6 Tips on Buying a Food Vendor Tent & How to Set up One

If you’re thinking about starting a side business by selling food and drinks at a farmers market or hosting an outdoor event, a food vendor tent is practical for creating a temporary site and ensuring the success of your outdoor gathering.

However, many aren't aware of how to choose the most suitable tent, even though a good food vendor tent can be a game-changer for your business.

What Problems Will Arise if You Fail to Choose the Best Food Vendor Tent

Small vendors usually only need 1-2 people to run their business. Therefore, if pitching a tent is complicated and takes too long, it will not only be very tiring before starting the business but also affect the progress of subsequent business operations. Moreover, this event usually lasts all day and may even extend into the night. If your food tent lacks sufficient sturdiness, it could be swept away or damaged by strong winds or bad weather. So, it's better to fix your food vendor with proper canopy weights.

Additionally, when selling items during the summer, if your tent cannot accommodate a large number of people and exposes your customers to the scorching sun while they wait in long queues, it might drive your customers away.

Lastly, this factor is the most easily overlooked aspect, which is that most outdoor food-selling events rely on an electricity supply. If your vendor tent is unable to provide equipment that can run electricity for cooking and refrigeration, then you won't be able to continue your business because most events won't provide additional electricity.

6 Tips When Choosing a Food Vendor Tent for Business

In order to ensure the smooth progress of your sales job, ensuring the high quality of your tent should be considered first as preparation before you start your business. Therefore, here we will provide you with some advice to make a better purchase when selecting a food vendor tent.

Budget

All business costs include the price of concession tents. Your total spending depends on the tent's cost and other equipment. So, pick a tent that fits your budget. Think about how often you'll use it – if it's just a few times, a simple tent could work. But if you're at events all the time, a good-quality tent might be worth the extra money.

Also, think about where your business is. If you're just starting or have a small budget, a cheaper tent might be best to start with. But if you're more experienced and want to make your brand look good, a more expensive, customizable tent might be the way to go.

Available Space & Vendor Tent Size

When it comes to setting up a food booth, whether it's at a music festival or a farmers market, choosing the right tent is crucial for a successful event. First, consider the type and scale of the event. If you're participating in a large market exhibition or festival, the tent size must match the available space. Measure carefully if space is limited to avoid overcrowding or wasting room.

A 10x10 food tent is a popular choice because it fits most venue standards. This size allows for easy division of different areas, efficient use of space, and can accommodate a considerable number of people. Moreover, think about the functional areas of your booth. Determine if it needs to be just big enough for cooking equipment or if it should also include separate dining areas. Don't forget about storage and food display spaces.

Tent Material

The tent fabric should be made of waterproof and sunproof materials, while the tent frame should consist of lightweight and rust-resistant poles. Only with such materials can the tent withstand erosion, scratching and sun exposure. And the tent materials must be safety-tested and approved.

Compared with galvanized steel pipes and PE fabric on the market, sheltent's aluminum alloy poles and PVC fabric tent cloths are better. Aluminum alloy is not only light but also easy to carry and set up. Moreover, it has excellent rust - resistance. Its corrosion resistance is superior to that of PE cloth, so it can effectively resist rain corrosion.

PVC fabric has an outstanding waterproof and sunproof function. It plays a vital role on rainy or sunny days, as the PVC fabric is impermeable to water and won't leak, and can offer reliable shade for you. It can prevent sunburn and endure long-term sun exposure without being prone to aging or becoming brittle. Moreover, the materials used in Sheltent's products are flame-retardant and comply with international fire safety standard DIN4102:B1/M2.

Appearance

To make your booth stand out at the exhibition, attract customers, and leave a good impression, a striking tent with a beautiful and unique appearance is essential. The logo on the tent not only enhances the brand image but also increases brand recognition. Therefore, customizing your tent is a better choice.

There are numerous advantages to tent customization. First, you can choose colors that align with your brand image, which helps guide customers to your booth. Then, you can design various accessories to match different themes, allowing you to create an atmosphere that complements the season or festival.

Sheltent offers excellent custom services. We utilize spray printing technology to produce high-definition, realistic images with exquisite craftsmanship, ensuring that the colors of the patterns do not fade easily. If you have high standards for your custom tent, adding a sidewall as a background is also a great option. This will enhance the uniqueness and practicality of the tent.

Easy to Transport and Set up

If the tent lacks sufficient lightness, you'll find yourself obliged to rent a truck to transport this cumbersome and weighty item, thereby incurring additional transportation expenses. Although choosing a cumbersome tent looks stable, if it results in higher costs due to transportation fees, it's hardly a cost-effective solution. Moreover, setting up a food vendor tent often requires more personnel, leading to extra labor costs.

A complicated setup process can not only delay your sales event but may also pose safety risks if the tent is not installed correctly. Therefore, it makes sense to select a lightweight tent from the beginning; this will avoid increasing the transportation burden and can also save you valuable time.

Sheltent's food tent structure is prefabricated in the factory, so the setup process is greatly simplified. Just spice up the components step by step according to the install manual. The poles are made of lightweight aluminum alloy, which makes it easier to carry and the on-site installation can be completed in a short time. For added convenience, we also offer installation services at your location.

