Wanted - Caterer for Equestrian Event

pip6

pip6

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Being driven mad currently trying to source a caterer for the endurance ride I am co-organising in Devon next year. Few answer their phones or email enquiries, after I leave a message saying I'm looking for a caterer for an equestrian event, please call / email me back to discuss.

Of the three that have bothered, one doesn't serve hot drinks, the other two thought they could just turn up without paying anything for the pitch. At the previous ride I ran (until 5 years ago, about 200 miles away), the caterer 'paid' for their pitch by providing an agreed number of packed lunches for officials. Now there seem to be loads of people doing it as an additional weekend income, who think they should be allowed to come for free. They wont even do the lunches for cost price, but said they would keep a running tab (at full retail price) through the day & we could pay at the end of the day! Not a chance!

Fed up with these cowboys, Womens Institute HQ have been contacted, very interested & waiting to hear back from the local branch. Will even buy ingrediants myself if the ladies can make the lunches up for me. WI do Golden Horseshoe, & a fab job they make of it as well. Proper food & cakes.
 
benson21 said:
Sorry, but why would they pay to have a pitch there, when you are asking them to come?
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It's standard practice in event catering. You pay for a pitch and then do business. Every event you go to, like farmers markets, festivals etc....all the pitches are paid for. Some are inexpensive, some are massively expensive. You could buy a luxury car with the cost of some of the bigger pitches at Badminton!!!

OP...what kind of food do you need and what are the numbers? PM me if you want :)
 
I agree as to why should they pay for the pitch?
It's their business and they need to make a profit.

Yes maybe agree a cheaper rate for the volunteers lunch.
Or stay local ans stick to the WI, im sure they would enjoy helping.
 
The point is that they are paying to access the customers at the event. Perfectly normal in event catering, and the equivalent of 'rent'. The more customers, the higher the cost, as the earning potential is greater.

I'm actually more gobsmaked that a caterer won't serve hot drinks?
 
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I run an Ice Cream Van /Hog Roast & Small Catering Company in Somerset and we always either pay a pitch fee or give 10% of our takings at any event we attend.
 
I think if you had people asking to have their stall there is ok to charge, but when you are actually phoning companies and asking them to come, its a bit cheeky to charge them, maybe ask them to make a donation?
 
If its a small, annual event though, I'd not expect all the local caterers to know about it so that they could volunteer their services; they need told that its on - and effectively 'asked' if they'd like to attend.

And surely, just because they have effectvely been asked to tender their services for the event, doesn't mean that they are doing anyone a favour? ETA I have an acquaintance who runs a van just like this, at horse events - it makes an absolute killing from what I understand, and there are plenty of other people who'd be happy to take the tender on it if they had the opportunity.

And what's the actual difference between charging them a small fee/asking them to provide lunches for officials (within reason) and a donation, anyway?
 
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I used to do show and festival catering , paying for pitches depends on the size of the event. I used to do my local riding club and supplied all the stewards and judges drinks and food. The larger shows it would be worth it, at the smaller ones I sometimes ran at a loss but I was supporting my local club so I took it on the chin.
The trouble with food is wastage, I used really good bread and bacon, so you have to be sure that you will sell what you take. Also to run the van you need at least two people, 2x £6.50 plus the amount of hours worked plus travel and set up time. Then you have fuel to factor in and that before you get in the food. They should also have insurance and have a EHO food hygiene certificate, and all the equipment checked yearly. So a lot of the better caterers will only do big events where they know they will have the footfall.
I would try the guys on the side of the road, a lot only trade Monday to Friday, they should all have been checked for Food hygiene and have insurance. I wouldn't bother ringing anyone further than 20miles away.
Contrary to belief its not easy money, its long days and I actually worked harder and longer hours than my other job of being a nurse, but I loved the customers and providing a quality product.
 
I'm not 'asking' them to come, I'm asking if they are interested in the business which doesn't come scot free. I don't care in they pay a small fee or help with officials catering. They are not however coming, making money from our customers, then making profit from us by charging us retail price on food for officials. That they think they can makes me wonder that they are not 'professionals', rather someone who's just bought a waggon to make some cash at the weekends.
 
GG, pm'd you.

