for joining us this year, and being with us on the journey

to more sustainable, more inspiring, more ethical food.

CONTENTS

Please read the info here in full prior to the event:

MANDATORY TRADER MEETING

We look forward to seeing all stall managers at the Trader Manager Meeting on Wednesday 21st August at 20:00 in the Family Cafe.

TRADER’S TIMELINE & CHECKLIST

Food Trader Timeline & Checklist (opens new window)

SAFETY & READINESS TO OPEN CHECKS

All those serving food or beverages on site, to any degree, will be checked by our safety team via the Readiness to Open procedure.

Please allow 10-15 minutes per check.

1. Priority for checks will be given to campsite facing traders and to those with whom we have an established trading relationship in order to make the check process as efficient as possible. 

2. If someone arrives to conduct a check and for whatever reason you are not ready, you will have to wait until all other site checks are completed before we can come back to you.  

3. This is likely to be after show open, meaning you may lose some trading time. 

4. You must ensure that the safety documents uploaded to your Eventree application form are up to date and current at the time of the event. You can log in to your Eventree account and update these at any time. 

5. Local Northamptonshire Environmental Health Officers routinely visit site inspecting catering outlets. Their inspections are separate and do not form part of the Readiness to Open procedure. 

6. You cannot begin to trade until you have received a signature from the Trader Manager in the yellow box. Traders will receive a signature for each check on their Readiness to Open Checklist.

Checks are carried out by various specialists employed by the festival using a red / amber / green system.

• On arrival everyone will be on red until checks on finished installations are possible.
• Where you need to undertake remedial work then you will be given an amber signature. Amber is normally given for a simple administrative failure and will not necessarily stop you from trading. A further check will be scheduled for later on Thursday. You must pass this subsequent check else you will be required to cease trading until a green pass can be achieved.
• Traders must achieve a green pass for each check in order to trade at Shambala.

The following items are red fail items and you will not be allowed to trade until our staff are satisfied that remedial work, repairs, or replacements are suitably completed and you receive a green pass.

Gas Safety

• All appliances must be for professional use with integrated flame failure devices. No camping stoves are permitted on stalls (https://www.ncass.org.uk/mobile-catering-home/content/get-legal/law-pages/gas-safety/say-no-to-camping-stoves).
• Appliances and/or installations shall be accompanied by a formal certificate of inspection or test by a Gas Safe engineer who is qualified and competent to inspect Commercial LPG appliances.
• Jubilee or worm-drive connection fasteners are not permitted.
• LPG must be stored and secured upright, external to the stall unless in a special ventilated cabinet.
• Only one cylinder in use and one spare LPG cylinder may be stored at the pitch at any one time.
• Hoses and pipework should be as short as possible and in good condition.
• Installations shall be checked onsite by Shambala’s gas safety engineer and he may require you to replace certain components if they do not meet current LPG Association/GasSafe guidance. This will be completed after he has undertaken all other trader checks which may be when the event is in progress.

Fire Safety

• All traders should have fire extinguishers appropriate to the size and scale of their operation. Extinguishers must have been formally tested within the last 12 months and seals must be intact.
• A fire blanket is recommended for all users.
• A Wet Chemical extinguisher is required wherever there is deep fat frying (6 litre).
• A CO2 extinguisher is required where you have electrical appliances (2kg).
• A foam or water extinguisher (6 litre) for all waste or other circumstances. Note that foam extinguishers are not the same as the Wet chemical type. Water Mist extinguishers are also available and can replace water and wet chemical types.
• A powder extinguisher (6litre) for use on gas. Note that powder extinguishers are very messy and while the only type approved for use on flammable gases, should not be used in a cooking area. If a gas appliance is on fire then you should isolate the gas. Keep powder extinguishers outside the cooking or prep area so they can be used on external cylinders.

Electrical Safety

• All appliances should have been subject to a formal inspection or test in the last 12 months.
• Appliances that show signs of damage may be rejected for use.
• All installation circuits should be protected by a residual current device (RCD) at the point of supply.
• Site electricians may refuse to supply power where they believe an installation or appliance is unsafe.

Handwash

• All food handlers must have access to warm or hot water, and soap using a dedicated sink or handwash appliance.

Refrigeration and Temperature Control

• All food should be stored properly and cooked food maintained at the correct temperature and records kept throughout the event. Spot checks may be undertaken.

Flooring and Surfaces

• Flooring should be non-slip and washable.
• All surfaces should be suitable for wiping down and disinfecting.
• Further advice on suitable cleaning products is available from the trader management team.

First Aid and Illness

• It is expected that all traders shall have their own first aid kit for dealing with minor ‘kitchen’ injuries. Supplies in these kits should be within their printed expiration date.
• Any staff suffering from any illness (particularly D&V) must not work in any food handling area.
• The onsite medical team will of course be available to treat any injuries or illness.

