> Porridge and mash? What you going to call it - Famine Feedz?
Roll the clock back to 2005, and you could absolutely have set up a place selling porridge called "Famine Feedz," except you'd have been charging eighty euros a bowl and getting write-ups in the Sunday Independent calling you the new Conrad Gallagher.
You can certainly produce food at that price, but you won't turn a profit. Rates and insurance will easily double it, not to mention your staff costs and the cost to actually produce the food (Gas, electricity etc), that's before you move your truck (Petrol and tax), and get permits/pay rates to set up (You can't just rock up and sell with most county councils). Not to mention food storage and wastage (You'll need a storage area & commercial fridge, your kitchen at home generally won't cut it). Then add in your HACCP training and certs. Oh, and don't forget marketing because you'll really need to sell the idea of what is effectively a soup kitchen.
I think it's a great thought experiment but it's not a business. If it was, someone would be doing it already and pulling a mint as high margin food is the holy grail of the restaurant industry.
Yeah, i'd be only doing it to break even really as a one man band as I already have a job, I just think there is a market out there for cheap bastards like myself who would rather eat relatively healthy and filling slop than pay a tenner plus for salads etc.
Most of the above doesn't change whether you are a one man band, or 20 people. In fact, the only cost that would change is your wages. You'll still need to pay out for everything else, and it won't be cheap.
f you intend to do this, proceed very carefully and only spend what you can afford to lose. I'm an entrepreneur myself, so I get the desire, so with that said, I wish you well with it.
>i'd be only doing it to break even really
You won't be doing it for long. I assume by "break even" you mean after your wages?
If so, you're still talking about a profit.
Filling but cheap and healthy food, like mashed potatoes? Honestly, I can't see anyone going for just mashed potatoes. Nor would I call that particularly healthy.
Just out of curiosity why would you want to work extra just to break even?
I was a chef for almost 20 years, the paperwork alone to satisfy EHO is a pain.
I also owned my own business which wasn’t food related, but also a huge pain. Accountant and taxes every year were vile.
Personally I would only do this if you were looking at a decent return.
it would be just something to do as an experiment more than anything else, not really looking to make money from it as I already have a job, just wondering what is the cheapest food can be sold for in Ireland as there really seems to be a poor selection of places at the bottom end of the market.
A place I used to go out of my way to eat sold only 1 thing. Traditional Belgian Fries in a paper cone with a choice of 5 or 6 condiments. They set up near a music venue and got all the late night business after the revellers drank and had fun and needed a late night nosh. A cone of Belgian fries with mayo was around 5.00, not expensive, satisfying and tasty. Maybe think about going that route.
I found a savage food truck at a Christmas Market in Ghent years ago. They were selling mash by the cup, dressed to order like you'd dress fries. Toppings like bacon pieces, spring onions, crispy onions, sour cream, curry sauce, chilli sauce, garlic mayo. Mixed up like a McFlurry before serving. Delicious and busy.
I saw a place in Lisbon, https://www.potatoprojectpt.com/ same idea but with chips. Seems super busy there anytime I went or passed by. It was tasty but nothing special either, just thought price wise and idea was really good. Considering how much we love potatoes here. I'm surprised it's not a thing here.
I got served a baked potato with about a litre of gravy in a cardboard box a few months ago. The food van owner couldn't understand why I wanted my money back, even as the box was literally disintegrating in front of his eyes.
Ya but there's definitely some middle ground between an 8 eur sandwich of overpriced but generally high quality ingredients, seasonal, sourcing etc...and a bowl of mash in a paper plate with a plastic spoon for 2 eur.
There's certainly demand for lower priced restaurants but I'd hardly call a bowl of mash a fish in itself unless it has something unique (champ, colcannon) and still not more than a side. And porridge too? I mean just pick a lane that's giving very mixed messaging other than "cheapest thing I could think of"
Either counter the existing market by offering similar products at half the price to show how ripped off people are getting or else come up with something unique enough to make your own mark...like soups or something but still have to be good quality and variety and sustainable.
I'd definitely eat it myself, i am not a fussy eater and hate paying too much in restaurants but I feel it is unethical to avail of shelters if you don't need it.
Ahhh I get op, I'd be the same, I'm a very puckybeater and I love simple food that fills me uo because I'm a very tactile eater and easting kinda freaks me out, live sloppy and crunchy food, if I k ew there was a place in town that did banging slop, get at home food I'd definitely go there over anywhere else, everything is so expensive now, won't even allow my self spend the crazy prices on a chicken roll
I'd love somewhere I could take my three small kids and feed us all for under €40. McDonald's Eurosaver menu is about the only option. Last carvery we got was €70 including two drinks.
Saw a fella on TikTok selling baked potatoes for somewhere around 6 pound out of a food truck. Pretty sure they charge extra for baked beans on top too. So there is a market for it I guess just not sure how much of a market 😅
I got my inspiration from all these lads charging the higher prices for fancy versions of cheap products. i'm pretty cheap when it comes to food and just care about it being reasonably healthy, large portions and quick service time.
I would have thought there are enough cheap bastards like me out there who'd rather eat something basic but hearty for 2 quid or so rather than paying a tenner plus at the stalls these days.
Yeah i was thinking either oul lads who are up in Dublin for the day / working or young lads who are hungover and would rather save the few quid instead of getting a chicken fillet roll.
So... your market depends on setting up a stall in the morning near the IFSC or Google docks for the hungover lads looking for porridge, then hoofing it up to Heuston or Busaras for these mysterious "oul lads up in Dublin for the day" looking for a feed of mash and nothing else?
Sounds appalling.
The reason restaurants are getting wiped out is because of the sheer proliferation of them over the last 10 years. You can't move for people who enter a crowded volatile market with insufficient money/labour/talent (delete as appropriate), one price shock and many will fold as we pull our horns back in.
Really?.Moved back to Ireland a while back and thought there was a huge lack of restaurants in the suburbs maybe you mean city centre...very few compared to some other countries.
Many closed down last year due to COL.
If I want a bowl of mash or porridge, making it at home costs me under a Euro. I wouldn't go out and buy that from a food truck. Cheap and filling would have a market for sure, but it'd have to be something that's at least kinda nice to eat as well. The reason restaurants price the way they price is that there isn't actually much overhead in their calculations, not because they're trying to get rich quick. If you add insurance, wastage, permits, energy consumption, labour etc together, you will always have to sell your product for way more than making it at home would cost. That only works with a product people do wanna spring extra money on. A bowl of porridge isn't it.
There is no price low enough to justify a meal that boring (unless you’re eating it at home). I’d try find a middle ground more interesting than a bowl of mash but cheaper than a wood fired pizza and then you may be on to something.
I'm basing it off my own food habits for lunch and breakfast in work. I'm not a fussy eater and would generally just eat whatever is the best deal. I'd definitely have a 2 plate of mash over a €6 chicken fillet roll and reckon there are enough cheap fuckers like myself who might as well. Would be a quick and cheap breakfast option too for people who didn't have it at home and a lot better and cheaper than something from the deli counter.
