Customer Spotlight: Wildfire Catering
Updated: 23 February, 2024
Owner of Wildfire Catering, Paul, first started out in the food industry with his own gastropubs. Having loved music all his life and attended many festivals, in 2005 Paul made the decision to get into festival catering.
During the peak summer seasons, he'll spend four months catering at the likes of Glastonbury, Reading, Isle of Wight festival, Latitude, Boardmasters; and in the winter months he's in Winter Wonderland, while also catering for film and tv crews throughout the year.
When he started looking around for suppliers to cater to his needs, Paul came across JJ Foodservice online and was surprised at how competitive the prices were. He began collecting his orders from the Enfield branch when he got speaking to another trader and found out that JJ were now delivering to festival sites. Since then, he hasn't looked back...
Burgers and bangers
Having two different food concepts means Paul can choose what he serves depending on the customers each festival attracts.
With The Real Banger Co. serving up everything from sausage and bacon rolls for breakfast, to sausages and mash, hot dogs, pulled pork ad vegan sausages in the evenings, he can serve up bangers from dawn to dusk in our Letsdough Jumbo Hot Dog Rolls (all while listening to the bangers on stage!)
Meanwhile, his burger brand offers everything from classic burgers, as well as a Thai bean burger and plant burgers too! All served inside our Letsdough Gourmet Brioche Buns with SQ-easy sauces and Super Crisp chips.
Cheeseburgers remain on top!
While Paul has vegetarian and vegan options, he says that his meat burgers are the most popular. "When we catered for Liam Gallagher at Knebworth House, we had 1,000 customers a day over two days and we sold thousands of cheeseburgers and chicken burgers."
"Last year at Reading Festival, we had one customer visit our stand 17 times! You begin to see the same faces, and that's when you know the food you are serving is good."
"For me, it's important to serve decent food. Festival goers are there for 3-4 days at a time, so we need the repeat business. That's also why I don't cater at day festivals - people usually eat before they go or will eat from you once and that's it. For us, with all of the overheads we have to cover, day festivals aren't worth our while."
"Go small and work your way up"
With over 15 years' experience of festival catering now, we asked Paul for his advice to other caterers looking to get into it.
"Go small and work your way up", he said. "Don't think it's quick, easy money, it's hard work and graft with not a lot of sleep. Plus, bad toilets and showers, and you're away from home for most of the summer. Make sure to do your research and have a solid concept to offer."
"It's also important to speak to other traders when you arrive on site, to price yourselves around the same mark and make it fair. Everyone has valuable experience and knowledge, so it's great to share ideas."
This summer, Paul's diary is already filled with festivals including Glastonbury, Bearded Theory, Download, Chilfest, Latitude, Boardmasters, Reading, and both Rewind North and South festivals.
Head over to his Instagram @wildfire_catering_ltd to follow his journey!
Discover more in our brand new Festival Food Guide.