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Starting A Catering Trailer - What To Tow With?

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  • photome
    photome Posts: 16,669 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Bake Off Boss!
    Before you spend all the money on a towing course, Find out if you can actually pitch the trailer somewhere.

    Mate bought one and couldnt find anywhere to site it. Contacting all the markets and carboots etc. Got the feeling that mostly the vans are owned by one person/company.

    So at a market there maybe 10 vans but all run by the same firm. And you wont get it.

    He had to resell it.



    And those catering trailers are damn heavy for their little size, Even a 10ft one with stainless steel fittings wont be lightweight.

    I also know someone that bought one and apart from the odd outing at local fetes it was barely used and then sold on
  • If you want guaranteed food poisoning, buy from a burger van. Half the time they have no traceability as they are gone by time the symptoms show. Plus I've never seen one with a high food safety rating.
  • If you want guaranteed food poisoning, buy from a burger van. Half the time they have no traceability as they are gone by time the symptoms show. Plus I've never seen one with a high food safety rating.

    That's a bit harsh and not entirely accurate.
  • Nilrem
    Nilrem Posts: 2,565 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts
    If you want guaranteed food poisoning, buy from a burger van. Half the time they have no traceability as they are gone by time the symptoms show. Plus I've never seen one with a high food safety rating.

    It depends on the van, location and if it's regular.

    There are vans on some markets that have been doing the business for decades, including one at Milton Keynes that has had the same woman running it for ~15+ years from memory, and it's very proudly got a level 5 rating showing* (I only go to MK market once in a blue moon if i'm in the area and long ago learned that van was the best, before they ever introduced the certificates).

    I wouldn't however trust some of the vans at big events though.


    Back on topic, In the ops case I would definitely go with getting the trailer licence as it would mean that there would be far less worry about any future/replacement/hire towing vehicles falling within the limits, and it's also generally a good thing to get the training on how to drive safely with a trailer even if you're just towing a small one under the legal limit.
    Cars/vans can and do handle very differently with a trailer behind them, and it's not fun finding exactly how differently without some training.
    It scares the **** out of me how many people towing smaller/lighter trailers obviously without the training don't seem to register the way it's handling (being blown around, jumping up and down like it's full of kangaroos that are desperate for the bathroom).


    *It surprised me as it's on a par with the local morrisons cafe, and better than most of the takeaways in our town, including our "normal" which has never had an issue.
  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User] Posts: 7,175 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    edited 18 January 2015 at 1:49PM
    Nilrem wrote: »
    It depends on the van, location and if it's regular.

    There are vans on some markets that have been doing the business for decades, including one at Milton Keynes that has had the same woman running it for ~15+ years from memory, and it's very proudly got a level 5 rating showing* (I only go to MK market once in a blue moon if i'm in the area and long ago learned that van was the best, before they ever introduced the certificates).

    I wouldn't however trust some of the vans at big events though.

    Yes, same van week in week out at same market for years then I'd trust it. It's one off events with no company/trading name on the side other than "burgers" "hotdogs" that usually are the ones to avoid.
  • eamon
    eamon Posts: 2,321 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Photogenic
    Food traders at music festivals pay the most in site fees. For the big ones it s many thousands of £'s. I've heard in the region of £30k+ for a pitch in the big stage field at Download. Its not easy money. You need to sell a lot of food to break even never mind make a profit.
    You have probably left it too late for any of this years events but that gives you more time for research and planning.
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