How to Sell Food at an Event

How to Sell Food at an Event You can garner a lot of attention from a

sizable crowd, collect valuable contact information from customers and other businesses alike and distribute a raft of promotional materials to your target market.

By choosing the correct event and managing the stall effectively, not only can you collect a sizable profit, but can lead to substantial growth in your food PR and marketing efforts.

Preparation Make sure you have everything you

need and always arrive early. The earlier you arrive the better location

you will be able to find. The quicker you set up you will be able

to make early sales when competitors are still setting up.

Presentation With a captive market and high competition

it is imperative that you make your stall as attractive and visible as possible

Make sure your stall is clean and any banners and promotional signs are highly visible.

Attractive presentation of your food will lure customers in (as will enticing aromas and spices from cooking) and promote suggestions of quality.

People Buy from People Be friendly and engaging when dealing with

customers. Keep the conversation flowing and high energy. Giving passing customers the impression of a

welcoming and pleasant shopping experience means they are far more likely to actually make a purchase.

Make sure that your manner and dress reflects the values and promises of the brand.

Pricing Make your prices as visible as possible

to passing customers. Offer multi buy discounts and offers and

always give the impression that you are providing the customer with an excellent deal.

Make the payment process simple by rounding prices to whole figures - £1, £2 and £5 as opposed to £1.30 or £2.75.

Product Sample As a means to spread the word (or taste) of your

product, offer free samples to passing customers. This always attracts significant attention from passers-

by and allows them to sample your product before committing to a purchase.

Make sure you think of how you will offer out your samples and whether you will need specialist sample packaging.

It is crucial that you manage your stock levels appropriately.

Running out of stock early results in frustrating wasted sales

Purchasing Selling to customers on the day is great, but

make sure you keep their business by offering them a means to purchase more products from you in the future.

Provide guests with a website or other stockist where they can purchase more of your product.

Provide business cards and gather contact information for future purchases and building up your contact list.

Performance Be sure to set yourself appropriate targets and goals

to ensure you get what you need from the experience. Take note of all the costs, revenues, what sold well

and what didn’t and how you can improve your efforts next time.

Event selling can be hugely beneficial and profitable for a variety of food related products.

Equally so it is not for everyone and you need to make sure that events, festivals and markets are the right fit for your product brand and the customer base you wish to attract.