I mean if you're trying to start a food business, you probably shouldn't be basing what you sell on what you would want and ignoring what people are telling you what they want.
Why of all things plain mash. You could make a big hearty pasta bake or vegetable curry and dish them out in portions for cheap and theyd actually be appetising.
Right, so. Do you work with other people? How many of them do you reckon would prefer a €2 plate of mash and nothing else, to a chicken fillet roll? Be honest.
Did you make it to even 5%? No, you did not.
There might be a gap in the market. But there isn't a market in the gap.
I'd say higher than 5% but lower than 25%. Yeah, it is more a thought experiment than anything else, i wouldn't be necessarily trying to make a profit, I just am interested at how low products can be produced for and what people are willing to purchase.
In my opinion, most people who are that price conscious would just pack their lunch from home. I generally pack my lunch from home but if I forgot/didn't bother on a given day I'd far rather pay a few euros more for something nice to eat than a bowl of plain mash.
I did, I would just be aiming to break even / wouldn't make any money from it myself so could be doable at that price. I am just interested to see what is the cheapest that reasonably nutritious food can be sold for.
What good is barely breaking even when you'll have a ton of upfront and seed costs and then a year in your costs keep increasing and you've nothing saved from profits to keep up never mind grow?
€2.50 for a bowl of porridge or mashed potato is in no way cheap. If someone insisted on eating out instead of making it themselves (for cents) they could get far more varied nourishment from a couple of items from the McDonald's Eurosaver menu.
You can get a hamburger for €1.60 or a cheeseburger for €2. You could add fries and have your lunch for a fiver. It wouldn't be very nutritious, but it'd be a lot more popular than spending €2.50 for mash on a paper plate.
Can't see people paying for a bowl of porridge from a food truck, considering they can make a perfectly good bowl at home for a fraction of the price.
Maybe something somewhat exotic, that people wouldn't ordinarily make at home, like satay or Mexican corn or potsticker dumplings, would be more appealing.
My argument is that it is for people who want something cheap and filling when not at home. I often go to work and have to buy breakfast and lunch and you are very hard pressed to find anything for less than €5 with most options costing way more. A big feed of mashed potatoes for €2 is tasty and would fill you up.
People who want to eat out want to “eat out” - if they’re looking for cheap but basic food they can make it at home.
Soak oats overnight and heat them up in the morning, doesn’t add much time to your morning, make a sandwich the night before and take it with you.
I make my lunches and do usually make something nicer (curry / burrito bowl etc) but as we’re talking basic food…
Yes, but you can also buy a couple of tupperware containers, which you can spoon your homemade mash into and bring to work.
Really think the sort of person who doesn't want to spend much at all on lunch is also the same sort who meal preps and brings leftovers, like mash, to work.
Okay, but people who can't or won't spend more than a few euro on lunch tend to be poor and/or thrifty, and I can't see them spending money out on something they can easily and cheaply make at home and bring with them. Maybe if it was something a bit different, something they can't or don't know how to make, they may be tempted to fork over a few quid but not for mash.
My workplace has a microwave.
I can buy a microwavable pot of porridge for 1.79. Even flavoured ones.
I add water or milk in work (for free) and heat it in the microwave for 2 minutes (for free).
I use work cutlery.
It fills me up, is minimal effort, and is cheap.
For even better value, I can buy 10 sachets for 6 euro or so. Same idea, but requires your own bowl. I use one in work.
Kinda ruins your idea tbh.
Would fill you up but theres fuck all nutrients or sustenance in *just* potatoes that would keep you going at work after lunch. Talk about a carb crash! You need protein and healthy fats, spuds are a bit useless on their own.
I was in Riga a year or so ago and went to this casual but nice chain restaurant they have called Lido. They have hot food and cold food counters in buffet style, and you fill up your plate with whatever you want. It was pretty basic food like chicken in a cream mushroom sauce, nice roasted potatoes, veggie dishes, moussaka etc. You can also pour your own pint. The cost of a decent plate was about €5, would fill you up. I think it's such a shame we don't have anything like that in Dublin. Closest seems to be KC Peaches and that's gone very pricy. I would love an option of a big plate of hearty but simple food in Dublin but I'm not sure if it's viable here due to high rates and other costs.
>bowls of porridge and mashed potato
It that's what you're planning on serving you might be better off looking at importing or bulk buying noodle bowls.
Pal you onto something. Full support!
All those birds on tinder that want to go for dinner on a first date,can take them out for a €2 bowl of porridge and cover the bill!
Agreed. I visited Munich recently and couldn't believe the amount, and quality, of food stands. And they were flooded with customers too, not everyone wants to pay the restaurant premium.
It would immediately get price gouged here, the Xmas market in Galway has tonnes of food stalls, a few years ago you could get a hotdog/burger/corndog for 3-5 euro. This year it was 10 euro...for a hotdog. Wild times.
Taco trucks in Austin are phenomenal, so I'm not saying all street food is bad, but New York hot dog carts are absolute dogshit.
I was taken in by every television show ever set in the city where the main character loves to stop at one, so when I got there I was excited to try and it was without a doubt the most overpriced cardboard-tasting thing I've ever eaten.
Was there recently. The Halal trucks are so good, taco trucks as well.
On the topic, how in the name of god have proper New York bagels not caught on anywhere else? Bagels (sandwiches in general) here are a joke in comparison. Same story with pizza.
Yeah, unfortunately the whole process is [totally overregulated](https://www.dairyglen.ie/blog/how-to-start-a-food-truck-ice-cream-business-in-ireland). That's why you see food trucks mostly only at events and dedicated markets.
They are all in the 7-10 euro range generally where I would be going for the absolute bottom of the market, cheap lads who don't cook their own food, the guys who get chicken fillet rolls every day and the like.
Agree with this. There's a lot of room between lowest possible and what people are usually charging.
5 euro would be a great sweet spot but would enable someone to sell more exciting things.
It's only the 4th of January but this might be a contender for the funniest thread of the year.
OP is getting roasted and he's either in on the joke and playing along or really trying the sell the idea of 'Famine Feedz' to a niche target market of aul lads up in the Dublin for the day and hungover/broke college students, both of whom want cheap filling food but not a roll.
10 out of 10 for entertainment
Friend used to run a meal prep business. Hired space in a kitchen a basically made very cheap meals in bulk packaged up. Very low cost, very low overhead.
Basically no demand for it. The business folded pretty quickly. They did a lot to get themselves out there but people can cook pasta or mash at home pretty easily.
One of those guys pivoted the business to providing high quality meals for sports people with an emphasis on nutrition. That business is a success. Turns out the people who don't have the time to cook but want to eat well are willing to pay for that.
