These are just some of the Street Food Bikes we have created

How to choose the Street Food Cart

the 6 Servants of Success

We thought we'd make available to all of you some of the experiences we've gained over the years as producers of tricycles and street food carts on 3-wheeled bicycles.

Making Street Food is becoming a trend and the idea works more and more, but it is important to approach this activity with very clear ideas and not to improvise your business.

It is said that, in order to be successful, one must know how to answer 6 questions, which are based on 6 keywords which are called ……… the 6 SERVANTS OF SUCCESS.

• WHO ? (for example, do I want to work directly, or have collaborators work? Or do I want to create a franchise?)
• WHAT? (for example What do I want to sell? What Products? What do I want to get? )
• HOW? (How do I want to prepare the products I sell? Do I want them pre-cooked or to be cooked on the spot? How do I want to set up the tricycle? How many hours of autonomy do I need?)
• WHERE? (In which place do I intend to carry out the activity? In the fairs? In the park? Under the house? By the sea? Where will I go to place myself? Will there be power outlets?)
• WHEN? (When do I want to carry out the activity? Day or night? When do I want to start?)
• WHY? (Do I want to create a job for myself? Do I want to rent the tricycle to others? Why do I want to make this choice? Etc)

Having clear all these aspects of your project, answering all these questions, is very important to be able to make the right choices right from the start. Now let's see some reflections based on the experiences of our other customers, who started the business with Street Food Cargo Bike Tricycles.

In the right column you will find suggestions on how to set up your Cart on Cargo Bike Tricycle >>>>>>>>>>

How to set up the Street Food Cart on a Cargo Bike

A Street Food tricycle offers many advantages compared to a van or a three-wheeler.

First of all, the Highway Code considers a Cargo Bike Tricycle as a VELOCIPEDE, and therefore IT IS NOT A CAR SHOP but it is a MOBILE TEMPORARY BENCH therefore it does not require any Homologation, also because it would not be possible to homologate a velocipede.

Therefore, it can enter areas (unless itinerant sales are prohibited by the Municipality) where a motor vehicle cannot, but has the limit of having to be transported in an operational area, if this is located beyond 2 or 3 km.

Either you park it in the Work Area (for example a Garage), or you will have to transport it by van or Trailer Cart.

You cannot think of using a tricycle to move over distances of too many km, because it is in any case designed for previous routes in a given area.

You will find this part in depth in the Next Chapter (below) which deals with the WORK METHOD.

But let's start with the Cart you are thinking of buying and setting up. First of all, it is important to think of a Simple, Light and Economical Equipment.

You must absolutely avoid wanting EVERYTHING you think might be needed, because space is very limited (it is a small bench of about 1 cubic metre.

Wanting to do EVERYTHING is IMPOSSIBLE and, surely, you will have to give up a lot of equipment that you would like to have on your tricycle.

You will therefore have to decide which solutions are REALLY ESSENTIAL and at the same time think about how to make the Workbench, i.e. the Load, simpler and lighter.

This is why we suggest you contact us (on 39 345 5055803) so we can give you all the support and advice on how to study the most suitable solution.

Too many details and accessories cost and above all weigh and, in the end, they will make pedaling the tricycle too tiring, limiting movement and tiring the frame and cycling of the Velocipede.

Don't forget that a STREET FOOD BIKE is a "BICYCLE" and that it cannot replace a van or a three-wheeler.

For example, if the HACCP standards provide for the Controlled Temperature of the food you want to treat, you cannot do without a Battery-operated Low Consumption Fridge, but if you don't have controlled temperature obligations, a refrigerator is perfectly useless.

A much cheaper Insulated Box in Expanded Polyethylene (Dense Polystyrene Type) in which to put the food, perhaps with Eutectic Gel Packs to keep the contents in the Box Cold, may suffice.

Only for drinks, a fridge is still perfectly useless, and even in this case, an insulated box can keep drinks cold throughout the day.

The advantage is that you can save, in addition to the price of the fridge, also the expensive and heavy battery system, which is used to power the fridge.

The same goes for machinery for preparing, cooking or heating food.

It is important to know that, unless you always use your Street Food Bike in a point where you have access to a 220V socket (e.g. Fairs, shopping centers or designated places), electrical machinery such as hotplates, fryers, grills, salamanders, toasters , bain-marie, coffee machines, slush machines, have exaggerated consumption in Kw and can never be powered by batteries and hope for a long autonomy, and in most cases, not even with small silenced generators.

Beyond the power of 2Kw, the generators begin to have excessive weights and volumes and cannot be placed on the tricycle.

At most, a trailer can be provided behind the tricycle, in which to house the generator.

Furthermore, in many historical centers generators are forbidden, therefore the only possible solution is the LPG GAS supply with the classic cylinder, and the certification of the gas system must be considered.

However, even in this case, for example, the crepe plate could be replaced with a normal non-stick pan for crepes and a small camping stove. that works with disposable gas cartridges.

In other cases, instead of an electric Chafing Dish (the classic double boiler chafing dish), you can use the one that works with cans of fuel gel.

These solutions will save a lot on the cost of the machinery, also making the gas system useless, which weighs and costs.

Know that we have created Street Food Bikes for Hot Dogs, which do not need batteries or Gas.

These solutions make the Cart much cheaper and above all make it lighter and more easily mobile.

In the case of a COFFEE BIKE, instead of a Bar Coffee Machine, obviously not electric, but Gas, you can use Thermos containers with tap (Samowar type), perhaps with a Retro line, which can keep the coffee hot, maybe prepared first with a Moka.

