Legal Advice wanted

[robincooper]

Hi!
Has anybody know what docs I'll need to open portable coffee spot on tricycle?

[robincooper]

I'm talking about these stuff https://www.bestadvisers.co.uk/adult-tricycle, btw
Example

[Smirnoff]

sam, berstein.

[Wheels]

Winter is coming!

[JonWylie]

Not legal advice, but here is probably a good place to start https://detroitmi.gov/departments/bu...license-center

[Lowell]

I would think folks who do the pedal bars, like HandleBarDetroit could offer some insight. I imagine the requirements for your situation would be far lower as you are not moving people, and especially drunks, on city streets. Your situation would be more akin to a food or ice cream truck.

[Richard]

I have built 30 food trucks in fla and they are regulated by the health department first and it appears like it is the same up there,so I would check here first and see what is required for food safety and sanitation requirements.

https://www.michiganfoodsafety.com/i...an-review.html

[robincooper]

Thanks!

[robincooper]

Yes, I want to prepare for the next season

[Metro25]

I love this idea it would be great to do around the parks.

[hybridy]

reddit is your friend...

have you ever run a coffee cart

background: Run a biz on a trike. There are all the obvious things like water/waste that the health dept will demand you have. I suggest going to the local county health dept. and ask them for a "mobile food unit" packet that will give you the local regs. Like in MN where the waste water tank has to be so many gallons bigger than the fresh water tank [[which has to be at least 5 gal). There are all kinds of stuff like this. Depending on your state, learn what NSF means and prepare to hate it. As for milk, many health dept,. will have a 4 hour limit or something for holding. And get your municipal permit info. Every city is different when it comes to carts vs. trailers.
Then there are small things that are hard to anticipate. In a shop you can put the paper cups on top on the counter or on top of the machine. But outside there is wind. Where are you going to put them on windy days? space is at a huge premium.

r/foodtrucks
r/legaladvice

[Richard]

^ I did not read the full link but just the part posted.

Learn what NSF means and be prepared to hate it.

Why would they say that ?

You are dealing with the public serving things that they will injest it is your responsibility to insure that it is done in the safest manner.

Most states require the manager or owner have somebody on staff that is food safety certified.

It is actually pretty simple,wash your hands before handing others food,proper food storage temperatures,38 to 41 degrees cold storage,140 degrees for hot food storage.

Hot water for hand washing,commercial equipment is NSF rated even down to the cutting boards because it is all down to prevent the spread of disease.

Granted carts such as coffee and hot dogs are different and regulated different but you still need to utilize food safety standards because you are serving the public.

We fought for years with the food truck aspect,the first rule was they had to have a commissary,or a restaurant we’re they could dump waste water and wash dishes etc.

But the rule was also that the food trucks had to be self sufficient and follow the same standard as a restaurant.

That is what we had change

If you are required to be 100% self contained and have the same standard as a brick and mortar then you no longer need to have a brick and mortar as a sponsor.

The water tank system is simple,usually the grey water tank has to be 15 percent bigger then the fresh water because you produce more waste water then you use fresh.

Why do we need basic standards enforced?

Here in Tampa the was a lady that had a coffee cart in front of the federal courthouse,they caught her under a blanket useing a can to go to the bathroom in,she said it was because she could not leave the cart,the cart had no hand wash sink.

Guess what all carts have to have now and why.

A well run food truck can generate over $200,000 a year in revenue,when I was building them it used to blow my mind the amount of people that wanted to start as cheap as possible buy substituting the public’s safety in order to save a few dollars.

Not to even mention how nasty some restaurant kitchens really are.

In Tampa bay I started building food trucks after the crash and there was 100 or so trucks around,1 health inspector for the entire state for food trucks,there was some nasty trucks out there.

Now 8 years later there is in excess of 400 trucks out there with 10 inspectors in one county alone.

The biggest hurdle was my generation that grew up with the roach coaches and retained that stigma,but now the trucks built rival a brick and mortar restaurant,In California those fancy trucks that you see are $250,000 plus,they do not buy them they lease them for up to $5000 a month,I would agree in that state they are regulated to the point of absurdity.

Even requiring GPS tracking so the state knows were they are at any given second.

If one is interested in the cart thing flavored shaved ice is the one that is the cheapest to get into and the highest revenue producer profit wise with little product storage.

With a coffee cart like the one pictured,you got to figure you are going to be peddling 250 plus lbs around and the street surface has to be really smooth.

In the more rural area by me that has a lot of Mexicans if you go early enough you see a train of 30 of them heading out on the cart bikes like in the second picture,it is like a big insulated box.

I do not know what they are selling,I think it is something frozen but they head out every day and comeback at night,they must be making something.

[Zacha341]

Yeah a good time to plan for how to do this in the spring!

Winter is coming!