries do it so well.

frisbeeface

I've started watching Eat Street on Food Network which mostly features food trucks and would love to see them take off over here.

hardCopy

Lots of chuck-vans working in industrial estates all over Dublin.

Not sure who you'd need to approach about getting pitch, as in individual premises vs estate management company. Any I've seen have just been sambos and breakfast rolls, where I used to work they'd arrive at 11, you buy your roll and keep it in the fridge till lunchtime.

Where I am now I can see an IT call centre across the road with about 1,000 employees and no outside food within walking distance, they may have a contract caterer on-site though.

There is also a lunchtime market in Blanchardstown Business Park on Thursdays, might be worth heading along for a look if you're ever in Dublin.

zacmorris

Batigol309 wrote: »

Hey all,

Ive just got back to Cork after year travelling and having experienced so much great street food in Asia and South America its something that I think is really lacking in Ireland and Western countries in general....getting few withdrawal symptoms at moment

I really like the food cart/truck culture you find in the States too...its such a big business and some of the food is unbelievable that they can put out from a small food truck.

So putting the 2 together, I would love to bring this food cart culture into Ireland. I guess it exists to an extent at Farmers Markets but what i want is somewhere which would just rock up to a street, park and serve fresh tasty food at good prices..especially lunch time office crowd.

Ive been looking into HSE regs and that and have been thinking up few recipes to try.

just wondering what people would think about this...can you see it catching on in Ireland or are we a bit too traditional and would find it difficult top associate a mobile food truck with healthier food...

Cheers guys

Great to see this post! I'm not long back from Asia myself after 3months there- I have come back with the same idea! I've been working on it for a while now (although I did have to park the idea for a while for other business) but I'm back on track with it now.

A good starting point would be downloading this http://irishvillagemarkets.ie/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Market-Handbook.pdf

Keep in touch via PM if you want, we may be able to help eachother down the line

Oh, and to add- I really think this is a huge growth area in food. Farmers markets in Dublin are extremely busy- the only problem is the seasonal aspect of them! I love markets and the buzz of eating good food, outdoors. When I worked in an office- it was such a delight to get out and sit by the canal for an hour and have some great grub and coffee to go with it!

i71jskz5xu42pb

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-YOZaUfZydE

People would throw money at you (in a good way)
2am in the morning, more so.

Batigol309

Great to hear some good feedback on this. Especially the way economy is nowadays its def a low cost way for people to get into the food industry.

I have visited a few of the markets here in Cork just to see what people are offering and prices etc. They are always busy and the thing is you dont have to have a huge menu...what people want is a small selection of fresh, tasty and portable food which wont involve a very long wait.

I have seen the shows on Tv about the US trade which is booming...apparently there are 5-10 year waits for a license for a food cart in the bigger cities. I tried a few the last time I was in NYC and the food they produce is unreal..and is so cheap.

Definitely going to keep looking into this for sure. Main stumbling block for sure is getting a pitch. Ideally you would be looking for somewhere in a city centre or industrial park. Going to go through some ideas and try them out at local car boot sales.

hardCopy

I just got my lunch from a pizza van at the Blanchardstown Lunchtime Market. It was a lovely thin crust ham and chorizo pizza from a wood fired oven.

These guys run the market: http://irishvillagemarkets.ie/ - No connection to me

I'd say there were about 10 stallholders there today and queues at most of them.

ShaneK101

Batigol309 wrote: »

Great to hear some good feedback on this. Especially the way economy is nowadays its def a low cost way for people to get into the food industry.

I have visited a few of the markets here in Cork just to see what people are offering and prices etc. They are always busy and the thing is you dont have to have a huge menu...what people want is a small selection of fresh, tasty and portable food which wont involve a very long wait.

I have seen the shows on Tv about the US trade which is booming...apparently there are 5-10 year waits for a license for a food cart in the bigger cities. I tried a few the last time I was in NYC and the food they produce is unreal..and is so cheap.

Definitely going to keep looking into this for sure. Main stumbling block for sure is getting a pitch. Ideally you would be looking for somewhere in a city centre or industrial park. Going to go through some ideas and try them out at local car boot sales.

You going to go ahead and try and open one??

hardCopy wrote: »

I just got my lunch from a pizza van at the Blanchardstown Lunchtime Market. It was a lovely thin crust ham and chorizo pizza from a wood fired oven.

These guys run the market: http://irishvillagemarkets.ie/ - No connection to me

I'd say there were about 10 stallholders there today and queues at most of them.

Yeah there in there every Thursday..!

annamcmahon

Make sure to check out the rent cost of any markets you are interested in at an early stage of calculating if you can make a healthy profit.
I did some of these lunchtime markets (admittedly about 3 years ago) and the rent was €50-€60 to be given a bit of concrete to put my gazebo up on. I was selling cake so it wasn't a viable option for me.

the beer revolu

My wife had a mobile coffee van a few years ago. People loved it and the coffee but she found it hard to make money. The main problem, as others have alluded to, is that you can't just park up on public property and start trading - the local authority won't allow it.
Business parks seem to be quite accommodating and if you could be in several at the same time you could be onto a winner but, generally the business from one just isn't enough.
The pitches at street markets are expensive - clearly some stalls can still make money because you see the same ones popping up again and again but you'd want to do your sums.
Farmers market's are probably your best bet and there are loads to choose from but your stall will have to be able to do a bit of mileage.

I don't mean to discourage you as I love the idea of good street food but make sure you work out where you can trade at what cost and what kind of footfall you'll have before you invest your money and as Mark, says, talk to the HSE before they come to talk to you!!

leahyl

Batigol309 wrote: »

Great to hear some good feedback on this. Especially the way economy is nowadays its def a low cost way for people to get into the food industry.

I have visited a few of the markets here in Cork just to see what people are offering and prices etc. They are always busy and the thing is you dont have to have a huge menu...what people want is a small selection of fresh, tasty and portable food which wont involve a very long wait.
..................................
Definitely going to keep looking into this for sure. Main stumbling block for sure is getting a pitch. Ideally you would be looking for somewhere in a city centre or industrial park. Going to go through some ideas and try them out at local car boot sales.

Definitely agree that a few good quality food trucks would make a killing. I think, if you're talking about Cork specifically, they could easily set up around Bishop Lucey Park area or by the City Library, or Emmet Place - this is where the markets are when they do set up shop once or twice a year:rolleyes:

The markets are great but I'd love if they were there all the time or at least just a variety of food trucks with different types of cuisine (pizza/pasta (italian), indian, thai, maybe some traditional irish fayre, soup and coffee trucks also). I really think they'd take off because they always seem to do well when the markets are on:)

Markcheese

Try contacting Cork city council about a trading licence for cornmarket street , not expensive ...( But not a lot of through traffic) , farmers markets in Dublin are about 50/60 A day which is a rip off but in cork they're 10 to 20 euros and you get a better service and buyers not just browsers, but the good markets have long waiting lists... And you wouldn't be able to use an actual truck at most of them ...

IrishAm

There used to be a late night food stand across from Central Bank a few years ago. Hot dogs and the like. Whatever happened to that?

Id say insurance, becoming HAACP compliant etc would cost a fair chunk of change.

Paul Gruberton

Did you do this Mr Batigol?? I am now thinking of doing this myself, also just home from a stint of travelling.

Faith

The original poster hasn't been active in two years, so I doubt you'll get a reply. I suggest posting in the Entrepreneurial & Business Management forum if you'd like business advice .