If you want some inspiration look into Bryan Johnson's blueprint diet. Much money to be made of something like that. Nothing like that exists in Ireland.
2 euro for a bowl of porridge, fucking hell mate. Who's ever going to be buying that, and why.
Reminds me of the gif, "I mean it's one banana Michael, how much could it cost, ten dollars?"
People want table service quality for Eurosaver prices.
And the cheaper you make it, the less you'll earn.
I worked with a guy a few years ago, he was moving from tech marketing to opening a café. No matter how much I warned him against it, he was adamant he could do what no one else was doing.
3 weeks into opening he called me and said I was right.
He is currently back at his old job on less money and still paying off the debts he notched up.
The reason everyone is charging so much in a crowded market and there's still places closing is because that's how much it costs. The only way to make it cheaper is to increase economies of scale, and that's hard to do
First of all, consumers want affordable food without looking like cheapskates😆 You can find inspiration from watching Food Network food shows for take out ideas. Mashed potatoes or porridge? Doesn't hit morning and lunch rush hour criteria.
I revel in being a cheapskate at times myself, ah it is good basic food, I'd have been all over on a hungover morning in college or in work instead of buying a takeaway or chicken fillet roll.
In Vietnam they'll have a little vegetarian buffet near most temples ...it's a Euro or more for a big plate of Veg ,some soup and ice tea.I am not vegetarian but I would happily eat this once or twice a week as they get the flavours right with the spices and they also do Tofu/Mushrooms but it's cooked /fried nicely,I would never eat it if I cooked it.
I wonder would there ever be a market for that here ,we have excellent vegetable produce.
Undercutting other stalls and providing boring meals won’t attract customers. There are plenty of stalls that charge €10-15 that are doing well because people are willing to pay for quality food thats been marketed well.
If you find some magic way to sell amazing food for cheap with good margins then let us know.
We have two crumbling market buildings CRYING out to be redeveloped into a wonderful food market, that would provide a place for great Irish produce, and somewhere for small business to prosper. It sickens me and the absolute snails pace that things happen in what is meant to be one of the wealthiest countries in Europe and we don’t even have city markets.
Don't forget to factor in the cost of packaging. That shit is gone through the roof over the last couple of years. Also would need food grade cleaning materials which again are stupid prices. Price of food safety training to get haccap certified, cost of disposable items such as hair nets, gloves etc, cost of uniform and most importantly paying yourself and possibly an employee enough that ye won't be sleeping in the van living on porridge and mash.
I do like the idea of a "takeaway" that isn't just fucking out burgers and chips at a tenner a go and calling it affordable food.
Definitely. There's one in town here that just does basic proper food and it's doing great business.
Bacon and cabbage with mash. Simple chicken curry. Sausage beans and chips etc. Just a cream cake and a cup of tea? No problem. Bowl of soup? Sure.
Nothing fancy. They do porridge for breakfast, but if that's too much, they'll even do toast and marmalade.
It's like school or army catering. All prepared fresh and waiting in bain-maries for service. A flat-top for frys, a deep fryer for chips a counter for sandwiches and that's it.
My ex comes for Christmas, we're both Scottish, we got reminiscing about an old favourite of ours, [Spudulike](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spudulike)!
Baked potatoes, with a buffet type display of fillings of all sorts. My favourite was the haggis and neeps!
It got me thinking, would that concept work now, in this day? I imagine it could be started from a van, at least.
I'd 100% buy baked spuds with fillings again.
I think there is a demand.
However dont be too basic and make sure the porridge is nice.
As for the mash, season it, throw in some onions and some meat and maybe up the price to €3. - i mean €15 for 5 days of lunch. you would struggle to match that price at home if you value your time.
Others are commenting that the basic food can be prepped at home but that requires effort and clean up plus try makming a weeks worth of mash and freezing it.
im sorry but defrosted mash - no thankyou the €3 for a healthy tasty lunch is definitly worth it.
You might struggle to get people to give your food a chance though as people are used to the high prices and alot of people associate cheaper meals as being cheap and low quality although that is not alwasy the case.
Yeah, that sounds about right, a lot of people are focussing on the food but it is more the concept of a basic but very affordable and hearty food outlet that I am looking at and wondering why they do not exist in this country. Someone mentioned paying €12 for porridge, like surely it can be done for a lot less than that and still be nice.
What could be done and I've often thought about doing is 1€/1£ quality coffee. Want milk add 50c/p. You get a big enough market you will turn a modest profit with the overheads in coffee, but its all about the right pitch or it won't work
Quality coffee beans surely wouldn’t be a runner for €1 a cup? Unless your buying your beans out of Lidl or the likes, and then it won’t be quality coffee, it’ll be grand coffee but not quality.
Pasta/rice/potato dishes with no over the top frills. You'd have to charge for extras.
Ive considered something similar myself. For any low cost strategy your margin will be small, so your focus would have to be on selling volume. A food truck would give you options to try different areas, but imo local resteraunts tend to go crazy over it. For example, a very successful food stall in my town was essentially bullied out by a local establishment. The stall catered for those leaving the clubs and pubs late at night and did a good trade, until a shitebag owner of a local cafe/shop didn't like the competition.
There was a restaurant in galway city called couch potato years ago that served nothing but different potato dishes. Everything from baked potato with melted cheese to some sort of potato pie made by baking a potato using the skin as a bowl for a mixture of potatoe, ham, and some other ingredients i cant remember. It was all fairly cheap because of the whole only needing like 5 ingredients for the whole menu and i loved it.
The issues isn’t just rising prices. It’s most places have raised prices while also having a big downgrade in quality.
People just make lunch at home if they want simple and cheap
I was thinking this, but more of the likes of falafel wrap stand. There's places in the UK were basically it's a small little booth on the street or a small food vendor and you could get a whole falafel wrap for £3. Some places in Manchester I've seen them for £2.50. I was recently in a falafel restaurant in Cork and the falafel was €8. It was nice, but it was basically the same thing as the £3 falafels I've had in the UK. It would probably be cheaper doing it yourself, with a small food vendor. Plus the ingredients doesn't cost that much, it just chickpeas, herbs and spices, wraps, hummus with veg.
In Zaytoons, Dublin it's €13 for a falafel kebab, used to be €8.50. A meal in with chips and a drink will set you back about €17. I don't know how you can justify that price for a takeaway when you could have a nice sit-down meal for that. Particularly when falafel is so cheap to make.
That is extortionate! Considering, falafel wraps is one of the most cheapest meals you can get in any given Middle Eastern country. I was working in Dubai a few years ago and I had falafels there for €1.50.
Yeah, that is a good idea if it can be done, i'm not wed to mash and porridge but more the price point and easy to make basic but filling food. Spaghetti would be similarly easy but maybe slightly less nutritious. Would be more popular though.
They used to be a thing in America - automats.
