Eligibility and Rules
LICENSE AND OTHER REQUIREMENTS
Documentation for the licenses listed below must be submitted at the time of application.
Applying restaurants must:
- Have all necessary City/State restaurant operation licenses and permits for their permanent location
INSURANCE REQUIREMENTS
Applicants will be required to provide an original Certificate of Insurance evidencing the following insurance minimums for the dates of May 26 – June 1, 2010:
- Workers Compensation and Employers Liability –minimum of $500,000 each accident, illness or disease
- Commercial General Liability – minimum $1,000,000 per occurrence
• Automobile Liability – minimum of $500,000 per occurrence
- Property (replacement) cost coverage
SKILLS NEEDED
Restaurants must be able to:
- Sustain both the Taste of the Mid South and their home base operations.
- Produce at high volume and withstand production in an outdoor environment.
- Effectively maintain (both outdoors at Taste of Mid South grounds and at their home bases) the highest possible standards in terms of sanitation practices, proper food handling, professionalism and personnel training.
2010 restaurant vendors with high volume and/or ethnic restaurants from the 2010 Taste of the Mid South may be selected to participate in the 2011 Taste of the Mid South based, in part, on 2010 performance, adherence to festival regulations, sales volume and/or ability to enhance the overall event.
Each restaurant will need to make sure that they have the proper arrangements in place to cook, transport and store the food in compliance with standard food sanitation practices. A careful and detailed plan and schedule should be assembled by all restaurants to ensure that all of the deadlines can be met prior to the event. Equipment rental, refrigeration rental and commissary prep should be scheduled as soon as restaurant has been accepted into event. Also, restaurants will need to make their suppliers aware of delivery restrictions at Taste of the Mid South grounds for the duration of the event.
KEY RULES & REGULATIONS
Rules and regulations, as well as other vital information, will be discussed at the first Restaurant Vendor Meeting to be held in April 2010. This meeting is MANDATORY for each restaurant’s key contact person and on-site event manager. It will be hosted by the Taste of the Mid South planning team. Below are some key rules and regulations:
- Restaurant participants may not sell food for cash. All food sales must be made by Taste of the Mid South tickets only.
- Restaurant participants may not sell beverages of any kind.
- Attendance at all Taste of the Midsouth preparation meetings is MANDATORY for all key contact persons of each restaurant. There are no substitute or make-up sessions.
Choose your key contact person carefully as that person will need to be available at all times from the point of acceptance through Taste of the Mid South event. Remember, after acceptance to Taste of the Mid South, application fees are not refundable.
Prior to the first Vendor Meeting, all accepted restaurants will be mailed or emailed a packet detailing the information and documentation that they will need to provide at the first Vendor Meeting.
Applicants/Restaurants must:
- Be located in the Mid South area (i.e. Memphis, TN and its surrounding areas in MS and AR)
- Be a retail operation, whose primary function is the preparation and sale of food or is a returning food vendor to the Block Party for Peace from the previous year’s event.
- Have been in operation at the listed address for at least six months prior to the 2010 event
Preference will be given to those restaurants:
- who propose to serve health conscious menu items
- who represent the ethnic and culinary diversity of the Mid South
- who offer items with the best value to the consumer
Applicants will be selected based on meeting the requirements listed in this application.
MENU
Restaurant selection will be carefully evaluated in regards to menu items. The Taste of the Mid South planning team has full discretion to accept or reject any menu item proposed by an applicant.
Applicants will not be permitted to change the listed menu items once the application has been filed. Applicants must submit a list of four (4) menu items, plus two (2) “Taste of” items that they propose to serve at their booth. One “Taste of” item must be a smaller portion of the four main menu items. One of the six menu items must be a health conscious item. Restaurants are required to participate in the “Taste of” program during all hours of the event.
All menu items submitted on the application must be items that are regularly sold on the restaurant’s full service menu. (A copy of your menu must accompany this application).
Menu items on your application must include weight and pricing and should be priced no higher than similar products in the restaurant’s normal operation. All menu items must be listed by the generic name and not by a restaurant’s in-house, specialized or brand name.
ALL SALES ARE BY TICKET ONLY. Vendors are not allowed to accept cash. All menu prices must include sales tax and be in multiples of fifty-cents ($.50). No menu item may exceed six dollars ($6.00). The concept is to provide attendees with a sample of your product, not a full dinner portion. The charge for menu items will range from 1 to 12 tickets ($.50 to $6.00). $.50 tickets are sold in a strip of 12, which costs $7.00 and includes a $1.00 surcharge. The average selling price of all your menu items combined may not exceed $3.75. Adding the prices of all menu items, including “Taste of” items, and then dividing by the total number of items offered determines the average.
Pricing Sales Example
Item 1 $6.00
Item 2 $5.00
Item 3 $4.00
Item 4 $3.00
Taste of 1 $2.00
Taste of 2 $1.50
_______________
Total: $21.50
$21.50/6 items = $3.58 average
The price for the “Taste of” portions must be 1 to 4 tickets (value $.50 to $2).
Menu prices or signs may not be altered during the event. Any alterations will result in your booth being closed down for the day.
Recycling is a vital part of TASTE OF MID SOUTH. Use of recycling products is highly recommended.
