Showing 70 of 70 articles
- gear7 min read
Buying a generator for a food truck: what to look for
A buying guide for food-truck generators: sizing, fuel, noise, brand and reliability considerations for mobile food.
- gear6 min read
The minimum tech stack for a modern food truck
A lean, modern tech stack for running a food truck without app fatigue — one card reader, one management system, one accountant.
- profit7 min read
Getting cost of goods right on a food truck
A practical explanation of cost of goods sold for a food-truck business, and how to keep it accurate as prices move.
- compliance6 min read
Xero for food trucks: the smallest useful setup
A minimal Xero setup for a food-truck or market-stall business, integrated with CartFlow.
- compliance6 min read
How Hnry works for food truck operators (via Zapier and CartFlow)
A guide to using Hnry alongside CartFlow so your food truck tax, expenses and pay-yourself flow runs on rails.
- profit7 min read
Cash flow for a food truck: the small habits that keep you liquid
Practical cash-flow habits for a mobile food business: floats, receivables, tax rainy-days and event working capital.
- growth6 min read
Food truck social media without becoming a full-time creator
How to keep a food-truck audience engaged with 20 minutes a week, not 20 hours.
- growth6 min read
Food truck branding: the basics that actually pay back
Simple, high-impact branding decisions that let a food truck look ten times more expensive than it costs.
- growth6 min read
Winning market and festival applications: what organisers actually look for
Insider tips for getting into the best markets and festivals — from an organiser's perspective.
- operations9 min read
Event planning tips for organisers: a practical 12-step checklist
A practical event planning checklist for market and festival organisers, from goals and budgeting to site plan, vendors, marketing and event-day wrap-up.
- compliance8 min read
How to write a risk assessment for an event
A step-by-step guide to writing an event risk assessment that satisfies councils, insurers and venues, with practical examples for markets and festivals.
- growth8 min read
Event marketing plan: how to promote a market or festival
A practical event marketing plan for organisers: channels, content calendar, budget allocation and measurement for markets, festivals and community events.
- growth7 min read
How to curate vendors for a food festival or market
Principles for curating food, drink and retail vendors so your event offers variety, avoids duplication and keeps visitors spending longer.
- operations8 min read
Event logistics checklist: from load-in to load-out
A logistics checklist for event organisers covering vendor bump-in, power, water, waste, access, safety, staffing and pack-down for markets and festivals.
- operations8 min read
How to build an event site plan that actually works on the day
How to create an event site plan for markets and festivals: measurements, zones, circulation, infrastructure and vendor allocation.
- operations7 min read
Managing event staff and volunteers: rostering and communications
How to roster, brief and communicate with event staff and volunteers so everyone knows where to be and what to do.
- profit7 min read
How to set vendor fees for festivals and markets
How to price vendor fees for food, drink and retail stalls at festivals, markets and community events — flat fees, percentages and tiers.
- operations8 min read
Event day operations: from gates open to close
A practical guide to running event day operations for markets and festivals: control point, communications, safety, vendors and pack-down.
- operations7 min read
How to hire event staff and contractors the right way
A guide to hiring event staff, casual crew and contractors for festivals and markets — contracts, compliance, briefing and payment.
- profit7 min read
Menu engineering: which items to push, keep, cut or fix
The classic menu-engineering matrix applied to food-truck menus, with what to do about each quadrant.
- growth8 min read
Food truck vs restaurant: which is right for you?
An honest comparison of food-truck and restaurant models on cost, risk, hours, growth and lifestyle.
- growth6 min read
Loyalty programs that work for mobile food
What actually works for mobile food loyalty — from paper stamp cards to digital, without alienating one-time customers.
- operations6 min read
Cash vs card for mobile food: what to accept in 2026
Fees, speed, reliability and customer expectations — how to think about payment methods on a mobile food business.
- profit6 min read
Six habits that cut food truck waste in half
Practical, proven habits that reduce food waste on a food truck by up to 50% — with the tools to make them stick.
