MEN FAIR FOOD TRUCKS
I'm learning a ton about events and food trucks. As we plan the Mother Earth News (MEN) fair here July 17-18 (www.motherearthfair.com) the nuances of what we want and what we don't want become more complex by the day. It's fascinating.
Our local guru in this space, Matt Rhodie of Carpe Donut fame, has agreed to vet and coordinate the trucks so they represent Polyface authenticity. Now that we've dug into the financials, nuances I never would have thought about must be handled.
First, if we require the ones that serve meat to source from Polyface, our farm needs to be ready with inventory to supply them the quantities and types they want. That requires knowing meal numbers. How many meals will they sell?
Food trucks don't make money every outing. It looks like we're going to experiment with a new financial platform that shares risk. Rather than a flat rate for the privilege of accessing the fair, food trucks will pay a nominal access fee and then share a percentage of sales.
A flat rate of $400-$500, for example, is way different than $100 plus 10 percent of the gross. As a food truck owner, the first and most common option is a big expense that does not recognize success or failure. The percentage option recognizes that if it's a bust, at least you're not out that big entry fee.
As hosts, of course, MEN and Polyface want all the trucks to do well. That means we need the right mix. It's incredibly nuanced. If the trucks aren't busy, they lose money. If folks stand in line too long, they get frustrated. You want some lines but not too long. Some variety but not so much quantity that nobody makes a profit. Imagine operating a food truck and trying to figure this out every weekend. Wow.
Second, do we allow food trucks to sell water in plastic bottles? For this fair, we're setting up a massive water station so folks can fill water bottles. For the first time at a large event we're not going to provide paper cups. None. How about plastic water bottles? We're leaning toward prohibition.
MEN sells monogrammed water canisters. If you forgot yours, buy one on site. Is that reasonable? How hard-nosed do we get? Haven't we gotten past plastic water bottles now? Can't everyone carry a re-usable water bottle?
Third, water and gray water. I thought gray water was pretty innocuous. Not so. Some detergents and cooking products are toxic. While we have plenty of great potable water here on the farm, but what to do with the gray water? Food trucks do not want to have to leave the site overnight at a two-day event. That's a huge cost, to go somewhere and dump gray water. It turns out that porta-potty businesses have special tanks for this purpose. The idea is to tote it from truck to truck at the end of the first day and let them drain their ballast. We can refill from our own potable water source.
Fourth, what about soft drinks? Do we ban them? What kind of carbonated drinks do we allow? Right now, we're planning to ban regular soft drinks. We'll have plenty of cold water, kombucha, natural carbonated drinks (without high fructose corn syrup). The glaring exception will be the Swoope Volunteer Fire Company's lemonade stand, but they're under a special dispensation because they're going to donate EMTs on site for the entire two days, along with a fire truck. What child doesn't want to see a fire truck? We're grateful for their help and hope they make a lot of money selling lemonade--and donations in their fireman's boot.
Like I said, what an education. But day by day things are shaping up and with all the planned demonstrations, it's going to be bigger and badder than we ever imagined. Hope you're planning to join us.
What is your most memorable food truck experience? Interested in bringing your food truck to the Mother Earth News Fair? Follow this link to sign up…https://www.motherearthnewsfair.com/contact-us/