COUNCIL FOOD STALL GUIDELINES

CITY OF SYDNEY

Temporary Food Stall Guidelines

Form to fill in when doing events in COS zone.

Return the above form to your stall co-ordinator for the event you are doing.

MARRICKVILLE COUNCIL

Temporary Food Stall Guidelines

FOOD AUTHORITY

Applying for a food stall permit

GOSFORD COUNCIL

GETTING IN AND STAYING IN….
We process 1000’s of stallholders each year and with so many products duplicated it is important to make your product stand out. Today more promoters want stalls with great presentation and display. If you include great photos or samples you will stand out.

If you have not included all the documentation required by the application you may end up in the pending pile and get jumped over by other stalls who have their applications completed. It is not the responsibility of the market organisers to chase you up.

EMAIL - TECHNOLOGY CAN BE A BENEFIT
By having an email address you receive an application within minutes of its release…no matter if you’re in England. For many stallholders that is vital to grabbing the sometimes one and only spot available for your product.

ATTITUDE
Having organized markets for 15 years and been a stallholder for 25 I have seen a range of attitudes as stallholders arrive on site from happy and hopeful to irritated and negative. In each case it is always interesting and mostly predictable to see who has the best day in the end.

It is refreshing to see a happy stallholder. Attitude plays an important part in the success of a stallholder’s day and the event itself. Customers spend to make themselves feel good. If you’re a grumpy bugger its unlikely your going to satisfy that need.

As an organizer of one day events I have to say that there are times that you have to make the decision to say “no sorry you are not accepted” just because of a stallholder’s negative attitude. They can infect the stallholders around them also ruining their day and repelling customers. I often get complaints or pleas from other stallholders to ‘please not place me next to such and such’ as they drove me mad and spoiled my day’ or ‘they drive customers away they are so rude’. So really work to increase your sales by working on those communication skills.

WEATHER
Rain, Rain, Rain now this is one area dear stallholders that you have got to accept is not the responsibility of the event organizer to protect you or compensate you for. For most events it is impossible to change the day, there have been DA’s and Road Closure clearances, security and emergency service people organized and staff and hire goods that have to be paid for and most of this has to be paid in many cases with the stall income. Refunds just are not possible.
Get Wet

Be prepared for anything…lift you stock off the ground in case of rain…you may have a tent to protect you from above but water also rises…drains get blocked. This is so important for 2 or three day events where you may leave your stall unattended during the night. Don’t forget this as it can mean the difference between a success and a massive loss.
Remember SOME PEOPLE WALK IN THE RAIN…Others Just get wet..

BAD DAYS – WHO TO BLAME
Over the years it has become easy for us to see what makes a bad day, whether it is the responsibility of the weather, the event, the product, the display, the price point, the target market, the market layout, the event content, or the attitude of the stallholder.

Stallholders sometimes take the point of view of simply blaming the event yet at each event we see all versions of successes and failures and if you really want to ‘get it right in the end’ you need to be open to evaluate what areas you may be able to improve upon eg. Proper weather proofing your stall, product or menu,  Signage, display, product placement, product suitablility, your mood, colour choices, size availability, stall structure, staff commitment, and so on…

Check also if the stall next to you had put a rack out to block the flow of traffic to their stall thereby sending it out further away from your stall. Politely ask them to turn it horizontally so that the flow of traffic can still move along the front of the stalls.

We are not responsible or in anyway do we ensure you will trade well.  We will ensure you get what you ordered such as the space size, the passes and access to power.  As far as generators go, mobile power is not a reliable source and when you do markets you need to take that into account.  Sometimes they breakdown, and the event is at the mercy of the generator company to fix it.  Sometimes the stalls use more than they order and the generator consumes more fuel in supplying power....thereby fuel runs out before it should and may not be able to be replenished as quickly as you would like.  

This is not Westfield trading, it has its insecurities and uncertainties and as stallholders you really need to be prepared to cope with them as best you can or have your own back up systems in place...a gas bbq for emergency, battery powered lighting, an ice box etc.

When you only do a few events a year obviously you hang a lot on the success of those events but for those who are regular event attenders they are able to balance the successes and failures of events.  This is your situation that is the problem not the event.  An event can be successful one year and not the next with no change in circumstance its just the way they go.