How Can Mobile Caterers Boost Sales Over Christmas?
Christmas is the single biggest impulse-spend period of the year and mobile caterers are right in the sweet spot: people are cold, outside, waiting in queues and already in “treat” mode. If you operate a food van, trailer or horsebox, December is not the time to park up. It is the time to be seen.
1) Show Up Where the Footfall Already Exists
Rather than trying to create demand, piggy-back traffic that is already there: Christmas markets and light switch-ons (council-run events, BIDs and private organisers), garden centres and farm shops (huge seasonal draw), ice rinks / Christmas trails / Santa grottos (captive, cold audiences = hot beverages sell), retail parks on weeknights, business parks in mid-December, and evening residential stops if you pre-announce.
If you only do one thing: apply early and show reliability. Organisers re-book traders who turn up, tidy down and create hype rather than hassle.
2) Tailor Your Menu for Winter Behaviour
December is a month to focus on the old reliables as well as some fresh seasonal options. Cut the faff and sell what people actually buy: warming, hand-holdable food (loaded potatoes, festive toasties, pigs in blankets, filled Yorkshire wraps, turkey stuffing pizza), hot drinks with high margins (mulled wine/cider, hot chocolate with toppings, spiced coffee), upsell bundles, and err on generous portioning because Christmas spend is guilt-off. Strip the menu to 6–10 lines you can deliver hot and fast.
3) Switch On Seasonal Visuals & Sensory Cues
Warm lighting (festoons, lit menu header, lanterns), visible steam and smell (put out samples so people see hot food), and clear seasonal boards with one dominant headline (“HOT MULLED DRINKS HERE”, “FESTIVE TOASTIES”). Make it easy for people to pick when they’re too cold to look around.
4) Market Like a Route, Not Like a Restaurant
Your advantage is mobility. Announce stops like a bus timetable (“Tues — Retail Park 17:00–21:00 | Thurs — Local Pub 16:00–20:30”). Use short-run local radius ads (1–3 miles) on Facebook/Instagram. Insist organisers tag you. Give them a menu graphic sized for their social feed. Advertising in December should be focused on the events you’re attending.
5) Say “Yes” to Corporate Even If It Looks Small
Christmas office lunches, late-night retail staff, security teams and construction crews often convert to guaranteed-headcount jobs. Push a one-pager: “We serve on-site. Feed 25+ staff. Fixed per-head or tab-to-limit. December diary open.” You will win bookings simply by being the only one who asked.
In short: Go where the crowds already are, sell winter-logic food fast, make the unit visibly warm, advertise by place and time, and harvest guaranteed corporate bookings. December rewards speed, visibility and simplicity.