Ice cream: Food (mini) truck VS food cart (EV trike)

Cuisine Food & Drink
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So, I have been making and selling ice cream out of my friends shop for a couple months now
It’s going so-so.
Need a bigger Instagram following apparently.
Mexicecream 墨哥雪 for those who frequent Tainan, or wanna check out our newest creations. (Same name on FB)
Everyone we sell to says it is amazing, “the best they have had” but my sales are the same most of the time, and my family and friends end up eating alot of it. :smile:
Well, admittedly, part of why we make it is bc we love it, and before we came here, I had the idea of selling ice cream here, as ten years ago there was nothing spectacular.

So, happy on that front. Recently started making gourmet (decorated) cones, and people really like those. Plus my buddy (who sells 100-250 sweet pancake thingies per day) bats me clients all the time.
But we can’t help thinking that a trike stand would get more clients.
Plus mobility would allow us to go anywhere in town, and sell in Parks and alleys and stuff.
I love cycling. And I love EV. And I have seen some pretty nice trike stalls. Their prices are crazy though. Ranging from 12,000NT for a second hand old school wooden stall with roof, to 80k+ for a new custom made electric one.
Ideally I will find a 15-20k second hand electric one that I can retrofit with a cooler.

But than the question, why not go whole hog?
I like those little VW bus-faced micro vans turned into food stalls. And, hunting for a cheap one, they can be had for 100-200k. (With the modified gull wing door. 35k!-160 for a regular van). They also have room for a grill as well as a freezer. (I can just smell the cochinita and tacos al pastor. :taco:). Mmmm

I know food trucks have different rules here. And I couldnt drive THROUGH a park. But I definitely could pull up on the curb of one and sell there.
And the beach. And it would open up Kaohsiung to us. (We live in Tainan).

As I say this, im thinking bike, and than truck next year, once we have developed a following. But the truck could also work as a family car (ish…) During the week
A d help lug stuff. Right now girls and dog and cooler all get hauled on my trusty 100cc wip. ;-p

Thanks for yalls insight and opinions.
And check out our Fanpage.

Or drop. Y and try some for yourselves!
Need to go back to the kitchen now and check on our latest batch of watermelon :watermelon:.

Last note/thought. I could always use the food truck to sell Mexican food AND ice cream down the road. Everyone keeps telling me to open. A restaurant… But I really want to do my IMBA next year, and do not want to dedicate the time to that… yet at least. Foodtruck would be ok. I’m ok with weekend cooking.
IMG_20190605_230548~2
Just a taste.
White chocolate dipped cone with choco-sprinkles and dark chocolate ( French Valhorna 80% Kakao) ice cream.
;-p

Yes, French, bc it is what I can get, and the highest quality I have found.
Though that Ruby stuff sounds nice, I doubt I’d have the clientele.

5 Likes
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You lost me at the whole hog but good luck down south

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Looks good. How much do you charge? I saw a French guy in Taipei on a tricycle selling homemade ice cream. Check him out on FB at treat-cycle.

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Love these things but don’t know the laws. I don’t see them much outside of approved events. I don’t see them often just parked somewhere and don’t know if they can even do that. And if the laws or licenses are the same or different for different parts of Taiwan.

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Mmm hog

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Are there food bloggers in your area?

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Maybe off topic, but how you got a permit would be helpful for people who want to do similar side busoness.

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uh… permit? what?

hahaha.

i sell attached to my friends shop.

i assume he has a permit.

Tainan is much more lax than taipei.

i remember up there there are signs in the parks specifically prohibiting vendors.

there are food bloggers in my area, IG guys. i met two. eateattainan (10k+ followers) and another guy with 22k. the guy said he would come back to try my ice cream.

tianan is mostly mandarin and taiyu though. very little english. so these ppl are hard for me to find.

the two i met came to my friends shop. (he has 5.5k IG followers, and has had his shop for over 3 yrs).

i have been told that i should be fine, unless i piss someone off, and they send the officials to inspect me.

than i will be given a warning and a 6mo time period to acquire whatever it is (i assume they will than inform me) that i need to acquire.

my other friend said that a biz does not need to register unless it makes more than 30k NTD x mo. after that, you need to hire an accountant to file taxes for you.

well, sadly, atm, we dont make anywhere near that. so. no problem!

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Nah, I meant a work permit.

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oh. i have one through my bushiban.

on a student ARC you can do any work for up to 25hrs a week (my subsequent plan in FEB)

actually, prob more legal that now.

as far as getting your own based on your own biz.

i have friends who have them, but i haven’t asked. because i am nowhere near that level.

i did see a white guy with a pizza food truck the other day. had to chase my girls tho, so no time to ask, though i did think about it

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we sell the cone for 80NT atm… thats 1.75 balls of ice cream. the bottom one is smaller so it can fit inside the cone.

decorated cones free gift to ppl who follow us on Instagram. will probably charge 20-30NT for them in the future.

also doing a deal with my friend and his pies/cakes/pancakes for 150 for a cake with two ice cream balls. get a lil more ice cream, and a 10NT discount when you purchase together.

plus, they are ridiculously good together. especially chocolate and chocolate with chocolate. :wink:

(if you like chocolate, of course)

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I thought you are on a work based ARC, but on a degree course student ARC, or language course student ARC for more than a year, yes, you can get a kind of open work permit up to 2520hrs.

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I’ll be sure to check buy some next time I visit Tainan. What about the pancake guy? Does he have a FB page? I’m curious about what he’s selling.

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Get one of these

20190608_195949

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that is because selling something on street can be illegal.

咖啡行動車、早餐車還是攤車如停留在沒有紅黃線上，是沒有違規停車，但是道路是不能佔用來營業的，不管是騎樓、廣場、巷弄、收費停車格停放都是屬於道路的一部份，如有妨礙道路通行，警方可依道路處罰條例第８２條第一項第三款利用道路為工作場所者處1200-2400元罰款，且依規定每隔兩小時可連續開單，另外你的垃圾如沒收好或弄髒週遭環境，環保人員也可開1500-4500元罰款。
From http://ican168blog.pixnet.net/blog/post/22184106-創業族改裝行動餐車應知知識及行動餐車經營

This page explains some regulations on food truck in Chinese.

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Thanks guys.
Came across this. Talking to a cycling shop friend of mine to see if we can’t build it.

13456037-coffee-bike-kafe-stanek-2
13456037-coffee-bike-kafe-stanek-21280×720 154 KB

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There are a bunch of similar looking ones floating around Taipei. I talked to one of the guys and he said that the bicycle is from China and the rest they built themselves.

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First time I’ve ever heard a scoop of ice cream called ice cream balls.

Scoop sounds a lot more appetizing than ball.

Wish you luck.

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Cue Barry White…
Oh wait… It was Chef from SP who sang chocolate salty balls.

Haha.

Yeah, somehow qiu got translated directly in my sleep deprived mind.

Thank you though. Chocolate is my favorite. Super rich and creamy.

The fruit ones are more gellato-like. Hold up better in extreme heat.

Can’t wait for Avocado. :avocado:. By far my favorite

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If your priduct is good, price is ok and you can work fast probably the better money is in festivals, annual events, food related shows etc. Know many people who make good money that way and spend their weekdays preparing ingredients for the busy weekend events. A teuck would certainly be best. Imo those fancy vans are a scam. Only the peraon selling the van makes money. Get a small truck and fix it pretty. More efficient and easy to sell etc. The van thing impairs efficiency and doesnt seem to draw much attention in practice.

1.7 to 2plus tonne trucks are the way to go. You can do them up with wood and fibreglass too. At a fraction of the cost.
Best of luck.

1 Like