- compliance8 min read
Food truck insurance: what you actually need
A plain-English guide to public liability, vehicle, stock and business-interruption cover for mobile food operators.
- operations7 min read
Managing staff on a small food truck without becoming HR
Rosters, pay rates, contracts and reviews for a small food-truck team — the essentials without the corporate bloat.
- compliance8 min read
Food safety basics for mobile food businesses
The temperature, hygiene and traceability basics every mobile food operator needs to be safe and inspection-ready.
- operations5 min read
The market stall checklist that actually works
A printable, adaptable checklist for market stall setup, service and pack-down — with the items most operators forget.
- profit7 min read
Coffee cart margins: what a healthy cart actually earns
Realistic revenue, cost and margin benchmarks for a mobile coffee cart in 2026 — plus the biggest hidden costs.
- growth6 min read
How to pick the best events for your food truck (and drop the losers)
A framework for picking the events worth trading, and the courage to drop the ones that aren't paying.
- profit7 min read
Menu pricing for food trucks: the fastest way to check your margins
How to price a food-truck menu using true food cost, target margin and market realities — with a worked example.
- compliance12 min read
How to start a food truck business in New Zealand
Registration, food safety plans, licensing, insurance, gas certs and finding your first pitch — a full New Zealand guide.
- operations9 min read
A food truck inventory system that actually survives a season
How to set up a stock system for a food truck that survives 40+ events a year without becoming a second full-time job.
- profit8 min read
How to work out true profit per event for your food truck
A step-by-step guide to calculating real net profit per event — food cost, wages, fees, fuel — so you know which markets to keep.
- operations7 min read
Staff retention in mobile food: why good people leave and how to keep them
Practical retention tactics for mobile food businesses dealing with casual, weekend-heavy and seasonal staffing patterns.
- growth6 min read
Menu board design that actually increases average order value
How menu board layout, item ordering and pricing presentation influence what customers actually order at a food truck.
- operations6 min read
Setting a wet-weather cancellation policy that protects your business
How to decide when to pull out of a market for weather, and how to set expectations with organisers and staff in advance.
- operations7 min read
Running a mobile retail business: what non-food vendors can borrow from food trucks
How mobile retailers selling clothing, craft, homewares and merchandise can apply event, stock and profit systems built for food vendors.
- growth6 min read
Seasonal menu planning for market stalls: when and how to change your line-up
How to decide when to rotate seasonal specials in and out, and how to do it without disrupting stock, pricing or regulars.
- growth8 min read
Buying a second truck: financing, staffing and the profit case
What to check before committing to a second truck — financing options, staffing model, and whether your best events can support two.
- compliance7 min read
Temperature logging for mobile food: doing it properly without slowing service
A practical approach to temperature monitoring and logging for mobile food businesses that satisfies inspectors without adding friction.
- growth6 min read
Collecting and using customer feedback without a fixed shopfront
How mobile food operators can gather genuine customer feedback and turn it into menu and service improvements.
- operations6 min read
Running the same stall across multiple markets without double-booking
How to manage a calendar of recurring weekly markets across multiple towns without clashes, staff confusion or missed applications.
- gear7 min read
Generator vs mains power for mobile food trading: making the right call
Comparing generator and mains power setups for food trucks and stalls on cost, noise, reliability and event requirements.
- growth7 min read
Getting into corporate catering as a food truck operator
How mobile food operators can break into corporate lunch catering — pricing, logistics and what companies actually look for.
- operations7 min read
Why the best food trucks have short menus (and how to cut yours)
The operational and profit case for a shorter food truck menu, and a process for deciding what to cut.
- growth6 min read
Choosing a food truck name and brand that works on a moving vehicle
Practical branding advice for food trucks — readability at a distance, memorability, and avoiding common naming mistakes.
