This year, Toronto decided to finally allow food vendors to sell food other than hot dogs and sausages in street carts. Unfortunately, it wasn’t so simple as that. The City decided to severely restrict locations, insist on particular and expensive food carts, and charge extremely high fees. The City even regulated the percentage of time the owners themselves had to be on-site operating the carts. One article I read suggested a couple invested $80,000 in the venture but business wasn’t good enough for them to make any money.
I think the City went overboard with the regulations. As a friend of mine pointed out to me yesterday, Bangkok has hundreds of street carts selling an enormous variety of foods….and nobody dies.
That said, I’m not that sympathetic to anyone who considered investing $80K in a business selling $5.00 items one at a time was a profitable idea, especially not with ongoing steep yearly fees and a short Toronto selling season. I’m sure a lot of potential cart operators got out their calculators, figured it was a losing proposition and bailed early in the game.
The City does need to have some regulations. There has to be some basic health standards and inspections. As well, there has to be some level of control over locations. Otherwise, there will be war with restaurant owners. I think having a variety of food carts is good for the character of the City, and so I think fees should be on the low side, rather than the high side, to enable it to be a profitable business. If vendors can’t make a living selling street food, it won’t take long before there is no more street food. The City has to re-examine this whole business.
27th Street 
I had no idea the fees were that astronomical. I guess street vendor is out of the question for my next career.
$80 over 5 years is $73/day. That seems like quite a bit but if you have a location with strong all day traffic it might be ok. Seems a bit high. I absolutely favor charging street vendors an arm an a leg for the right to peddle stuff. A restaurant owner has to pay rent or a mortgage, heat, hydro, payroll, payroll taxes, property taxes, income taxes, business taxes, business licence fees and must maintain his property as an attractive place to eat and then pay advertising. If I were a restaurant owner and payed out all that cash and the city let some bozo try to steal my lunch business with a $100 bicycle cart and a $50 permit there would be bloody war I tell you. The city has a duty to provide some business stability to the businesses it taxes and promoting outdoor food carts is not the way to do it. If you dont want to eat in a restaurant then pack a peanut butter and jelly sandwich because if we let the city become over run with street vendors the way Bangkok does then Toronto will very quickly start to look and feel like Bangkok. Outdoor food vendors are fine if they are located somewhere where they absolutely will not harm taxpaying businesses like perhaps the middle of High Park or along the side of HWY 401 or maybe 100 or so of them on the lawn at city hall. I make an exception for the popcorn and roasted chestnut guys because their product doesnt compete with restaurants.
You’ve factored what these people claim were there costs just to get into the game. There are also yearly fees.
It’s pretty difficult to feel sorry for the couple spending that much money…jesus was their cart made by Lambourgini or something? Actually, now that I think about it a high tech fancy machine for a cart might draw a crowd.
I don’t know…I am just so absolutely sick of bureaucracy. I’m all for high taxes and lots of services but shit…set out some rules..get the carts to take food safety (I had to to work in a restaurant/bar) and then make more jobs for inspectors. Charge a cart a couple hundred a year. Say…$200 a year. Then make surprise visits by inspectors dressed as ravers.
Seriously if a restaurant is worried about competing with a food cart then that’s the restaurants problem. When I want to eat…I make a mood choice…thee is no competition between wanting to be inside and getting special table service.
I’m not a huge food cart customer…but if they were making some really interesting dishes to carry to a park and eat…I’m all for it.
One of the major reasons I believe in outdoor business licenses or services is because having more people outside make the city a richer and safer environment. A restaurant could get a cart license and park right near their own restauran and offer food related to their vision…sort of offering all levels of cost and service.
And the brutal truth is…once someone learns the sense of freedom of being and working outside…all that overhead of a storefront gets put into a perspective. Maybe it’s good for restaurant to have more competition with a street vendor. Not just because of the food…but the knowledge that sometimes it comes down to making good simple food competing with McDonalds…
If we want organic simple yummy fresh food…we look around and our choices are a sit down restaurant and fast food! I think if someone made a raw food/organic fast food vending cart in Toronto they’d be a millionaire. Or at least they’d make 80,000 bucks ha ha.
oh wow speaking of food……great new show…on Bravo “Chef Academy” I hope you get that channel now!!! It’s really going to be a lot of fun!!!
We still don’t get many channels (less now than ever)….but one of these days we might join the modern world and plug into either cable or satellite.
Never mind street vending..
Got a fair few cafes over here that I reckon are licenced to sell salmonella…;-)
$80,000 to sell hot dogs?? For how much again?
You’d have to sell em at $50 a hit to break even!!!
Mind you if I moved there they’d make a profit…;-)