John swapped his restaurant business for a stunning mobile van to give festival goers everything from mac and cheese to loaded fries, and he's never looked back!
John made the decision to sell his restaurant before the pandemic hit, and for his 60th birthday present he invested in a custom built, state-of-the-art food truck. Now, at the age of 65, John likes to be kept busy and has no intentions of slowing down any time soon.
From Funky Wraps to Big John's Mac
Over the years, John has built up a range of food concessions concepts including Funky Wraps, Pimped Up Chips, Big John's Mac & Cheese, Mother Tuckers and Hungry? Thirsty? to name a few.
"With Funky Wraps, we offer everything from BBQ chicken to Peking duck, plus a Mediterranean veg option for vegans and vegetarians. For my Pimped Up chips, I use the Super Crisp 9/16 chips and load them with toppings including BBQ chicken, chilli beef, and even an English breakfast concept! I have to admit that the chips I use from JJ are the best I've used in my whole time as a chef, they are amazing quality, and my customers are always complimenting them."
"I buy everything from fresh vegetables, oil, bacon, burger buns and baps, to sauces, packaging, cleaning materials and soft drinks from JJ. It's great to have a supplier that offers a very good range of products, with a quality to match.
JJ's online ordering system is fantastically efficient and very easy to work with, and being able to have my orders delivered directly to the festival sites is a real bonus for me. I can go and get my pitch set up and just wait for my orders to arrive."
Making a change on the festival food scene
"I think it's important to offer foods that provide an option for everyone. You always see a burger van at festivals but actually, customers' preferences change and sometimes they want to try something different. That's why on our mac and cheese menus, we offer the simple mac with American crust , but then we also offer a smoky mac, BBQ chicken mac, Mediterranean veg mac and crayfish mac; there's something for everyone to try."
Coping with the festival demand
Over his years of catering at festivals, John has picked up some valuable advice to pass onto other caterers looking to get onto the festival food scene, with the first and foremost being to do your research!
"With the increasing costs of pitch fees, you need a functioning concept that will generate turnover, and you must have an affordable operation to cover your overheads.
It also needs to be a well-functioning offering to cope with the busy demand at festivals otherwise you will lose money, big time. Having a product that can be produced quickly means you can serve more customers per day, while not overcomplicating the operations for yourself and your staff. They have chosen to come to your stand rather than all the others there, so you don't want to keep them waiting otherwise they'll go elsewhere!
This summer, you can find one of John's food trucks at festivals including Vintage Nostalgia, The Cambridge Club festival, Clockstock, NASS in Bristol, Boardmasters, Rewind, CarFest and Sundown in Norwich, to name a few.
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