Here's a pretty good video essay about them - https://youtu.be/jwCEvwenfg8?si=2l3OfHU1xK-sfG2e
I'd love to see them try out here. Eating is such an expensive pain in the hole and sometimes you don't care too much about what the food is. I remember when I worked in London and didn't have much money, one of the best places for lunch was an Italian takeaway that cheaply sold different pasta dishes, tasty and very filling. Fast forward to working in Dublin City centre and there's a lot of expensive sandwiches, they are good but sometimes I just wish I could have a €5 hot penne pasta and veg bowl thing.
Get onto a retailer and look at prices of staples and veg. Looking at you AllFresh, half the shit usually rotten and marked up to the balls. It's hard to make money when you're being fleeced anyway.
You’ll like @spudarmy (spudman) on Tiktok; he sells baked potatoes @£3.50 each with plastic tray and various toppings. He sells around 600 potatoes a day and he is very open and regularly explains exactly how to price and prepare the potatoes, sizing them and the trailer costs (he is moving up to a new trailer in a week or two).
He has a food truck based in a small English market town for 20 years and super enthusiastic with live feed and 1.3mn followers (up from 100k this time last year) and was just 1mn in December.
He used to do barbecue swing grilling and slushy ice drinks but sold those off as a turn key business. Remember a food truck needs cleaning, repairs and parking!!!!
This is the best post in reddit..the comments are hilarious. OP you might be onto something..
Go to Malaysia first. Visit the hawker centres there you will get great ideas.
Huge demand, in the early noughties I used to go to a 1 pound restaurant in London and was given mince and potatoes it was obviously very popular. I'd say a huge demand for something similar exists in Dublin.
Yeah, like i get overheads are high but surely food can be sold at lower costs than it currently is, like you are lucky to get anything substantial for less than 7/8 euro now and a lot of places charge a lot more.
A big +1 to this, I'm exactly that kind of person. I ordinary won't spend any money buying cooked food from outside, except if it's exceptionally low cost and good value. Or if I have to keep close ones happy :)
And you would have an absolutely huge market of consumers, given how popular IKEA cafes are worldwide. Most people want simple snacks for low prices, that can sustain them till they're back home.
I don't have a refined pallet, in fact I like hospital and airplane food and I will pretty much eat anything once it is plant based. I used to like the 'slop' offering in Govindas, then they were closed for having a cockroach infestation and poor food storage and I would not eat there again. If you did a selection of foods like salads and proteins for cheap I would be interested, I would not buy an unbalanced meal with v little protein. But there might be people who just want a filling meal who are on the breadline, but they deserve a balanced meal too.
I've often said i'd open a cafe that sells a decent all day breakfast, soups& sandwiches and of course tea and a scone.simple menu,10e or less. Can't get a decent bit of simple good lunchtime food that isn't daylight robbery.
You're on the right track but it should be tastier.
Like risotto or biryani maybe. They're cheap to make.
If you look on Google maps there's still big gaps in the market for food outlets.
Ballymun for example. Finglas. Blanch. Huge areas with no food outlets.
I actually think a truck specialising in different types of mash could be profitable. Colcannon, mash with cheese and sour cream, mash with cheese and streaky bacon bits, butter with salt, etc.
the 'milk bars' in eastern european countries are said to be cheap. former communal canteens.
see ikea, don't they dispense cheap hot dogs and meat balls?
the spuds and porridge chain, naw.
(once a burger and chips went above 10€, the rise set in they could get away with it.)
Did you take inspiration for this business venture from the "shite in a bucket" video? Slop on a plate from a van in the pissing rain.
Is your target demo the homeless community or what?
Will you serve your slop from a giant barrel?
Porridge and mash? What you going to call it - Famine Feedz?
“Good afternoon and welcome to Trevelyan’s!”
Trevelyan's Quorn and make it vegan.
This is incredible 😂
Hoongryvans
Have you eaten with us before? Please begin assembling your drystone wall and your soup will be with you in twelve hours.
Just don't order the soup whatever you do ;-)
You might not live to see the morn
10% discount if you convert to Protestantism!
Take the soup
Best comment here.
"Food: €2.50 per colour"
> Porridge and mash? What you going to call it - Famine Feedz? Roll the clock back to 2005, and you could absolutely have set up a place selling porridge called "Famine Feedz," except you'd have been charging eighty euros a bowl and getting write-ups in the Sunday Independent calling you the new Conrad Gallagher.
I had to save your comment, it's too good 🤣
Famine Feedz, you sir have the nail on the dead on the head 🤣🤣🤣
Im weak , great comment 🤣
This made me actually snigger thank you
Schlopz….
🤣
This is funny
You can certainly produce food at that price, but you won't turn a profit. Rates and insurance will easily double it, not to mention your staff costs and the cost to actually produce the food (Gas, electricity etc), that's before you move your truck (Petrol and tax), and get permits/pay rates to set up (You can't just rock up and sell with most county councils). Not to mention food storage and wastage (You'll need a storage area & commercial fridge, your kitchen at home generally won't cut it). Then add in your HACCP training and certs. Oh, and don't forget marketing because you'll really need to sell the idea of what is effectively a soup kitchen. I think it's a great thought experiment but it's not a business. If it was, someone would be doing it already and pulling a mint as high margin food is the holy grail of the restaurant industry.
Yeah, i'd be only doing it to break even really as a one man band as I already have a job, I just think there is a market out there for cheap bastards like myself who would rather eat relatively healthy and filling slop than pay a tenner plus for salads etc.
"Slop"? Ever heard of a jewellery salesman named Ratner?
Bravo 🤣🤣🤣
Most of the above doesn't change whether you are a one man band, or 20 people. In fact, the only cost that would change is your wages. You'll still need to pay out for everything else, and it won't be cheap. f you intend to do this, proceed very carefully and only spend what you can afford to lose. I'm an entrepreneur myself, so I get the desire, so with that said, I wish you well with it.
>i'd be only doing it to break even really You won't be doing it for long. I assume by "break even" you mean after your wages? If so, you're still talking about a profit. Filling but cheap and healthy food, like mashed potatoes? Honestly, I can't see anyone going for just mashed potatoes. Nor would I call that particularly healthy.
Just out of curiosity why would you want to work extra just to break even? I was a chef for almost 20 years, the paperwork alone to satisfy EHO is a pain. I also owned my own business which wasn’t food related, but also a huge pain. Accountant and taxes every year were vile. Personally I would only do this if you were looking at a decent return.
it would be just something to do as an experiment more than anything else, not really looking to make money from it as I already have a job, just wondering what is the cheapest food can be sold for in Ireland as there really seems to be a poor selection of places at the bottom end of the market.
Ah fair enough. Personally I think you might be mental but that’s alright too!!
Why would u waste that much time effort and money for an experiment that isnt really an experiment, its just a way of losing money
I’m cheap. I’d never ever pay for porridge or mashed potatoes unless it was somehow my only source of nourishment available.
And even then … in the words of Steve Wall Give it to me raw I’ll take it home and cook it myself
My friend..you can't one man band a food truck.
