Customers often ask what I do with the rest of my time, when the coffee van is closed and I’m not attempting to draw tulips in the top of lattes. So I thought I’d start the Brill Coffee blog with a run down of what it takes to get Barbara off the drive and set-up ready to serve a coffee. Last year I shared a short video of this process on our social channels which I’ll pop at the end of this post. So here it is, a breakdown on prepping our coffee van for a days service.
First things first – engage business mode!
Brill Coffee is a home run business which means every time we want to use the kitchen it has to be cleaned and disinfected to meet food hygiene regulations. I won’t bore you but there are specific processes and cleaners that we have to use to achieve this. This ensures we maintain our top level 5 food hygiene rating.
Prep list
The morning then looks a little like this:
- Fill the water containers
- Turn on coffee machine and bring up to temperature (takes 20 minutes)
- Receive delivery from local bakery of fresh pastries
- Cut up and package all fresh homemade cakes for travel
- Record the fridge temperatures
- Complete all pre-trading checks (helped by a handy checklist from NCASS as we are members)
- In the summer months we’ll have to stock ice and freezer boxes on the van
- Load the van with all cakes, signs and equipment
- Strap everything down for the journey
- Switch off all electrics, unplug van and get ready to go!
At site – getting service ready
Set-up at site really does vary dependent on if we are at our regular pitch (the windmill) or at an event. Event set-up generally involves more stock, external tables, more signage and a lot more work!
Here’s what set-up generally looks like once I’m at the Windmill:
- Put out any external signs
- Turn gas on and switch coffee machine on
- Unload cakes and put on display
- Make sure sugars, cups, lids etc are all out and easily accessible.
- Dial in the coffee – this changes ALOT due to the fluctuating temperatures in the van
Final check of course has to be an obligatory taste test – after all it’s taken some time to get here!
Then we pray for the rain to stay away and for a non-stop flow of customers.
Did you expect there was so much involved before we open the hatch and serve a coffee?
Anything you'd like us to delve into behind the scenes for future blog posts?