Designing your menu should be the first step in planning your concession business. The items on the menu will determine everything that follows. This includes the concession equipment and supplies to procure, the booth, stand, or trailer design, the advertising, etc. You must not only determine what you are best at producing, but also what will make a good sale and be profitable. Also, some menus are more difficult to get into an event or festival than others because of popularity or competition.
Choosing Between Pre-Cooked and Cooked to Order Menu Items
One of the main considerations when choosing concession items to sell is the prep involved. Depending on the type of food, prep time may be anywhere from heavily involved to almost non-existent. It is up to you to determine what will work for you both financially and capability wise. Consider both pre-cooked/ pre-prepared concession items or cooked/ prepped to order items as menu options. They’re are pros and cons to each option.
Pre-Cooked Menu Items
Pre-cooked and pre-prepared items obviously require prep work that can be substantial depending on the items. In addition to the time needed, you will need to have a licensed commissary or commercial kitchen to perform prep work in. The kitchen will need to be supplied with equipment and supplies that allow you to prep and cook your food in a sanitary and efficient manner. Keep in mind that there are regulations regarding what items can be cooked before arrival at an event. Some of the items that do not require a lot of prep work but may cut into your profits because of expense are pre-packaged hot dogs, pre-packaged sausages, and frozen items such as Hot Pockets. You will need certain concession equipment and supplies for these items.
For hot dogs and sausages, condiment dispensers are essential. There are multiple options for these and they include condiment organizers and pump dispensers. Condiment organizers are much cleaner and guaranteed sanitary because they use single serving packets. Pumps on the other hand offer convenience to the customer by not making them open a packet to get what they want. One of the major downsides of pre-cooked menu items is that the unsold ones will generally have to be discarded.
Cooked to Order Menu Items
Cooked/ prepped to order items allow you to only make what you need for your customers and not have to waste any food supplies. Every time a customer orders, they receive a freshly made product and these tend to be of higher quality than pre-packaged items. A higher-quality product can lead to higher sales as people often appreciate that they are getting something that they can not just buy at the store and microwave themselves. The largest con to cooking items to order is that it can take significantly longer to get your food to your customers. An uncooked sausage takes five to ten minutes to cook on the grill while a pre-cooked one will heat up in a minute or two.
Remember that cooked and prepped to order food items often still require pre-prep. For instance, if you want to fry onions and peppers for sausages, it is a good idea to have them chopped or sliced and ready to go on the griddle when you get an order.
Jesse Starr is a contributing writer for FoodServiceWarehouse.com. He writes about restaurant supplies, restaurant equipment, and how to choose the best concession equipment and concession supplies .
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