I noticed the same walking around my local city centre today. Some of the places are OK but at the end of the day those mobile units are always spendy, they’ve got to grab the cash while they can and I’ve got no issue with that but I tend to retreat to one of the there all year food providers unless there’s something special on offer.

It’s no different to a summer fete or concert except at least on the high street/town centre you have an alternative.

And don’t go to the O2 if you think those hot dogs are expensive!

Ok I do have a bit of knowledge of these sorts of things as I have a friend who runs one of these street food vans – he was featured on George Clarke’s Amazing Spaces.
Anyway I know the prices he had to charge at most normal venues but when he went to anything special the rents were extremely high. He did a few weeks in Leeds in the Trinity Centre food area (they actually lifted his Citroen HY van up three floors on the outside of the building)
He said it was sort of worthwhile but he didn’t make as much money as he had to be open so many hours more so had to employ more cover and the rent for the space was stratospheric – it wasn’t double what he was charging but it was a least 50% more than when he didn’t have to pay for the space.
I could imagine these Christmas markets will similarly charge a lot to have your food offer within them. There might be some taking advantage of the situation but I reckon it’ll mostly be huge rents and higher costs pushing the price up.

Plenty of folk paying it at the German market in B’ham the other week.
The price of a Crepe gets me, £5 for a bloody pancake with Nutella & marshmallows.
They took £60 in the 8 mins I was queuing.

I know they need to grab what they can but they are mobile units with no much of a “fixed” cost such as rent etc, surely the price can go down a bit? No?

No. The cost to pitch at these venues is expensive you still then have your other overheads.

I just don’t wish to part with such cash even when I want to support them.

Don’t I won’t be when I’m in town this week, instead I’ll got to one of the independent restaurants that Newcastle is full of.

JP has answered that, did you not read it?.

You do realise who started this thread?

Are they trying to money grab as well?

Yes. Everyone is.

The one upside to a lack of regulation, is that in Asia, outside of the tourist hot spots – streetfood is affordable for everyone.

So who set the cost to pitch for Xmas market? Bet it is the council.

Surely the council knows this is a festive season to encourage as many vendors as possible local or otherwise. Are they trying to money grab as well?

Yes it’s the council. Yes the council are trying to make money too.

The one upside to a lack of regulation, is that in Asia, outside of the tourist hot spots – streetfood is affordable for everyone.

Yeah I thought that was pretty much the point of street food. I’ve not been but friends who have talk about how cheap it is to eat at these places.

So who set the cost to pitch for Xmas market? Bet it is the council.

Of course it is. Councils tend to be greedy with these sorts of things. For your £12K in Bath you don’t get power (extra fee) or get to be in the same place as previous years, so people can find you easily again (extra fee), or even be in one of the higher footfall areas (extra fee).

JP

Tbh that doesn’t sound otherworldly for a captive market, you’d pay more in a Cinema or the like.

It’s not captive it runs down one of the main areas of Newcastle surrounded by pubs and restaurants but people still think they’re getting something special from a wrestlers burger as it’s Christmas.

Yeah I thought that was pretty much the point of street food. I’ve not been but friends who have talk about how cheap it is to eat at these places.

Yup.

And this is partly why generally happiness levels are quite high, even if the usual economic markers of development indicate it’s “developing”. As soon as you roll out of your office, factory or whatever – it’s straight down to the nearest street food place to link up with friends and family – eat food, drink beer and watch the world go by in the busy, colourful streets on a warm evening. The only way I can describe it is like being able to go and eat out in a really atmospheric pub surrounded by friends and family at least 3 times a week.

It’s really, really sociable. Meanwhile, pubs here are closing down at a ridiculous rate.

This is the wurst thread I’ve ever read…

No wonder these parasites are getting bloated …

Which parasites? Most councils are verging on destitute, and cutting funding for social care, libraries etc. Find me a council that’s got pots of money they don’t know what to do with. If they can raise some money in December to support for some services year round then I’m fine with that.

We live in a capitalist society. You don’t want to eat out (or can’t afford to), don’t. Vendors don’t exist to provide free food for everyone as a Christmas treat. Luckily we’re not SE Asia, we have a more stable economy, less poverty, lower crime, longer life expectancy, better healthcare.

Feel free to go back there, you can have all the cheap street food you want.

Yep. But they suck you in with waft of frying onions and bacon. Even if you were not hungry after 20mins of exposure you are suddenly starving marvin
Then there is the quality of said burgers. Why do they taste like cardboard, are cold within 10 seconds, the onions are a pound more, a pound for 5ps worth of onions
The baps are not buttered either
And don’t get me started on the time I had the audacity to ask for a grilled bap. What’s a grilled bap was the reply. Time for a change of carrer Mr fast food vendor

There does seem to be a monopoly at the bigger ones. I went to the Manchester Christmas Markets a couple of years ago, “7 different markets for your pleasure!” Err, no. It was the same stalls, in 7 different locations, selling the same stuff at the same prices.

The “best” thing I’ve seen at Newcastle’s Christmas market is “Nutella cookies” – cookies, like those ones you get in a bag of 4 in the supermarket (e.g. Sainsbury’s local on the same street) for a quid, with a spoon of Nutella on the top. Yours for £3.

If you are earning minimum wage those are prohibitive pricing …

You know maybe if people who didn’t earn minimum wage spent their money instead of penny pinching and pretending to worry about how poor people can afford things, those people on minimum wage might earn a bit more. They’re on minimum wage Because you* don’t value their time or labour and moan about £9 for a burger or 6p extra on your packet of quinoa, because the only cost is 70 pence of ingredients.

Get over yourself, if it’s really about anyone else take that £14 and stick it in a homeless person’s hand instead.

I’m not a huge fan of Christmas markets but if you’re trying to justify the cost by looking at the ingredients and alternative suppliers you’re missing the point, you miserable gits.

We live in a fairly damp, cold and dark country in December. The Christmas market offers a chance to go outside with friends or family and do something different.

Take the £3 nutella cookie and my 4 year old daughter. I could go and guy a 4 pack of cookies from Sainsburys local and jar of nutella for 3 pounds. However, she goes to shops quite often and is familiar with both cookies and nutella. It would probably hit 5/10 on the excitement index.

I could take her to the Christmas market, and that £3 cookie would seem like the best thing she’s ever seen, 10/10 exciting. We would probably spend some time outside and she’d experience something different.

Tim Harfords written loads about this sort of stuff. Theres an extract from his book here….

Go Figure – An extract from The Undercover Economist

I’d like to think the local councils make some well needed cash from these but I rather suspect that the only people making any useful money are the organisers/promoters who I suspect are a massive national chain

Does anyone know for sure?

I could take her to the Christmas market, and that £3 cookie would seem like the best thing she’s ever seen, 10/10 exciting. We would probably spend some time outside and she’d experience something different.

Fair point – I know it sounded like it, but I wasn’t really suggesting people take their kids to Sainsbury’s for a packet of cookies and a jar of Nutella (though if you gave her the whole packet and the whole jar, I bet that’d be a 10/10 😀 ). It’s just a bit depressing that an “experience” has to equal getting ripped off.

thisisnotaspoon has it.

To add to it, I know at least one of the regular stallholders (fruit and veg stall, there all year round) on the high street where our Christmas market is, is pretty annoyed at having his pitch moved to accommodate overpriced “German” sasuage stalls. Could just be market trader grumpiness though.