The 1115 Mobile Kitchen team at Mondegreen, a four-day Phish festival in Dover, Delaware (Photo courtesy 1115 Mobile Kitchen)
Music festivals attract a certain crowd: not only super fans or those seeking an experience, but also people ready to embrace a sense of community. These gatherings are a blend of logistics and going with the flow, and a handful of Richmond-based food and beverage businesses are getting a taste of the festival circuit.
Earlier this week, 1115 Mobile Kitchen, Jiji Frozen Custard and Salty’s Lobster Co. packed up a 26-foot refrigerated box truck and hit the road for Dover, Delaware. Their destination? Mondegreen, a 45,000-person music festival hosted by the jam band Phish.
Over the course of four days, they’ll pull wildly extended shifts, re-create their kitchens under tents, pray it doesn’t rain and hope to attract some new fans.
“We’re all working together,” says Henry Fletcher, owner of the fried chicken and vegan-friendly venture 1115 Mobile Kitchen.
“Getting the refrigerated trailer, we have all the space, and when we park it on-site we have the largest walk-in on-site,” he says. “We unload this truck and pretty much re-create our truck kitchen under the tent and emulate that, so when our crew shows up there, it’s a very similar flow to our high-paced events.”
Joining forces allows the businesses to streamline logistics for the event. From transportation and housing for staff to locating the closest Restaurant Depot to the grounds and obtaining temporary food establishment permits in each city they visit, there are a number of moving parts when hopping on the festival circuit. Menus are approved in advance, signage is provided by the festival organizers, and between travel, setup and breakdown, it often takes nearly an entire week to work the festival and return home.
“You’re there for a few days and want to get comfortable and set it up exactly how you want so you can pump out as much food as possible,” says Chase Appich, co-owner of Jiji Frozen Custard with his wife, Kendall.
Chase Appich, co-owner of Jiji Frozen Custard, at Mondegreen (Photo courtesy Jiji Frozen Custard)
That can mean either amping up or scaling back their offerings. While 1115 Mobile Kitchen doesn’t typically offer breakfast, its shifts at Mondegreen kick off at 7:30 a.m., so they’re selling fried chicken sandwiches with scrambled eggs and bacon, along with French and Fried, aka French toast sticks and fried chicken nugz.
Known for its elaborate sundae specials, Jiji, however, will scale back with limited toppings such as sprinkles and hot fudge. And although the Wisconsin-style custard company can’t haul an espresso machine to Mondegreen for affogatos, the team will be bringing a keg of nitro coffee from Richmond’s Recluse Roasting Project for coffee floats.
“You look at these events and you go, ‘How do [we] get ... that transaction, that item, across the table as fast as possible?’” Appich says. “If you do too much, you’re not producing enough, [you] always have to think about scaling.”
During peak times at festivals, he says, the team has served 100-150 people an hour nonstop.
Fletcher recalls similar numbers at the Dreamville Festival in Raleigh, which he says changed the trajectory of his business and was the encouragement he needed to keep going. “That’s a big shout-out to my crew,” Fletcher says. “Every one of these [festivals] is this different challenge of unlocking possibilities, and especially when they go well, you see the potential in yourself and your team.”
Before taking his business to festivals, Fletcher attended dozens as a fan. Employing fellow music lovers, he’s enjoyed being able to see a vast spectrum of acts while working. Each experience has taught him something new: Lining trash cans with cinnamon can deter insects, and par-frying his product can save a ton of time — a tip from a late-night rerun of “Diners, Drive-ins and Dives” viewed back at the hotel.
Being a part of the festivals, however, does come with a cost. A number of larger festivals (30,000 people and above) including Mondegreen, receive 35% of vendor sales, in addition to charging for electrical hookup and tent. Smaller events, such as Red Wing Roots Festival in Mt. Solon or the JamPacked Festival in Richmond, charge a flat fee.
Bill Cavender of Richmond’s Black Heath Meadery recently went to Floyd for the return of FloydFest. It was his first time vending at the event, and his mead was poured in the VIP area of the festival during a limited happy hour. He brought about 30 gallons of his product and introduced Sierra Mist, a honey wine named for artists Sierra Hull and Sierra Ferrell, who performed at the festival.
“From my perspective, doing a festival has two very important and critical functions for me: No. 1, brand recognition, No. 2, I get to go have fun and do something I love and include some of my staff. Worst-case scenario is always that I break even; at that point financially, I’m still getting that exposure, that experience for myself and the staff, good for morale,” Cavender says.
While the camaraderie and branding boost can’t be denied, similar to any outdoor event, the businesses are subject to the whims of the weather.
“These events are very risky, too, because you can get rained [out],” Appich says.
Sourcing dairy from Illinois and often getting it shipped to site, if the rain deters people, Appich says he gets stuck with extra product that he can’t bring back. “I lost that food cost, I don’t have a way to get it home; I can’t carry 2,000 pounds of dairy.”
Vendors also have to navigate housing for staff, although camping is often provided. For Mondegreen, 1115 Mobile Kitchen, Jiji Frozen Custard and Salty’s Lobster Co. all have secured Airbnbs off-site, in addition to camping areas on the festival grounds.
Despite the preplanning and potential challenges, the owners all say it’s the sense of camaraderie and love of music that keep them coming back.
“It’s a community. You try to make friends with the people next to you and be like, ‘Hey, what are you doing in October?’ and get other festivals,” Appich says.
Whether a food business forgets a thermometer or a tool set, or an attendee left behind a tarp, chances are, a soon-to-be-friend has your back.
“It is that festival magic, something I’ve only ever experienced there,” Fletcher says. “You get to know your neighbor, and you understand that everything takes a village. At these events, you pay so much for these tickets, why drop the ball when it’s time for them to spend money on food? The goal is to just elevate the experience. We want to create a great product so you’re hearing your favorite artist, you’re in this beautiful place, and you take a bite of this insane custard or fried chicken sandwich and it’ll be the reason you return next year.”
