Mobile catering

[Jimbobp]

Hi All,
I have a friend that is looking at setting up a mobile catering sideline (maybe a pig on a spit), he's already committed a fair amount of money but seems sketchy on details of what he wants to do. Anyone got any advice? What equipment he would need (he reckons he needs a refrigerated van as well as a trailer for the pig roasting equipment). Any info appreciated.

 

[GDUFFY]

Your best bet is to contact and arrange a meeting with the local Food safety authority http://www.fsai.ie/food_businesses.html They will tell you minimum legal requirements if you give them an outline of your business plan.

 

[delgirl]

Good advice from Gduffy, that's a good place to start.

Your friend will also need , if he doesn't have it set up in advance, he will find it very difficult to get a pitch at festivals, markets etc.

If he's planning to cater at large festivals, he will need to approach the organisers asap as these events have a limited number of pitches and are well subscribed.

He should also think about restricting himself and his equipment to only hog roasting. If there was, for example, another swine flu outbreak or some scandal affecting the pork industry, his business would be severely affected. Better to have equipment with which he can offer a range of food items.

 

[fortuna]

We did something similar about 7 years ago except we operated from a catering trailer. Originally we wanted to just do pig on a spit but we decided to go with a catering trailer with a spit oven installed. It didn't look as impressive but the end product was the same, also it offered the option, on quiet days of just parking up at the local beach (subject to local trading laws), and doing all the standard stuff. Even if it's only a refrigerated van and a trailer for equipment, I reckon he's still going to need to be certified by the HSA, and also need to attend a health and safety course, temperature charts, adequate food prep safety regs., on site sanitation facilities etc. and as above stated public liability. Check the HSA website and all the info should be there.

 

[Jimbobp]

Thanks for the feedback Fortuna. Can you advise how things went since you set up? Any tips or idea's for him that you found helpful to obtain business?