Hi there,
It is always difficult to lose graciously, especially against mighty event organizers such as the Giant Event Professionals at London Vauxhall but Stefan Schenkelberg showed his business like attitude in the Vauxhall Street Food Garden when told by the Managing Director himself very impolitely ‚to piss off with even more insulting words attached ‚f..g efficient German‘: „It’s the English man who is to blame, not me..because my car was ready very late last night which prevented me to organize things in advance and to come well planned.“
THE STORY ..as it unfolded:
Five weeks ago an application was submitted for a trading pitch at Vauxhall Street Food Garden and subject of this application was to give detailed information about their food truck such as precise measurements, food menu, a poster to advertise their offerings and even a press kit was requested.

The menu was designed, framed and ready to be placed outside the food trailer at Vauxhall Street Food Garden.
The Press Kit was requested and a draft proposal was also submitted to the Vauxhall event managers.
Stefan Schenkelberg, when writing the editorial paid particular attention to the air frying aspect of the business and some research figures were quoted to back up what was said.
No response was received and the story didn’t find the PR people nor did any article attracted the local press in the run up to the launch of the Street Food Garden.
The team of Rainer’s Bavarian Grill was asked to come for a 14-day-trial on Thursday 17th May 2018 and arrive between 7:00 a.m. and 7:30 a.m. This was odd because it stated in the paperwork that the garden will be open for the public at 11:30 a.m.

A poster was designed and supplied and several tweets where sent to announce our appearance at ‚what Rainer’s Bavarian Grill management was worth mentioned a ‚prestigious trading location‘.

All the staff members became engaged in the advertising of the new trading location and even leaflet dropping commenced in and around Vauxhall Station.
The morning of the 17th of May was fast approaching. Their towing vehicle however became an issue just five days before their trading mission in Vauxhall. It was the M.O.T. and the failure to pass; urgent repairs were required and Stefan located a friendly garage in Potters Bar. The car was booked in on Wednesday the 16th of May and work began to fix the suspension and brakes. Late in the evening that day the car was ready for collection.
It was too late for stock purchases but their supplier was already instructed to deliver the meat to the venue in London SW8.
ON THE DAY:
The alarm bells rang early in the morning at 3:30 a.m. They got up and started to prepare the food in the kitchen. Stock was purchased in the local supermarket; this included a visit to the petrol station for diesel refuel.
Regina, our pastry cook, was heavily involved with the baking of pastry items for the dessert.
It was to be foreseen that we will be arriving late by 60 minutes, so Stefan informed the management in Vauxhall. A very friendly response was instantly received. By the time they were ready to leave Potters Bar for Vauxhall it was 8:00 a.m.
When Stefan phoned the office as they were heading towards Vauxhall he was greeted with respect. He kept sending SMS messages of their whereabouts. It was odd when the guy from the venue asked for the dimension of our food trailer again over the phone. He then asked, is this thing coming in one piece? Stefan was puzzled and felt inclined to start explaining things from scratch. Then the phone was suddenly silent and someone else spoke with Stefan. It was the manager’s father who appeared somewhat annoyed. He said something like ‚you are too late – you need to come now, immediately!‘
They eventually arrived at the venue and it was just 10:30 a.m. To the astonishment of the food trailer’s team members the gate to the venue was open but several vans and cars blocked the entrance. When they had them removed the task of reversing the trailer into the grounds commenced. It was clear that the trailer wouldn’t fit into the garden as the height was exceeding the roof construction in the entrance. Instead of explaining this they gathered about 10 people and instructed them to loose the roof. Stefan unhooked the trailer and pushed it into the garden whereas the workmen lifted the roof and carry it off to the rear, front or side depending on the situation whilst the trailer was moving inside towards the designed spot. It was a very tough job to do and the people that stemmed the roof construction had the toughest task. It took some 30 minutes to complete. „That’s it,“ they were told, „you have 25 minutes to set up, the electricity socket is next to the trailer.“
THE ESCALATION
Suddenly someone run out of the frame towards Stefan and shouted „F…g efficient German. Get out of here, I want you out of here.“ It was the venue manager.
The trailer was brought back home to Potters Bar. THE END.
The conclusion to be drawn from this is that we should never accept for our over dimensional set up to be pushed into a corner…it’ll be against the nature of our mobile business, a business that has to retain its mobility advantage.
Next events for the festival rocker:
18th/19th of May 2018 in Aylesbury
20th of May 2018 in Fleet – Fleet Flavours of the World Market event