Reliable Food Vendor Tent Supplier

When selecting a tent, it is crucial to choose a supplier with a solid reputation. This ensures that the quality is assured and that excellent after-sales service is available. Furthermore, the supplier should have a professional team whose extensive industry experience enables them to accurately comprehend customers' requirements, thereby greatly enhancing your product experience.

Lastly, a supplier with strong capabilities, including exquisite craftsmanship and advanced technology, can offer high-quality products and guarantee that their products align with the latest market trends.

You can check out the online comments to see the true feedback from other customers. Besides, you also can ask different suppliers for information to compare the price and products and determine which one is the best supplier. Once you have identified a potential supplier, you can require suppliers to provide product quality inspection reports to confirm their aptitude.

Sheltent, an internationally renowned specialist in mobile and modular space solutions, has a decade of tent building experience. Moreover, the technology and quality of our tents are endorsed by our partners, which can be verified on our website.

How to Set up a Food Tent

Find a flat place and lay the tent on the ground. Then insert the long pole into the short pole, repeat this process until all the poles are assembled. Lift up the poles straightly and raise the tent. Use the hammer to stake the tent into the ground at a 90 degree angle. Attach the loop straps to the tent and stake them down to make the tent stable.

Divide the food tent into several functional areas, namely, the hand-washing area, the table-placing area, the cooking area and the refrigerator area and other areas special to your requirement. Place various kinds of equipment in each functional area in turn and leave passages.

You can also put a blackboard in the selling area and write some information about your products on it. This can arouse the curiosity of customers, let them stay in your booth for a little longer, and increase the chance of buying. In addition, you can put some decorations at the entrance. These beautiful and special vendor booths display ideas can make your booth stand out from others. The most important thing is to ensure that your operations in the tent are proper and safe.

Some Popular Food Concession Tents for Festivals or Farm Market

If you're keen to explore the various types of concession stand tents available, the following will introduce some popular Sheltent options for food vendors, for your reference.

Pole Tent

Pole tents are affordable and spacious. Some of them offer as much as 200 feet of space under the canopy, perfect for large areas like squares, parks, and backyards. In addition, Sheltent uses a modular system, letting you add tents as needed, without size or shape worries. This means you can add any modular unit according to your requirements, adapting to the versatile event needs.

Made with prefabricated, lightweight aluminum alloy, Sheltent tents are easy to install and move. This lightweight feature allows you to save both transportation costs and installation labor and time costs. The pole tents are 100% waterproof PVC fabric with strong seams and pass strict quality checks, ensuring superior protection against heavy rain.

Pole tents have a unique shape with an aesthetically pleasing spire, which is a good choice for those who want to attract the attention of customers with a special appearance.

Frame Tent

The Sheltent frame tent has no pillars inside, freeing up more space for use under the tent. Not only that, frame tents can be installed in almost any landform, including asphalt and concrete pavements. Due to its strong anchoring system, the tent is securely fixed to any ground. For vendors who often attend various kinds of events, this is a good option that you don't have to consider the setup location.

Its frame uses 6061-T6 aluminum alloy, more rust-resistant than galvanized steel. The 50mm-diameter, 2mm-thick frame ensures strength. The 430g white double PVC cover supports heavy gear. This type of tent can withstand wind loads of 60km/h, ensuring stability and reliability in various weather conditions. 

This 20x40 tent holds 80-90 people. The kit has side poles, roof beams, base plates, ratchet, PVC, stakes, and ratchet. In addition, side walls can be built for better resistance to wind and rain.

High Peak Tent

The Sheltent high peak tent features a frame made of 6061-T6 anodized aluminum alloy. Its connecting parts are hot-dipped galvanized Q235, which makes the tent highly corrosion-resistant and durable. 

The tent fabric of high peak tents is made of 430-g white blackout double PVC, meeting the B1 level flame retardant standard. The high peak tent's top rises high and forms a pointed spire, giving it an elegant overall appearance and enhancing the grade of activities.

Its upmarket appearance design makes it become a suitable option for large-scale music festivals and high-end venues. High peak tents have a long service life of 20 years, which can save a great deal of costs.

Promote Your Custom Food Vendor Tent with Sheltent

In summary, food vendor tents are a great asset for sellers at events. A high-quality food tent can create a pleasant atmosphere, attracting people to stay longer and spend more money. Owning a high-quality tent requires you not only to consider the factors of purchase and custom-making, but you also should pay attention to daily maintenance. And choosing a reliable tent supplier is quite an important part of the process.

Sheltent has nearly 10 years of experience in the tent industry. The passion of providing high quality tents drives us to update our technology and design. Sheltent is dedicated to providing outstanding customization to meet the requirements of each customer. We guarantee the satisfaction of customers with our products by providing refund or exchange service.

To enhance the buying experience, Sheltent confirms high-quality after-sales service by a prompt response to your questions and needs. Food vendor tents are not just about providing shelter. They represent Sheltent's commitment to quality.