Need Help! Craft Fair concessions

[Dory's Twin]

HELP!!!!

I have one week to put together a food booth for the high school craft fair. Mostly to feed the crafters who stay all day, but also any hungry buyers. This is to raise money for our JR/SR Prom. Also, I do have help.

Very short notice...so I need all of your ideas! What sells well, what is inexpensive/easy to do...what will we make the most profit on etc.

MUCH THANKS!!!!

Dory

 

[raysnkaysmom]

For easy I'm thinkin little bags of popcorn...

If you like to bake...do cookies and cakes and brownies

Sometimes...when we've had a yardsale we'd buy a case of coke and sell them for $1 a peice...huge profit there

 

[Mom2Nick]

Hot dogs... Have sauerkraut, Sabrette red onions, mustard, relish, ketcup, minced onion and cheese. Make a huge pot of chili and you can have chili dogs or bowls of chili.

Then just do snacks - popcorn, you can make chili/cheese nachos etc.

It really depends on what kind of equipment you will have to work with.

 

[MinnieMe87]

Sometimes...when we've had a yardsale we'd buy a case of coke and sell them for $1 a peice...huge profit there

I thought of that as well! Also, if you are interested in selling coke, you may want to sell bottled water too. The easiest and most popular that we've done is Puppy Chow.

 

[clh2]

Do not forget the Coffee...hot water for tea/hot chocolate...and donuts/muffins/bagels with cream cheese for breakfast.

Because, if I am going anywhere (either as a crafter or as a buyer) I WANT COFFEE!!! And after I have coffee...I will want MORE coffee...and then after the 2nd cup of coffee...yep...I will want MORE coffee. My DD will have a hot chocolate if she is with me.

 

[Brit17]

Here's what I'm thinking ...

Bagels w/pats of butter
Danishes/Donuts
Cupcakes/Cookies/Brownies
Banana/Pumpkin Bread Slices
Bags of popcorn/chips etc.
Candy Bars
Bottled Water/Soda
Coffee/Hot Chocolate/Hot Cider

Presentation is everything ... if you individually package the cookies, brownies, etc., in little plastic sandwich baggies and maybe tie them with a little decorative ribbon. it makes everything look more appealing and more yummy ...

Also, a lot of these items can be purchased in bulk already made from the warehouse stores (i.e., Costco, BJ's Wholesale, etc.), which can end up saving money and time in preparing and/or trying to get others to make/donate ...

 

[Kae]

Coffee & Cinnamin Rolls. Walkinf Tacos, Hot Dogs.

Kae

 

[PattnFmly]

Will you have plugs for crockpots? Two things we've done with great success is 1) make pots of homemade chili ahead of time, heat them up then serve in a bowl with a sprinkle of grated cheese and a slice of italian bread and 2) bake potatoes elsewhere then keep warm in one crockpot while having cheese sauce in another - we usually keep the toppings easy, like bacon bits and croutons but if you had a third crockpot you could do broccoli.

 

[Michelle67]

A friend was telling me a couple of weeks ago that they did teriyaki chicken swekers for a big craft fair that we have at the high school every year. They got the boneless, skinless, flash-frozen chicken breast tenders (Costco has a good price on them, or you may be able to find someone offering a great sale), and Yoshida's original sauce is wonderful on them. They grilled them on-site but you could also pre-grill and then keep them warm in chafing dishes with sauce in the bottom. If you have an electric rice cooker or two, you can offer rice with them as well. My friend said they had made TONS, and thought it would last all weekend, and ended up selling out half way through the first day and having to spend that night making more.

 

[Disney Doll]

Breakfast food or lunch food?

If breakfast, I'd do the usual coffee, donuts, bagels. Maybe some fresh fruit too, just in case anyone wants to be healthy. Coffee, tea, hot chocolate.

If lunch, I'd do big pots of chili and have bowls of cheese and bowls of sour cream to top it. Water, soda, bags of chip...Doritos or taco chips so people can "dip" if they want.

 

[mselly13]

We do a concession stand for a drill team comp every year.

First, you need to get as many things donated as possible. Go by every grocery store in your area in person. See what they can donate.

Bottled water
cokes

hot dogs
baked potatoes
chips

also offer a combo...sandwich, chips and drink one price

lots of times the fast food places will donate the mustard and ketchup packages. Whataburger likes to donate cups and boats( the paper dish you put the potato in)

Put more into your lunch menu than breakfast. Lunch sells much better.

 

[MinnieMe87]

A friend was telling me a couple of weeks ago that they did teriyaki chicken swekers for a big craft fair that we have at the high school every year. They got the boneless, skinless, flash-frozen chicken breast tenders (Costco has a good price on them, or you may be able to find someone offering a great sale), and Yoshida's original sauce is wonderful on them. They grilled them on-site but you could also pre-grill and then keep them warm in chafing dishes with sauce in the bottom. If you have an electric rice cooker or two, you can offer rice with them as well. My friend said they had made TONS, and thought it would last all weekend, and ended up selling out half way through the first day and having to spend that night making more.

Those sound sooo yummy!!

 

[PaulaSue]

Rice crispie treats and PB fudge sell the best at home.

 

[Minnie_Moo]

I often see sloppy joes sold during craft shows. This would also be easy to keep warm in a crockpot or electric roaster pan.

 

[golfgal]

Walking tacos:

bag of Doritos--the red bag-crunch up the chips, open bag-we use the larger grab bag size not the lunch box size.
scoop of taco meat
add cheese, tomato, lettuce, dump into Doritos bag, thanks.


Check with the local pizza place. Often they will set up a delivery schedule and they have ovens to keep pizza warm. We see this quite often at various events. The local smoothie shop delivers too. They will pre-make a bunch of smoothies, put them in a cooler and bring to your event. You can schedule a mid-day drop off too if they are selling well.

 

[cabanafrau]

One of the biggest food sellers I have ever seen at a craft show was chicken salad sandwiches served on croissants. The line was absolutely unbelievable. I guess it works very well when you can't do a lot of preparation during the sale.

 

[Disney Doll]

Whenever I've done these kinds of things, I always try to do something that can be prepared beforehand, kept warm (like chili) or cold (like the premade chicken salad croissants) and just sold at the venue. Keeps things moving faster, IMHO.