- profit6 min read
Negotiating with suppliers as a small mobile food business
How small-volume mobile food operators can still negotiate better prices, terms and reliability with suppliers.
- operations7 min read
Handling a large event booking without breaking your regular trading
A checklist for accepting a large festival or corporate booking without it wrecking your stock, staff or regular calendar.
- profit8 min read
Cash flow forecasting for a seasonal mobile food business
How to build a cash flow forecast that accounts for seasonal peaks, slow months and lumpy festival income.
- growth6 min read
Market stall applications: the photos and copy that actually get you accepted
What market organisers actually look for when reviewing vendor applications, and how to present your stall to stand out.
- profit7 min read
Recipe costing: the one habit that fixes food truck margins
How to build accurate recipe costs for every menu item so pricing and profit reporting are based on reality, not guesswork.
- operations8 min read
Seasonal planning for ice cream vendors: surviving the off-season
How mobile ice cream businesses plan cash flow, equipment maintenance and event booking around a highly seasonal demand curve.
- operations8 min read
Hiring your first employee for a food truck: what changes
The practical, legal and rostering shifts that come with moving from a solo operation to your first paid staff member.
- gear9 min read
Van fit-out for a food truck: layout decisions that matter more than equipment brand
How to plan a food truck fit-out layout for workflow, safety and speed of service before choosing equipment brands.
- compliance8 min read
What actually happens when you make a food truck insurance claim
A realistic look at the claims process for equipment damage, vehicle incidents and public liability in mobile food businesses.
- growth6 min read
Loyalty programs that actually work for food trucks and market stalls
Why traditional punch cards fail mobile vendors, and the loyalty approaches that fit irregular, weather-dependent trading.
- growth7 min read
Social media for food trucks: posting your location without losing the crowd
A practical posting rhythm for food truck social media that actually drives people to your location, not just likes.
- operations7 min read
Queue speed: the most underrated lever for food truck revenue
Why serving speed caps your revenue more than menu price does at busy events, and practical ways to shorten the queue.
- operations7 min read
Trading through the weather: forecasting demand for hot, cold and wet days
How temperature and rain forecasts change prep, staffing and sales for mobile food — and how to build a rule of thumb per product.
- compliance9 min read
GST and tax basics every mobile food operator should understand
When to register for GST, how to handle cash sales properly, and the record-keeping that keeps tax time simple.
- gear8 min read
Choosing a POS system for a food truck (and what CartFlow isn't)
What actually matters when picking a POS for mobile trading, and how back-office tools like CartFlow work alongside it.
- profit7 min read
Churro cart economics: margins, batching and scaling to a second cart
How churro cart margins work, why batching matters more than any other mobile dessert format, and when a second cart pays off.
- profit7 min read
Donut business unit economics: what a $6 donut actually costs you
A worked breakdown of ingredient, packaging and labour cost for mini and gourmet donuts, and what margin that leaves you.
- profit8 min read
How to quote a private catering job without underpricing it
A repeatable process for pricing private and corporate catering bookings so quotes are fast, consistent and actually profitable.
- gear9 min read
Coffee cart setup costs in 2025: a realistic budget breakdown
Everything a new mobile coffee cart operator actually spends on — machine, cart, grinder, fit-out, permits and working capital.
- operations7 min read
Cutting stock waste at market stalls without underselling
Practical ways to cut spoilage and over-prep at market stalls while still avoiding the far costlier problem of selling out early.
- operations7 min read
The food truck packing list that stops you turning back home
A category-by-category packing checklist for mobile food events, plus how to make sure it's actually followed every time.
- profit8 min read
Festival vendor fees: how to tell if a $2,000 pitch is worth it
A simple framework for deciding whether a festival's flat fee or percentage deal will actually turn a profit for your truck.
- compliance9 min read
Council trading permits for food trucks and stalls: what to expect
How mobile-shop and trading-consent permits actually work council to council, what they cost, and how to speed up approval.