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Monday, September 17, 2007

New Craze in Street Food Perhaps - Cheap Startup


My travels around the world have given me great experiences in the realm of food and its distribution. From Thailand, Philippines, and the great US of A, food is an important part of our everyday culture. But why does the variety of US food suck? Upon a recent trip to a Seattle Seahawks game, I struggled to find a pregame meal that strayed from the typical processed meat in a bun. Veggie dog, bratwurst, chicken dog, footlong all wrapped in a fluffy piece of bread. I understand that there aren't many things more american than a good old hotdog and beer before a game, but there's nothing wrong with something new. Canadians have a snack called poutine. Its most basic form is:
-A hefty helping of medium cut french fries
-A handful of curd cheese
-Topped with a generous serving of brown gravy
This hearts attack in a cup is absolutely delicious. On a cold November day in Seattle, this snack would be a great addition to the lines of vendors that paint one street during game days. This snack also makes a great post-drinking neutralizer. The grease and perfect texture of poutine is a great way to end the night after the club or bar. Now, what you need to become a street vendor(in Seattle). Insurance($$$), stand, permission from surrounding businesses. I'm not too sure of how much the insurance would cost but the rest is cake. A mobile double fryer only costs roughly $300, another $100 in other necessary cooking equipment plus other costs puts your business total at around $500.00. Now for the best part:
1 - 20lb bag of fries = $9.50
Slab of curd cheese = $27.00
Gallon of Gravy = $13.50
Total cost = $50.00 for roughly 60 servings = <$1.00 per serving
At less than 1 buck per serving, this snack is a great money maker. After operating costs and material costs, the potential profit yield is huge, especially at a large sporting event. Pricing can be much higher for this type of food as: the portions are much generous, cooking time is greater and the promise of a new snack makes poutine a potentially revolutionary food. BTW, the average cost of a hotdog is .25 cents and sells for 1.50, not around here I guess. I spent 5.00 on a hotdog after a long night out, I would definitely pay a comparable amount for poutine. Hopefully someone will bring this snack to the masses and satisfy my cravings without having to drive 3 hrs. If you doubters feel that this sounds disgusting, don't knock it till you try it!

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