These containers are easily found and often have very captivating retro aesthetic lines and can keep liquids hot for many hours.

Such an idea could intrigue passers-by much more. And try to imagine if, instead of a bar coffee machine, a stove was used to prepare coffee with a huge 12. Moka pot or with the CUCCUMELLA.

It should be considered that there are small, cheap camping stoves that work with gas cartridges incorporated in the stove that cost a few tens of euros, against the price of a gas-powered bar coffee machine, which costs several thousand euros.

So always ask yourself, how many coffees will I have to sell to amortize the investment and how long will I be able to do it?

Another way to simplify the setup could be the following: instead of the Electric Citrus Squeezers, it is more curious and ecological to squeeze the citrus fruits by hand with the traditional citrus squeezer of the past. Always remember that the Cart is a concept that belongs to traditions and too much Modernity and Flashy Technology may not combine with Street Food that is based on Tradition.

The inspiring Concept of a Street Food Cart is…….. ”Ooooh! Look !!! ….As it was once upon a time…..”

Another important consideration is that of using pre-cooked foods so that it is not necessary to carry out too laborious preparations on the tricycle.

Sometimes selling sandwiches or portions of food packaged in trays can be much more profitable than preparing very special things that require expensive and heavy tools.

Always evaluate the profitability that the product you plan to sell can give you.

If you are interested in maximizing the margin, cotton candy and popcorn are probably among the most profitable products (a few cents of material that can be sold for €2 or €3 or more), but they mainly work at fairs or in special event situations .

It is a question of thinking about it and deepening the idea, given that each reality can be different.

Well, now it's time to think very carefully about the WORK METHOD you want to use in your business.

In the column below on the left you will find some suggestions.

The working method

If you decide to undertake the Street Food Business, using a Street Food Cart based on a Tricycle, it is important to know that to make your Business more profitable, you will have to organize your "Work Method" well.

The best is to also equip yourself with a Van or a Trailer Cart for your car, with which to move your tricycle in the most productive situations.

Even a very old used van may suffice (they can also be found on sale for €2,000), as long as it has a rear body measuring at least 275 cm in length and at least 140 cm in width, and at least 170 cm in height. An example could be a Fiat Ducato with a higher roof, or any other.

On this van it will only be necessary to fit a small winch, perhaps an electric 12V one, the kind that cost just over a hundred euros, and position 2 2m carpenter's planks (the yellow colored wooden ones) to be used as platforms for pull the tricycle aboard. It is an operation that even a slender person could do alone, without help.

Furthermore, the van could then be the "GARAGE" of your cart, protecting it from bad weather and prying eyes.

One thing to always keep in mind is that Il Triciclo cannot have large reserves of Food and Drinks. However, the Van will also be able to serve as a warehouse for storing the Insulated Boxes with reserve Food and Drinks, already cold, during the working day. A simple cargo bicycle, or a bicycle trailer, will then be enough for a collaborator or friend to carry the replacement supply, when you are running out of product on board the tricycle. I say a bicycle to have the possibility of entering areas where the van could not enter (for example fairs or village festivals).

All of our customers who have been able to obtain excellent results, tell us that the best method is this illustrated above and, of course, also that of continuously monitoring some sites on the internet, which report calendars of fairs, village festivals, events, markets , Concerts, Matches etc. or join those Street Food Groups that organize weekly events dedicated to Street Food in the various Cities. Obviously, in this way, you will have to pay a fee to participate, but these customers have assured us that the yield is excellent and the costs are always well covered.

The method of doing the itinerant in everyday life with a cart on a tricycle only makes sense if you live in a tourist area, or near parks / schools or areas where there are strong passages of people and few bars in the surroundings. Otherwise, this solution is only valid for using the time when you are not participating in fairs or events and in any case taking advantage of downtime.

Another idea may be to focus only on Events (Private or Public) to provide a very curious Catering service. We know of many cases in which the Gelato carts have been requested for Weddings, Baptisms, etc. We have learned that the CHEFS at HOME have worked well, in the case of Private events, for example also in the marinas where boats and yachts moor.

In our opinion, however, except in particular situations and areas, the method of going out in the morning and wandering around in circles on the street is unlikely to be very productive, given that then each municipality limits itinerant sales to certain areas, which could often be the most productive.

It is very important to collect information from your municipality, to know exactly which areas you cannot enter, or to be told where you can stop.

Business Plan

It is essential, before investing in a Street Food Cart, as well as evaluating whether this lifestyle is really for you, to make a Business Plan.

It can also be an elementary calculation of what the Variable Costs could be (the ingredients you will buy or the costs to pay a collaborator, maintenance costs, costs to buy spaces at fairs or events, travel costs, taxes), and how much could be the Average REVENUES, and therefore the PROFITS, to be able to estimate how long it will take you to amortize the investment you are making for the tricycle set up.

To estimate how much the AVERAGE DAILY REVENUES might be, go to various fairs or street food events and try to observe some stalls and count how many sales they make in a period of time. Try to do the math based on the selling prices. This exercise can already be very useful and you may discover that an apparently trivial activity yields much more than you could have imagined.

Well, at this point you may have a little clearer ideas on this issue. Now you can make your own thoughts and, if you think it might interest you, visit our ONLINE CATALOG with all the Street Food Tricycles and Ice Cream Carts that we can make. In this catalog you will also find the prices of each model and also a KIT in an assembly box, to build your own Street Food Bike