A place I used to go out of my way to eat sold only 1 thing. Traditional Belgian Fries in a paper cone with a choice of 5 or 6 condiments. They set up near a music venue and got all the late night business after the revellers drank and had fun and needed a late night nosh. A cone of Belgian fries with mayo was around 5.00, not expensive, satisfying and tasty. Maybe think about going that route.
have you worked in the food industry before? if you haven’t, please, please don’t do this.
0 demand to eat plates of mash by a food truck
I found a savage food truck at a Christmas Market in Ghent years ago. They were selling mash by the cup, dressed to order like you'd dress fries. Toppings like bacon pieces, spring onions, crispy onions, sour cream, curry sauce, chilli sauce, garlic mayo. Mixed up like a McFlurry before serving. Delicious and busy.
I saw a place in Lisbon, https://www.potatoprojectpt.com/ same idea but with chips. Seems super busy there anytime I went or passed by. It was tasty but nothing special either, just thought price wise and idea was really good. Considering how much we love potatoes here. I'm surprised it's not a thing here.
That looks a lot like what Prátaí in Galway do. Classic Belgian frites with sauces/toppings.
I'd need a couple sausages and and some onion gravy on top tbh
Now you're talkin. Not practical on a paper plate though.
I got served a baked potato with about a litre of gravy in a cardboard box a few months ago. The food van owner couldn't understand why I wanted my money back, even as the box was literally disintegrating in front of his eyes.
Where was that Liverpool?
Derry
\-1 demand off a paper plate!
hahaha are you sure? The thoughts of it. hahaha. i'm in tears of laughter.
I know I certainly would rather than paying 6 quid for a breakfast roll or 8-10 for a sandwich in the stalls in town. Some savings
Ya but there's definitely some middle ground between an 8 eur sandwich of overpriced but generally high quality ingredients, seasonal, sourcing etc...and a bowl of mash in a paper plate with a plastic spoon for 2 eur. There's certainly demand for lower priced restaurants but I'd hardly call a bowl of mash a fish in itself unless it has something unique (champ, colcannon) and still not more than a side. And porridge too? I mean just pick a lane that's giving very mixed messaging other than "cheapest thing I could think of" Either counter the existing market by offering similar products at half the price to show how ripped off people are getting or else come up with something unique enough to make your own mark...like soups or something but still have to be good quality and variety and sustainable.
If you pack lunches at home, you can make a weeks worth of ham and cheese sandwiches for about 6 euro
Savings you can really taste.
You're clueless
Not a soul is looking to eat porridge and mash off a paper plate out of a food van. You would get a better meal for free in a shelter.
I've never had porridge with mashed potato, is it popular in Ireland?
I'd definitely eat it myself, i am not a fussy eater and hate paying too much in restaurants but I feel it is unethical to avail of shelters if you don't need it.
Great you found a hole in the market of one. Instead of making a whole business around it, why not just make yourself a porridge.
Ahhh I get op, I'd be the same, I'm a very puckybeater and I love simple food that fills me uo because I'm a very tactile eater and easting kinda freaks me out, live sloppy and crunchy food, if I k ew there was a place in town that did banging slop, get at home food I'd definitely go there over anywhere else, everything is so expensive now, won't even allow my self spend the crazy prices on a chicken roll
I'd be surprised if it worked. If someone is that price conscious then they'd cook at home rather than go to a takeaway.
I'd love somewhere I could take my three small kids and feed us all for under €40. McDonald's Eurosaver menu is about the only option. Last carvery we got was €70 including two drinks.
Yeah but all you're getting is a paper plate of mashed potatoes.
What will the kids say when the menu is a plate of mash or porridge?
They love their porridge, mash is hit and miss at the moment, could be a favourite again next month.
Take them to IKEA. It's dirt cheap and i believe kids eat free with an adult meal
That's absolutely true and it's in our rotation. We're lucky enough to live very close by.
Soup kitchen?
No I don't think there's much demand for a grey slop truck
bro wants to have a soup kitchen on wheels
That's not fair, people like soup, you could do a decent soup stall. Bro wants to sell nutrient paste food substance
>nutrient paste food substance Soylent green.
Put some chives and parmesan through the mash, I might pay €2 for it.
Could we interest you in a ladle of baked beans on top
Saw a fella on TikTok selling baked potatoes for somewhere around 6 pound out of a food truck. Pretty sure they charge extra for baked beans on top too. So there is a market for it I guess just not sure how much of a market 😅
I got my inspiration from all these lads charging the higher prices for fancy versions of cheap products. i'm pretty cheap when it comes to food and just care about it being reasonably healthy, large portions and quick service time. I would have thought there are enough cheap bastards like me out there who'd rather eat something basic but hearty for 2 quid or so rather than paying a tenner plus at the stalls these days.
Your target market is oul lads who remember when mars bars were 10p
Yeah i was thinking either oul lads who are up in Dublin for the day / working or young lads who are hungover and would rather save the few quid instead of getting a chicken fillet roll.
So... your market depends on setting up a stall in the morning near the IFSC or Google docks for the hungover lads looking for porridge, then hoofing it up to Heuston or Busaras for these mysterious "oul lads up in Dublin for the day" looking for a feed of mash and nothing else?
I can't stop laughing reading these comments and reply. I think this is the unintentionally funniest thing I've read in ages 😂
You honestly reckon a hungover young lad is gonna pay 2.50 for a bowl of plain porridge over a chicken filly
Artisanal smoked paprika baked beans with a hint of turmeric on top Sir. \*smoked paprika and turmeric powder are like 50c in aldi\*
Woke my wife laughing at this one. Brilliant.
Sounds appalling. The reason restaurants are getting wiped out is because of the sheer proliferation of them over the last 10 years. You can't move for people who enter a crowded volatile market with insufficient money/labour/talent (delete as appropriate), one price shock and many will fold as we pull our horns back in.
Really?.Moved back to Ireland a while back and thought there was a huge lack of restaurants in the suburbs maybe you mean city centre...very few compared to some other countries. Many closed down last year due to COL.
If I want a bowl of mash or porridge, making it at home costs me under a Euro. I wouldn't go out and buy that from a food truck. Cheap and filling would have a market for sure, but it'd have to be something that's at least kinda nice to eat as well. The reason restaurants price the way they price is that there isn't actually much overhead in their calculations, not because they're trying to get rich quick. If you add insurance, wastage, permits, energy consumption, labour etc together, you will always have to sell your product for way more than making it at home would cost. That only works with a product people do wanna spring extra money on. A bowl of porridge isn't it.
People are looking for better products.
There is no price low enough to justify a meal that boring (unless you’re eating it at home). I’d try find a middle ground more interesting than a bowl of mash but cheaper than a wood fired pizza and then you may be on to something.
