Mobile Catering

Mobile Catering is a catchall expression for several different types of catering business.

Here is a whistle stop tour through some of  the different types.

There are two major categories.

A/ Caterers who travel to a location, expecting to find, or organising for, permanent or transported (sometimes assembled on location)  kitchen facilities  in order to  cater for large banquets, or events: essentially an extension of conventional catering, where local facilities cannot cope.

B/ And those who travel with catering facilities either as part of the van, or as a trailer which can essentially be taken to location and trade or cater immediately. Whilst some facilities such as these are contracted out, for example to film sets, in the main the catering facility is also the point of sale at which cash is taken.

This site is dedicated to the second type, which are generally self contained business units, although it is common for a business to expand to own a multiple of mobile catering trailers or vans.
Within this definition are many types and sophistication of catering.

  1. Catering trailers pulled into position by a towing vehicle. These serve many different types of cuisine, including fast food, drinks and snacks, and can be larger in scale than the following:
    Catering vans which are powered vehicles with self contained propulsion, and  the means to make or sell food or drinks.
    In this category come a number of specialized vehicles for example:
  2. Ice cream vans are a familiar sight at parks, and also travelling round neighbourhoods, selling directly to consumers, although it is a very seasonal business.
  3. Sandwich and hot food vans, more commonly found on industrial estates catering to hungry employees. A much more steady trade, although competitive.
  4. At the smallest end of the business are Catering carts, essentially pushed on location by hand, found everywhere on the streets of big cities, selling hot dogs or burgers, popcorn and ice cream at crowd hotspots.

The  businesses sell to several different types of customers.

  • Captive customers at events.  Selling to event organisers is an art in itself, which generally involves some form of tendering process. It is important to understand the likely returns in order to make sensible bids to organisers. The biggest events subcontract catering to a middle man, from the organiser, so understanding the lines of control is vital. Plan well in advance for these, it can be months or years that bookings are made.
  • Catering Concessions in parks or similar.  Concessions in the right parks or public properties can be very valuable, and separate concessions are sold by local authorities for fast food from ice cream for example. . But if event catering needs planning, this can needs planning  even further ahead. Contracts may only be renewed every few years, so it is vital to find out key dates, and  go through the tendering process.
  • General catering  on public roads or similar, a very public face of mobile catering. The trailers and vans you see at the roadsite.  But you cannot just start up and trade. There are licenses to get from local authorities and a process to go through first.

Mobile Catering covers many different types of business. Whilst such mobile catering trailers  can be a great business, there are also many traps to avoid, and a little specialized knowledge. So take advice – you will find some on this site -  and read around before starting up!