How Much To Charge For Hot Drink?

by Naruemon
(Worcester)

Hi we just started our mobile catering adventure 2 weeks ago selling Thai street food on the lay-by quite attractive to customers but some of them asked for hot drink as well while they are waiting so we decided to do tea and coffee as well but haven't got a clue how much should we charge. We bought 12 oz cups to use any suggestion please.

Btw thank you so much this website learned us so much and finally 3 years of searching for trailer had ended with happiness. If it wouldn’t of been for the advice and tips from here we might end up with disaster :)

Nana & Gary

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Sep 20, 2014
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starstarstarstarstar 		Dealing With Drunks
by: David-

Hi Nana,

I'm sorry to hear that you were harassed by some drunks and can't really give you and advice on this matter other than visit your local police station or community support officer and see what suggestions they can offer you. They deal with a lot of local businesses and should be able to advise you correctly. I’ve been in a similar situation but it’s never been repeated since. I'm sure it will be the same with for you.
Do let me know what suggestions you are given.

Best,

David

p.s well done and keep going
Sep 19, 2014
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starstarstarstarstar 		Thank you
by: Nana

Hi David and Steve,

Thank you very much for your kindly reply. I ended up charge 80p for tea (Yorkshire individaul pack) and £1 for coffee I didn't offer the top up but I let the customers help themselves with the coffee of how strong they want (I use Nescafe) and seem to do the trick they are all happy to be able to put coffee themselves :D

Our Thai street food doing quite well but because I trade from 5pm to 9pm I got drunken men came round to harass me the other week and it was quite shaky and upsetting as I was on my own at the lay by. Any suggestion to deal with this kind of situation?

Kind Regards,
Nana
Sep 18, 2014
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starstarstarstarstar 		hot drinks
by: steve

I would suggest two figures. 50p and £1. The reason for this is to keep your prices nice and easy to add up. I charge £1 for 12oz cups, and agree with David that the sip and seal cups are ideal. I do however offer free top-ups which goes down a treat. I would also highly recommend if the hot drinks are for people waiting, to get in some "proper" cups. I then take them home and pop them in the dishwasher, but its equally as easy to rinse them at the van. It does not take long for them to pay for themselves and customers like a decent cup. I even have a few customers that have their own cups and leave them with me. I would also strongly recommend you only use premium high quality tea and coffee. I use Yorkshire tea and Nescaffe. (not the best coffee in the world but its very good) avoid the cheap stuff like the plague. Best of luck. Steve
Jun 12, 2014
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starstarstarstarstar 		Mobile Catering And What To Charge For Hot Drink
by: David

Hello to the both of you.

Firstly, a big congratulations for getting started, well done!

Now as for what price you to charge for hot drinks, I would say to check with your 3-5 nearest competitors, hopefully you won’t have any, but try and find out what they are charging and then set the price slightly lower.

The rough going rate for a cup of tea/coffee is around the 50p -70p mark (depending on your location). Remember that it doesn’t really cost you a lot to provide a quality hot drink at a fairly low price. Setting the right price is a great way to get customers coming to you rather than an alternative and once there in front of you, they will also buy something else, so bear this in mind.

Sip and seal lids/cup are also great and offer the customer a more convenient way to consume their hot drink. Make sure to also check the hot water quality often and de-scale regularly to prevent lime scale floating around in customers drinks.

Hope this helps, do send some images if you get the chance and please also think about sharing your story here to help others

Best of luck and please keep us updated.
David

PS. Get my free guide on Starting a Mobile Catering Business Guide

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