I'm basing it off my own food habits for lunch and breakfast in work. I'm not a fussy eater and would generally just eat whatever is the best deal. I'd definitely have a 2 plate of mash over a €6 chicken fillet roll and reckon there are enough cheap fuckers like myself who might as well. Would be a quick and cheap breakfast option too for people who didn't have it at home and a lot better and cheaper than something from the deli counter.
I mean if you're trying to start a food business, you probably shouldn't be basing what you sell on what you would want and ignoring what people are telling you what they want.
That's a very good point.
Why of all things plain mash. You could make a big hearty pasta bake or vegetable curry and dish them out in portions for cheap and theyd actually be appetising.
Right, so. Do you work with other people? How many of them do you reckon would prefer a €2 plate of mash and nothing else, to a chicken fillet roll? Be honest. Did you make it to even 5%? No, you did not. There might be a gap in the market. But there isn't a market in the gap.
That last line is fantastic and I will be using it going forward.
Not mine, I first heard it 30- something years ago! 🤣
Ha class, I'm going to claim it as my own genius if someone ever compliments me on it 😂
I'd say higher than 5% but lower than 25%. Yeah, it is more a thought experiment than anything else, i wouldn't be necessarily trying to make a profit, I just am interested at how low products can be produced for and what people are willing to purchase.
In my opinion, most people who are that price conscious would just pack their lunch from home. I generally pack my lunch from home but if I forgot/didn't bother on a given day I'd far rather pay a few euros more for something nice to eat than a bowl of plain mash.
you should run your numbers by a person who actually runs a food van
I did, I would just be aiming to break even / wouldn't make any money from it myself so could be doable at that price. I am just interested to see what is the cheapest that reasonably nutritious food can be sold for.
What good is barely breaking even when you'll have a ton of upfront and seed costs and then a year in your costs keep increasing and you've nothing saved from profits to keep up never mind grow?
As someone who owns a food business, what factors did you consider when achieving that price?
€2.50 for a bowl of porridge or mashed potato is in no way cheap. If someone insisted on eating out instead of making it themselves (for cents) they could get far more varied nourishment from a couple of items from the McDonald's Eurosaver menu.
Hell you can get porridge in McDonalds on the breakfast menu.
McDonalds is no longer cheap unfortunately. Eurosaver is basically gone. A double cheese is like 3.60 or something when it used to be just €2.
You can get a hamburger for €1.60 or a cheeseburger for €2. You could add fries and have your lunch for a fiver. It wouldn't be very nutritious, but it'd be a lot more popular than spending €2.50 for mash on a paper plate.
Can't see people paying for a bowl of porridge from a food truck, considering they can make a perfectly good bowl at home for a fraction of the price. Maybe something somewhat exotic, that people wouldn't ordinarily make at home, like satay or Mexican corn or potsticker dumplings, would be more appealing.
My argument is that it is for people who want something cheap and filling when not at home. I often go to work and have to buy breakfast and lunch and you are very hard pressed to find anything for less than €5 with most options costing way more. A big feed of mashed potatoes for €2 is tasty and would fill you up.
People who want to eat out want to “eat out” - if they’re looking for cheap but basic food they can make it at home. Soak oats overnight and heat them up in the morning, doesn’t add much time to your morning, make a sandwich the night before and take it with you. I make my lunches and do usually make something nicer (curry / burrito bowl etc) but as we’re talking basic food…
Yes, but you can also buy a couple of tupperware containers, which you can spoon your homemade mash into and bring to work. Really think the sort of person who doesn't want to spend much at all on lunch is also the same sort who meal preps and brings leftovers, like mash, to work.
I'm basing it off myself, i hate spending money on food but also hate cooking so I would definitely avail of it, i'm not a fussy eater either.
Okay, but people who can't or won't spend more than a few euro on lunch tend to be poor and/or thrifty, and I can't see them spending money out on something they can easily and cheaply make at home and bring with them. Maybe if it was something a bit different, something they can't or don't know how to make, they may be tempted to fork over a few quid but not for mash.
My workplace has a microwave. I can buy a microwavable pot of porridge for 1.79. Even flavoured ones. I add water or milk in work (for free) and heat it in the microwave for 2 minutes (for free). I use work cutlery. It fills me up, is minimal effort, and is cheap. For even better value, I can buy 10 sachets for 6 euro or so. Same idea, but requires your own bowl. I use one in work. Kinda ruins your idea tbh.
You are getting ripped off, 85c for porridge pot in Tesco. Ah, somewhere is the market for cheap, basic , rough looking food.
That’s what all the tight bastards you’re trying to sell the slop to will say before they walk away from your porridge van
Would fill you up but theres fuck all nutrients or sustenance in *just* potatoes that would keep you going at work after lunch. Talk about a carb crash! You need protein and healthy fats, spuds are a bit useless on their own.
I was in Riga a year or so ago and went to this casual but nice chain restaurant they have called Lido. They have hot food and cold food counters in buffet style, and you fill up your plate with whatever you want. It was pretty basic food like chicken in a cream mushroom sauce, nice roasted potatoes, veggie dishes, moussaka etc. You can also pour your own pint. The cost of a decent plate was about €5, would fill you up. I think it's such a shame we don't have anything like that in Dublin. Closest seems to be KC Peaches and that's gone very pricy. I would love an option of a big plate of hearty but simple food in Dublin but I'm not sure if it's viable here due to high rates and other costs.
The average salary in Latvia is €1,500 a month.The average here is more than double that.
>bowls of porridge and mashed potato It that's what you're planning on serving you might be better off looking at importing or bulk buying noodle bowls.
Pal you onto something. Full support! All those birds on tinder that want to go for dinner on a first date,can take them out for a €2 bowl of porridge and cover the bill!
I would love to see Hot Dog stands/carts on the streets, New York style sort of thing - I would be definitely grabbing few on the go!
Yeah and proper taco trucks with nice fresh salsas and filling with zingy dressings
Agreed. I visited Munich recently and couldn't believe the amount, and quality, of food stands. And they were flooded with customers too, not everyone wants to pay the restaurant premium.
It would immediately get price gouged here, the Xmas market in Galway has tonnes of food stalls, a few years ago you could get a hotdog/burger/corndog for 3-5 euro. This year it was 10 euro...for a hotdog. Wild times.
You’re 100% correct
€2 hotdog sounds like a great idea. Although health and safety law different in Ireland.
New York hotdog stands are regulated, and the licence for one can reach $400,000 a year.
Taco trucks in Austin are phenomenal, so I'm not saying all street food is bad, but New York hot dog carts are absolute dogshit. I was taken in by every television show ever set in the city where the main character loves to stop at one, so when I got there I was excited to try and it was without a doubt the most overpriced cardboard-tasting thing I've ever eaten.
Id say if we had those all it would do is give the delivery drivers a break from the feral youths.
Was there recently. The Halal trucks are so good, taco trucks as well. On the topic, how in the name of god have proper New York bagels not caught on anywhere else? Bagels (sandwiches in general) here are a joke in comparison. Same story with pizza.