Looks like they have been taking advantage of new event organisers who don't know they should contribute for their pitch. I used to work for a council, & part of my job in highways was approving street trading licences for those burger vans you see in layby's. They didn't come cheap by the way!

I've no problem with them making a profit, that's the point of a business. However if they were stationary they'd be paying business rates, paying for a temporary mobile pitch is no different. They have the chance to make profit, it is reasonable to expect a contribution back in return for the chance to be sole caterer at an event.
 
An endurance event is actually one I lost money on. People tend to bring their own food, what spectators their are tend to be spread over a large area and are few.
Its far different from a show where the whole family go and make a day of it, even if they bring a packed lunch they buy something. A trader has to make a decision whether they will make money and for most your event will be an unknown quantity.
 
It is a fine balance. As a business, we've either given sponsorship or a pitch fee. One of our events now wants both, and although we sympathise, I think it may just push us into 'unviable' territory for that event as we are a very small business. As a ride organiser, we generally provide our own for for helpers. When we ran our major ride from an established equestrian centre with an on site café, we paid them a set fee towards helpers food and gave the helpers a voucher each. That was slightly different though as the café came with the venue.

Butty wagons are generally quite busy at endurance events, but it is very much peaks and troughs. You'll get a massive rush early on, the odd spike if you've got people coming back for a vet gate, and then there will be queues in the afternoon. I guess it's a question of being reasonable, so that the butty wagon knows there is a clear cap on the hit they will have to take for helper food. Vets drink a lot of coffee, so a compromise may be that the butty wagon subsidises the cost of a sandwich and drink per helper and the ride pays anything above that?
 
Clubs I know provide their own packed lunches for their volunteers and don't usually require the caterer to pay for a pitch as there simply isn't enough people attending most events to make significant profits, particularly those that do not have many spectators hanging around. You have got to sell a lot of hot drinks to make it worthwhile and these days with money tight people tend not to spend extra on the usual revolting greasy burgers provided by most vans, I know I try to avoid for the latter reason.

If it were a bigger show with a high footfall then a contribution for the pitch would be reasonable. Can you give the caterer realistic figures on attendance and then what percentage might use the van? I don't envisage an enormous amount of spectators in one place at such an event but endurance is not something I do.
 
Honetpot, it all depends on which event you go to. Some are relatively small, with limited entries (for reasons such as limited parking). Ours is being held at a large venue, with unlimited entries & bordering on 3 different endurance group regions, with easy access to all. Not to mention being in an area classified as being 'outstanding natrual beauty' with stunning views & excellent riding. I'm upfront in how many competitors we can reasonably expect, & realistic in what we ask for in return. We are not out to rip-off a caterer, but for them to make a profit, whilst helping us out a bit in return. I'm an experienced organiser, & my co-organiser used to be an event manager at a major uk racecourse, we aim to make this ride a success. I doubt there will be any spectators, but you have the competitors and there crew (1, usually 2 or 3 per rider), so yes we can estimate numbers & have done so. They are all very keen to come for nowt!
 
But they will be!! They have got to make money, just like you! When I put our event on, I have a tack stand there, and also a photographer. They both donate 10% of what they have taken that day. That means if they have a quiet day, I get almost nothing, but then so do they. maybe do it like that rather than a set amount?
 
Unfortunately there is not a lot of profit catering at endurance rides. I used to take my van to the Cumbria venues. For a start they want you at the venue at 6am for the first rides to leave, that will be just teas and coffees, then there is a wait for several hours before they return to the vet gate. Most people cater for themselves anyway and the main customers are the vets and stewards. If you offered them food and drinks for free there would be a loss. Endurance rides are not a spectator sport, your customers are the riders and their crew, who spend little time at the venue!
 
I done both RC shows and the bigger shows and festivals where my pitch was thousands of pounds, so I know the costs involved for both. One new festival that was just starting up had the caterers to provide so many vouchers for food and drink so know there outlay, so if you are worried someone is going to make a 'killing' as for so many food vouchers and then a percentage of taking over a certain amount.
I think I would forget the profit part and look for a good quality caterer who supplies a good product that can add to your competitors experience. If you friend works at a racecourse she will know that the prices charged on food are a lot higher so their traders can cover their rent, hence the £4 for a greasy burger in a less than lovely bread bun. When you have a proven track record you can be more picky.
 
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