Ariss Catering eventually hopes to expand into several vans serving events and festivals
A property renovation entrepreneur and street food chef in Hull have re-launched a city centre fast food van that had been popular with matchday crowds. Ben Ariss, who runs Ariss Properties, has teamed up with Chanda Massey, who previously served up Indian delicacies at the Tapasya Kitchen in Hull’s Trinity Market.
The pair have taken on a catering van previously known as Foxy’s Snackbar parked on the corner of Wyndham Street and Argyle Street near Hull Royal infirmary, which had become a firm favourite among Hull City fans over about 17 years. With the van’s previous owners looking to retire, Ben and Chanda have stepped in to take over the facilities and the permit for the location and have revamped the offer which includes breakfasts, burgers, hot dogs and curries.
Ben explained: “We’re making a real go of it. They had been doing football games about seven years ago but had since stopped. We’re now doing the games – including every Hull City home game – and we’re there every Monday to Friday.”
As well as the full English breakfast offer and matchday burgers and hotdogs, the Ariss Catering van will serve up a daily special which could include home cooked curries and wraps. Their intention is to serve “a little bit of what everyone likes”.
Ben, who is handling the business side of the venture, added: “The customers in that area used to love it when the previous owners did a curry day, and Chanda does an amazing curry so we said we’d do a couple of curries during the week. So far they’re loving it. It’s a bit of an English and Indian twist.
“Because of the area, the customer base is mainly working people from factories like Jacksons and construction workers.”
The van is now open between 7am-2pm, Monday to Friday and on Hull City home games. The business partners have so far invested in new branding, leaflets, menus and uniforms.
“We’re hoping to pick up where it left off. Julie and John [the van’s previous owners] have done really well from it for 17 years and they got it to a level where they didn’t really have to advertise.
“We’re taking over a proven pitch and a proven business. It’s now a case of us putting our stamp on it and building from there.
“It’s started quite slowly – we’ve only been doing it a week – but we’ve made a good profit so far. We know there’s so much room for improvement so we want to get it up and running and then eventually go into festivals and events.
“We’ve got a couple of events booked in for next year. Eventually we’d like to get a few more vans and do gelato or alcohol. We’ve got big plans but we want to get the basics right and then build from there.”
If the business expands, Ben plans to give each van a name – with the Argyle Street location to be named Chanda’s Cafe.
He added: “We’re keen to get the word out there that we’ll be there for every Hull City home game. It’s expensive when you get into the stadium and we charge a fair price, and it’s on the way in there. I think that’ll be a big income stream for us if people regularly come to us before games.”