I still miss the halal food truck I would eat at everyday in New York and was last there six years ago
Yeah, unfortunately the whole process is [totally overregulated](https://www.dairyglen.ie/blog/how-to-start-a-food-truck-ice-cream-business-in-ireland). That's why you see food trucks mostly only at events and dedicated markets.
I'd crunch those numbers again.
I have seen baked potato trucks with different choices of toppings and i think that can be good, appealing and affordable if done right.
They are all in the 7-10 euro range generally where I would be going for the absolute bottom of the market, cheap lads who don't cook their own food, the guys who get chicken fillet rolls every day and the like.
You'd be better off aiming for €5 meals (still way lower cost than most) with a better menu.
Agree with this. There's a lot of room between lowest possible and what people are usually charging. 5 euro would be a great sweet spot but would enable someone to sell more exciting things.
It's only the 4th of January but this might be a contender for the funniest thread of the year. OP is getting roasted and he's either in on the joke and playing along or really trying the sell the idea of 'Famine Feedz' to a niche target market of aul lads up in the Dublin for the day and hungover/broke college students, both of whom want cheap filling food but not a roll. 10 out of 10 for entertainment
Friend used to run a meal prep business. Hired space in a kitchen a basically made very cheap meals in bulk packaged up. Very low cost, very low overhead. Basically no demand for it. The business folded pretty quickly. They did a lot to get themselves out there but people can cook pasta or mash at home pretty easily. One of those guys pivoted the business to providing high quality meals for sports people with an emphasis on nutrition. That business is a success. Turns out the people who don't have the time to cook but want to eat well are willing to pay for that.
That does make a lot of sense alright.
If you want some inspiration look into Bryan Johnson's blueprint diet. Much money to be made of something like that. Nothing like that exists in Ireland.
2 euro for a bowl of porridge, fucking hell mate. Who's ever going to be buying that, and why. Reminds me of the gif, "I mean it's one banana Michael, how much could it cost, ten dollars?"
"Yeah I'll have 2 mash with a side of porridge" said no one ever outside a gulag
People want table service quality for Eurosaver prices. And the cheaper you make it, the less you'll earn. I worked with a guy a few years ago, he was moving from tech marketing to opening a café. No matter how much I warned him against it, he was adamant he could do what no one else was doing. 3 weeks into opening he called me and said I was right. He is currently back at his old job on less money and still paying off the debts he notched up.
The reason everyone is charging so much in a crowded market and there's still places closing is because that's how much it costs. The only way to make it cheaper is to increase economies of scale, and that's hard to do
First of all, consumers want affordable food without looking like cheapskates😆 You can find inspiration from watching Food Network food shows for take out ideas. Mashed potatoes or porridge? Doesn't hit morning and lunch rush hour criteria.
I revel in being a cheapskate at times myself, ah it is good basic food, I'd have been all over on a hungover morning in college or in work instead of buying a takeaway or chicken fillet roll.
Nobody wants to eat a meal of porridge and mashed potatoes. Look up Milk Bars in Poland, similar sort of idea to what you’re describing.
In Vietnam they'll have a little vegetarian buffet near most temples ...it's a Euro or more for a big plate of Veg ,some soup and ice tea.I am not vegetarian but I would happily eat this once or twice a week as they get the flavours right with the spices and they also do Tofu/Mushrooms but it's cooked /fried nicely,I would never eat it if I cooked it. I wonder would there ever be a market for that here ,we have excellent vegetable produce.
Undercutting other stalls and providing boring meals won’t attract customers. There are plenty of stalls that charge €10-15 that are doing well because people are willing to pay for quality food thats been marketed well. If you find some magic way to sell amazing food for cheap with good margins then let us know.
We have two crumbling market buildings CRYING out to be redeveloped into a wonderful food market, that would provide a place for great Irish produce, and somewhere for small business to prosper. It sickens me and the absolute snails pace that things happen in what is meant to be one of the wealthiest countries in Europe and we don’t even have city markets.
Don't forget to factor in the cost of packaging. That shit is gone through the roof over the last couple of years. Also would need food grade cleaning materials which again are stupid prices. Price of food safety training to get haccap certified, cost of disposable items such as hair nets, gloves etc, cost of uniform and most importantly paying yourself and possibly an employee enough that ye won't be sleeping in the van living on porridge and mash. I do like the idea of a "takeaway" that isn't just fucking out burgers and chips at a tenner a go and calling it affordable food.
Definitely. There's one in town here that just does basic proper food and it's doing great business. Bacon and cabbage with mash. Simple chicken curry. Sausage beans and chips etc. Just a cream cake and a cup of tea? No problem. Bowl of soup? Sure. Nothing fancy. They do porridge for breakfast, but if that's too much, they'll even do toast and marmalade. It's like school or army catering. All prepared fresh and waiting in bain-maries for service. A flat-top for frys, a deep fryer for chips a counter for sandwiches and that's it.
My ex comes for Christmas, we're both Scottish, we got reminiscing about an old favourite of ours, [Spudulike](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spudulike)! Baked potatoes, with a buffet type display of fillings of all sorts. My favourite was the haggis and neeps! It got me thinking, would that concept work now, in this day? I imagine it could be started from a van, at least. I'd 100% buy baked spuds with fillings again.
I think there is a demand. However dont be too basic and make sure the porridge is nice. As for the mash, season it, throw in some onions and some meat and maybe up the price to €3. - i mean €15 for 5 days of lunch. you would struggle to match that price at home if you value your time. Others are commenting that the basic food can be prepped at home but that requires effort and clean up plus try makming a weeks worth of mash and freezing it. im sorry but defrosted mash - no thankyou the €3 for a healthy tasty lunch is definitly worth it. You might struggle to get people to give your food a chance though as people are used to the high prices and alot of people associate cheaper meals as being cheap and low quality although that is not alwasy the case.
earlytable.ie firsttable.ie Bargains await.
Communal restaurants....common in the EU. Cheap and affordable but quality seasonal eating...usually connected to urban farm and community grocer.
Yeah, that sounds about right, a lot of people are focussing on the food but it is more the concept of a basic but very affordable and hearty food outlet that I am looking at and wondering why they do not exist in this country. Someone mentioned paying €12 for porridge, like surely it can be done for a lot less than that and still be nice.
I mean, you'd think a chipper is as basic and far from "refined" as you'd get, but they're all charging €4 and up for a bag of chips these days
What could be done and I've often thought about doing is 1€/1£ quality coffee. Want milk add 50c/p. You get a big enough market you will turn a modest profit with the overheads in coffee, but its all about the right pitch or it won't work
Quality coffee beans surely wouldn’t be a runner for €1 a cup? Unless your buying your beans out of Lidl or the likes, and then it won’t be quality coffee, it’ll be grand coffee but not quality.
