SHOULD YOUR RESTAURANT EXHIBIT AT FOOD FESTIVALS?

Have you ever wondered whether or not you should exhibit at a food festival? What equipment will you need and what are the benefits to your business? We take a look.

The number of food festivals in the UK has increased dramatically, with most large cities across the country hosting food festivals. The popularity of food festivals shows no sign of diminishing with more events launching in smaller towns and villages.

SO IS IT A GOOD IDEA TO EXHIBIT AT ONE?

Depending on your restaurant’s location, exhibiting at food festivals is an excellent way to engage with the local community and meet new customers. You can promote your restaurant’s participation on social media and encourage new customers to visit your stand and sell sample dishes of items from your menu, coupled with a special money-off voucher for customers when they dine at your restaurant. You could also use it to get feedback on new dishes you may be introducing at the restaurant.

Make sure you explore the possibility of giving a talk or a cooking demonstration at the food festival as this will help in raising awareness for your restaurant.

WHAT EQUIPMENT WILL YOU NEED?

The equipment you will need depends on the dishes you’ll be serving and what the festival organisers will be offering. If you’re taking part in a street festival, you may be able to set up a table outside your restaurant and sell food from that. Larger festivals may supply a waterproof marquee but you will need to provide everything else.

Similarly to the equipment you need for a mobile catering business, this will depend on your menu and what you are trying to achieve. You’re going to be competing with countless other stalls, so attractive food display solutions such as a chaffing dish set will help draw in customers.

TIP: When taking part in a food festival, you should make use of good quality folding tables that are easy to set up and take up minimal space when stored and not in use.

Machines

This is your most important consideration. You may require anything from counter top fryers and griddles to crepe makers and panini grills. Think about what aspects of your menu you want to promote and the equipment you need will follow. Extras such as tea urns, coffee machines and bar blenders are also worth investing in for selling high profit margin drinks and smoothies.

As we have alluded to, space will be a premium concern, so smaller machines are often the way to go. However, be sure that the machines will be able to cope with demand. The last thing you want is long queues and people wandering off to the next stall because you can’t keep up.

Larger equipment requires more power and whether to use gas or electric machines also needs to be taken into consideration before choosing the equipment. Does your outlet have its own generator? Can you use bottled gas?

Bottled gas is often preferred for food festivals because it is easy to transport and no need to link up to a power source at site. However, you need to ensure you have a plentiful supply to see you through your trading period and a lot of consideration needs to take place in regards to the safety involved. It's crucial that you seek professional advice and a trained gas engineer is employed to install the equipment.

It is also important to consider air flow to ensure everyone working is safe from smoke and fumes. Depending on what you’re cooking, extraction machines may be required.

Before you decide to go ahead, do your sums – will the cost of the stand, equipment and staff to run the stand be worthwhile?

You may need to try out a festival for the first year and see how it goes. Provided you make a good job of promoting your restaurant’s participation, it should reap dividends in raising awareness for your business.

TIP: Before committing to purchasing all the equipment you’ll need, you can lease your catering equipment from Nisbets for your first food festival and decide to buy after that.

DO YOU HAVE TO TAKE A STAND TO TAKE PART?

Similarly, for the last two years, Ben Davey from the Ox Club grill restaurant in Leeds has been taking part in several external events and festivals. “They’re a great way to promote what you do and have fun at the same time,” he says. “Staff love spending a week in a field. It’s great publicity and a refreshing change of scenery for your staff. It can be profitable, but the main focus should be about promoting what you do. At the Leeds Indie Food Festival, we’ll be on the roof of our own venue with a gazebo in case it rains.”

_{By Jackie Mitchell}