After the pandemic, which hit large catering companies hard, small players entered the market who opened companies with monoconceptions in the street food niche. Now “street food” is one of the most promising areas for earning money. But here it is important to understand the nuances of each format of the institution in order to recoup quickly (in less than two years) the investment in the product. What formats present the street food business now and what should the owner take into account?
Pancake house
The product in pancake house is inexpensive and easy to prepare. Food cost of the pancake itself is literally a few rubles, but filling is expensive. However, a pancake requires just a little filling, it can be very different and it can be purchased immediately in large volumes. The cost of the pancake is about 60 rubles.
However, the peak of demand for this product has already passed 10 years ago. Now the pancake market is at the stage of stagnation, pancakes will not surprise anyone. Despite the small lump-sum contribution when buying a franchise (70-390 thousand rubles), the profit is also small – from 100 to 250 thousand rubles.
Therefore, the pancake format cannot be called promising now.
Bakery
The bakery market, like pancakes, took off in 2014. But now you won’t surprise the consumer with fragrant bread and hot baked goods, the competition is very high.
The bakery’s profit is highly dependent on turnover and varies from 80 thousand rubles. up to 1.5 million rubles, and the payback period of investments is from 3 to 26 months. Of course, location, assortment, marketing, and target audience will play a role here. The average bakery check at a student residence will never be higher than the average bakery check at a large residential complex.
Shawarma
The shawarma market has already been created, everybody knows what kind of product it is. People eat shawarma more often than the same pancakes.
In this format of the institution, the assortment is important. If you have 15 types of shawarma, then the consumer can come to you 15 times to try different fillings. Naturally, if the quality of the product is at its best.
However, shawarma has a high food cost – from 42%. If experienced, it can be decreased, but not lower than 36%.
Plus, the taste of shawarma is strongly influenced by the nuances of cooking: the size of the cut, the amount of sauce, the freshness of the product. Therefore, the human factor, which is difficult to manage, will also play a role here. If the cook did not prepare it as usual – the client is dissatisfied.
The payback of shawarma is from 2 to 36 months, profit is from 100 to 990 thousand rubles, investments are from 175 thousand rubles up to 21 million rubles.
Hot dog
A hot dog is a classic streetfood format. The technology is as simple as possible: you cook sausages, put them in a roll, pour mayonnaise, sauce, mustard, and you’re done.
The product is prepared quickly, equipment and premises do not require large investments – 150 thousand rubles will be enough. Profit is from 80 to 700 thousand rubles.
For a hot dog, it is important to choose sausages wisely. On the one hand, they must be delicious for the consumer to return again. On the other hand, expensive sausages will greatly raise the food cost. So it’s important to find quality at a reasonable price.
To get a queue for hot dogs, you need to choose the right location for the outlet. The place should be lively. Shopping centers, markets, recreation areas, parks, train stations, business districts, a place near the university are perfect.
In general, this is a simple format in the organization that does not require a large start-up capital.
Burger
Burgers have a very large food cost – an average of 46%. Therefore, burgers cost plus or minus 500 rubles.
The cost of the burger immediately limits the number of consumers, and here nothing can be done. The taste of the product should be such that they choose to go to you for a burger. And the taste should be consistently cool.
Competition in the burger market is very high, and the audience segment is narrow. You have to invest in marketing, which means you need a pillow in your pocket.
It should also be borne in mind that the product itself has restrictions on the number of tastes. Several types of meat, sauces and cheese and the degree of roasting. That’s it.
The burger should be not just cooked deliciously, but also cutely assembled and packed. That is, there will be dependence on personnel.
On the other hand, little investment is required in the opening – from 200 thousand rubles. Profit makes from 50 thousand to 1.5 million rubles. Not bad.
Virial user content helps well in promoting the burger point.
Pizza
Basically, the pizzeria earns on delivery, its profitability is about 30%.
If you make a pizza point, then you need to have good traffic. This means that you will have to diversify the assortment at the expense of other dishes and work on trust and recognition.
Dodo Pizza has good results in this segment.
The margin is high, but most of it is “eaten up” by the staff. Plus, a lot of electricity is spent.
The profit of pizzerias varies from 50 thousand to 2 million rubles. Payback makes from 20 to 36 months
Coffee
Coffee is the most extensive street food format, accounting for 21% of the total market.
People drink coffee often and a lot. And all day long. Coffee shops with breakfasts are in great demand, that is, a full-fledged kitchen is already required.
Location and pricing policy are important for a coffee shop. If you opened it in a business center, then the cost of coffee can be made higher. However, you can attract a client in a residential area with low prices.
The payback of a coffee shop is up to 30 months, and if it is a “coffee takeaway” format – up to 24 months.
Profit:
- coffee shop – from 130 thousand to 1 million rubles,
- coffee point – from 10 thousand to 150 thousand rubles,
- coffee takeaway – from 10 thousand to 1 million rubles.
Chebureks
Cheburek is a dish familiar to everybody since childhood. The dish is hearty, and it can be prepared quickly. You can diversify tastes. It’s always a menu locomotive.
Food cost of cheburek is 30%, margin makes 342%. Investments in one point require from 970 thousand rubles. You can open it in 6 weeks.
For cheburek, it is important to be attractive and bright so that the product is not associated with fatty railway station chebureks in cellophane. With good marketing, you can earn from 500 thousand rubles.
What conclusion can be drawn?
Shawarma, coffee shops, cheburek and hot dog points look the most promising now. They will continue to capture the market. However, depending on the city, other formats can also gain success.
If you do not want to build a network, then you can count on 100-200 thousand rubles a month of profit. But the more points you open in the city, the higher the recognition and average revenue for each point.
When choosing a format, rely on the uniqueness of the business model and the quality of the product. It must be prepared quickly, the processes must be built and optimized, like on a conveyor.
Decide on the target audience, conduct an analysis and select the most profitable location. Develop a menu that best meets your customers’ needs, region and seasons.
By Alexander Dolgov, founder and owner of CheburekMi, Senor Dener, Laser Love, co-owner of the Postilla ecosystem and the 20×80 holding