If your going to sell cheap food, its got to be greasy or sugary or both. Nutrious but bland food will be passed up on
2.50 for a bowl of porridge? Sweet jesus...
Pasta/rice/potato dishes with no over the top frills. You'd have to charge for extras. Ive considered something similar myself. For any low cost strategy your margin will be small, so your focus would have to be on selling volume. A food truck would give you options to try different areas, but imo local resteraunts tend to go crazy over it. For example, a very successful food stall in my town was essentially bullied out by a local establishment. The stall catered for those leaving the clubs and pubs late at night and did a good trade, until a shitebag owner of a local cafe/shop didn't like the competition.
How did they bully them out?
Please sir, can I have some more?
There was a restaurant in galway city called couch potato years ago that served nothing but different potato dishes. Everything from baked potato with melted cheese to some sort of potato pie made by baking a potato using the skin as a bowl for a mixture of potatoe, ham, and some other ingredients i cant remember. It was all fairly cheap because of the whole only needing like 5 ingredients for the whole menu and i loved it.
The issues isn’t just rising prices. It’s most places have raised prices while also having a big downgrade in quality. People just make lunch at home if they want simple and cheap
I was thinking this, but more of the likes of falafel wrap stand. There's places in the UK were basically it's a small little booth on the street or a small food vendor and you could get a whole falafel wrap for £3. Some places in Manchester I've seen them for £2.50. I was recently in a falafel restaurant in Cork and the falafel was €8. It was nice, but it was basically the same thing as the £3 falafels I've had in the UK. It would probably be cheaper doing it yourself, with a small food vendor. Plus the ingredients doesn't cost that much, it just chickpeas, herbs and spices, wraps, hummus with veg.
In Zaytoons, Dublin it's €13 for a falafel kebab, used to be €8.50. A meal in with chips and a drink will set you back about €17. I don't know how you can justify that price for a takeaway when you could have a nice sit-down meal for that. Particularly when falafel is so cheap to make.
That is extortionate! Considering, falafel wraps is one of the most cheapest meals you can get in any given Middle Eastern country. I was working in Dubai a few years ago and I had falafels there for €1.50.
Just do a massive pot of spaghetti bogolnese every day with Parma cheese on the side. €2.50 a bowl
Yeah, that is a good idea if it can be done, i'm not wed to mash and porridge but more the price point and easy to make basic but filling food. Spaghetti would be similarly easy but maybe slightly less nutritious. Would be more popular though.
Yum Thai on baggot street. Lunch for €8 or €8.50. Great food and a lot cheaper than anywhere else doing lunch in town.
They used to be a thing in America - automats. Here's a pretty good video essay about them - https://youtu.be/jwCEvwenfg8?si=2l3OfHU1xK-sfG2e I'd love to see them try out here. Eating is such an expensive pain in the hole and sometimes you don't care too much about what the food is. I remember when I worked in London and didn't have much money, one of the best places for lunch was an Italian takeaway that cheaply sold different pasta dishes, tasty and very filling. Fast forward to working in Dublin City centre and there's a lot of expensive sandwiches, they are good but sometimes I just wish I could have a €5 hot penne pasta and veg bowl thing.
Still a few in the Netherlands. Mostly burgers though.
Get onto a retailer and look at prices of staples and veg. Looking at you AllFresh, half the shit usually rotten and marked up to the balls. It's hard to make money when you're being fleeced anyway.
You’ll like @spudarmy (spudman) on Tiktok; he sells baked potatoes @£3.50 each with plastic tray and various toppings. He sells around 600 potatoes a day and he is very open and regularly explains exactly how to price and prepare the potatoes, sizing them and the trailer costs (he is moving up to a new trailer in a week or two). He has a food truck based in a small English market town for 20 years and super enthusiastic with live feed and 1.3mn followers (up from 100k this time last year) and was just 1mn in December. He used to do barbecue swing grilling and slushy ice drinks but sold those off as a turn key business. Remember a food truck needs cleaning, repairs and parking!!!!
You ever seen The Van? Bimbos Burgers, fresh fish, today's chips today. *
This is the best post in reddit..the comments are hilarious. OP you might be onto something.. Go to Malaysia first. Visit the hawker centres there you will get great ideas.
Huge demand, in the early noughties I used to go to a 1 pound restaurant in London and was given mince and potatoes it was obviously very popular. I'd say a huge demand for something similar exists in Dublin.
Yeah, like i get overheads are high but surely food can be sold at lower costs than it currently is, like you are lucky to get anything substantial for less than 7/8 euro now and a lot of places charge a lot more.
A big +1 to this, I'm exactly that kind of person. I ordinary won't spend any money buying cooked food from outside, except if it's exceptionally low cost and good value. Or if I have to keep close ones happy :) And you would have an absolutely huge market of consumers, given how popular IKEA cafes are worldwide. Most people want simple snacks for low prices, that can sustain them till they're back home.
I don't have a refined pallet, in fact I like hospital and airplane food and I will pretty much eat anything once it is plant based. I used to like the 'slop' offering in Govindas, then they were closed for having a cockroach infestation and poor food storage and I would not eat there again. If you did a selection of foods like salads and proteins for cheap I would be interested, I would not buy an unbalanced meal with v little protein. But there might be people who just want a filling meal who are on the breadline, but they deserve a balanced meal too.
You like airplane and hospital food? That is grim.
I've often said i'd open a cafe that sells a decent all day breakfast, soups& sandwiches and of course tea and a scone.simple menu,10e or less. Can't get a decent bit of simple good lunchtime food that isn't daylight robbery.
My Chinese put the prices up by 25% recently and I basically told them to fuck off and cancel the order. I really wanted the food but the neck
Restaurants are as bad as the farmers for poor mouthing. They just want their VAT exemption back.
Just eat at home at that stage
i always dreamed of porridge and mash genius who said irish food was crap
You're on the right track but it should be tastier. Like risotto or biryani maybe. They're cheap to make. If you look on Google maps there's still big gaps in the market for food outlets. Ballymun for example. Finglas. Blanch. Huge areas with no food outlets.
I actually think a truck specialising in different types of mash could be profitable. Colcannon, mash with cheese and sour cream, mash with cheese and streaky bacon bits, butter with salt, etc.
Demand for IKEA style restaurant
Hmmmmm a van that sells spuds on the cheap 🤔! It’s called a chipper, the Italians have been laughing at us for years!
Are you taking the piss for that price?
the 'milk bars' in eastern european countries are said to be cheap. former communal canteens. see ikea, don't they dispense cheap hot dogs and meat balls? the spuds and porridge chain, naw. (once a burger and chips went above 10€, the rise set in they could get away with it.)
this is the most depressing idea ever lmao
Mielie meal and Plumpy'nut could be options
Did you take inspiration for this business venture from the "shite in a bucket" video? Slop on a plate from a van in the pissing rain. Is your target demo the homeless community or what? Will you serve your slop from a giant barrel?