Monday, 28 November 2011

What Are A Food Trailer, Vending Trailer, And Concession Cart And What Do I Need To Know About Them?

By Charles Christiansen


Anyone who lives in the United States and has been to a city, attended a baseball game, or gone to a fair has come in contact and probably been a customer of a food trailer, vending trailer, or concession cart. All three of these have a common purpose; they are all used as mobile ways to dispense food items. They range from the most basic pretzel carts that fill the streets of cities everyday, to elaborate restaurants on wheels. Anyone looking to enter the food business market should consider starting as a concession trailer owner because of the lower overhead costs and the flexibility to go to the customers instead of waiting for them to find you. Other costs savings will come from not having to provide and maintain, restrooms, grease interceptors and in most cases you will not need to install a costly ventilation hood.

Food Trailer and vending trailers are self contained and should include everything you need to prepare a complete meal from scratch. You will need a refrigeration system and probably a freezer as well. A three basin sink is usually standard to enable you to meet all sanitary codes. The three sinks are used for washing, rinsing, and sanitization respectively. Think of they system used by bar owners everywhere to was their glass wear. A separate sink for hand washing is also required to avoid contamination of the dish water. These trucks are independent and should not require sewer hook up.

This means that the trailer will need to have somewhere around ten liters of water stored for use in cooking and washing. You will also need a system and storage area for any wastewater produced. Just like in your kitchen at home having cabinets or other solutions for storing ingredients and utensils during the transport of your mobile kitchen is also very important.

Concession carts are a much smaller version of the food trailer. The person selling ice cream at the park or concessions on the boardwalk at the beach is most likely using a concession cart. These small units are often pushed by hand. They usually only require simple freezer or refrigeration like in the case of an ice cream cart. These small carts only allow the operator to do minimal food preparation on site. The food sold out of these carts must be prepared or prepackaged somewhere else. Very simple treats like popcorn or cotton candy are sometimes prepared using this smaller option.

Once you have chosen the right size food trailer or food cart for your business there are still many options to help you customize the look of your trailer to attract customers. Custom graphics are often used to create unique eye catching looks for food trailers and trucks in today's competitive market. Use custom graphics to display school spirit on your sports concession trailer, or display the sponsors of your organization, what better way to hand out info about your group than with a tasty treat. Entice people to try your new recipe by luring them in with a creative graphic that says something about what you are serving.




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