Sustainability – serveware

• “Bagasse” / plant-fibre serve ware only to be used – labelled “home compostable”.
• Please use Bio-Pak here or via the Recommended Suppliers to order – they are a B-Corp! High grade.
• No “bioplastic” straws, dip pots or lids.
• Nothing “compostable” or “biodegradable” as these are technically a greenwash withouot industrial processing.
• Our food waste + serve ware go to a local farm and so cannot contain any sorts of petroleum or bio plastics.
• Read more on the truth about serve ware here: City to Sea: takeaway package guidance.

ESSENTIAL INGREDIENTS CRITERIA

Please ensure you meet all the food standard and serveware criteria outlined below.

Our sustainability team will check this as part of your Readiness to Open check. Should you not meet the required standards, we will be unable to permit you to open and trade with us at this event.

If you have any queries and concerns when purchasing produce and stock prior to the event, please contact our sustainability team for advice: sustainability@shambalafestival.org

To help you source suitable produce (90% of you do! Thank you!) please check out our amazing, ethical-and-local-as-possible Recommended Suppliers List – and don’t forget we have a Refill Van for grins, dry good and cleaning products PLUS fruit and veg on site!!

SERVEWARE AND PACKAGING CRITERIA

We send our food waste to a local farm for composting, so it is essential to follow this guidance and avoid letting any “bioplastics” or any “eco” serveware into the waste streams.

Plant fibre / bagasse / home-compostable disposable plates and bowls only(code NF T51-800) Bio-Pakis our recommended supplier. They are a B-Corp and leading the game.

If you have any queries about whether you are using the correct materials you can contact sustainability@shambalafestival.org

ESSENTIAL ENVIRONMENTAL CAMPAIGNS

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RECOMMENDED SUPPLIERS

Every year we put together a list of recommended suppliers. We’ve worked HARD on the MOST ethical suppliers. Pleeeease check them out, for people, planet and your plates.  

There are fantastic independent producers that our combined buying power supports, as well as responsible companies that meet our environmental criteria. If you gave consent in the application process, these recommended suppliers may reach out to you over the coming months to discuss any orders.   

ETHICAL CONSUMER

 

No Big Mega Brands! We independent AF

OUR FESTIVAL FOOD CARBON FOOD PRINT – KLIMATO

Last year, your AMAZING help contributing your menu carbon calculations, and your dishes-sold data helped us calculate the entire impact of our Crew and Trader food!

0.55 kgs CO2e per dish is nearly within the WWF’s One Planet Plate directive (which says that each full sized meal should be no more than 0.5 kg CO2e to keep the global warming challenge manageable OPP).  

Measuring and communicating the impact of each dish at the festival will help us continue our food impact awareness and will empower customers to make impact a consideration at the point of purchase.

How we will measure together?

Please note, we will be requesting the number of sales of each dish again. This info helps us get this amazing carbon calculation! But please don’t fear, our industry-low pitch fees are not weighted by your sales at all! ♥

What happens with these meal carbon calculations?

What is my ingredients or the category doesn’t appear on Kliamto?

➕ ➕ If you need to add any ingredients, or ask for “organic” version of anythings – please email your 1️⃣ Name, 2️⃣ Business, 3️⃣ that you’re with Shambala Festival, 4️⃣ and details of your request to support@klimato.com.

MENU BOARDS

All traders at Shambala must include these meal options on their menu:

? A hot, main meal option for an adult priced at £7 or less 

? A hot, main meal option for a child priced at £4.50 or less 

This is an important and compulsory part of trading with us at Shambala. Please display these options prominently on your menu boards.

We have the pleasure of learning about your business when we receive your application to trade, so we know how brilliant you are; independent businesses, paying your staff a living wage, carefully selecting your produce and suppliers, operating to strict ethical and environmental policies and creating wonderful food stories and wonderful food!

We would now like you to SHOUT to our audience about these things using your menu boards!

Here is a list of the essential things and recommended things you should include on your menu boards:

ALLERGENS

“As a nut allergy sufferer, this was a painful festival to attend. There were only a handful of stalls which could serve me. I was completely denied any service at all by one stall after I told them about my allergy. I said “fine, I won’t eat, but can I still have the tea?” They told me “no”!  I’ve never felt discriminated because of my allergy before but denying me a cup of tea because of it felt pretty shitty.”

“With an allergy to mushrooms I could barely eat at any venues”

Helpful resources:

www.food.gov.uk Food Allergy and Intolerances

www.ncass.org.uk NCASS Allergen Toolkit (Free PDF Download)

CHILDREN’S MEALS

Under 18s make up 16% of our total capacity on site. Recently, parents rated the food on offer to children at Shambala 2019 and Shambino 2021 as ‘Poor’. When trading with us you are obliged to provide a child’s meal portion for £4.50. Meat and fish free menus are undoubtedly more complex and not as accessible and appealing to children, so when meeting this criteria we’d really like you to consider if you could to do any of the following:

If you already do all of the above and more, please use your provenance boards to shout about your kid’s menu to the families on site.

MEAL VOUCHERS

We require traders to support us in delivering this event by providing a very limited number of meals in return for a meal voucher set at a standard redemption rate. It is a condition of your trade to accept these vouchers and as they can be used at all stalls on site, we anticipate the number each individual stall will receive will be mangable.

A meal voucher can be exchanged for any main meal from your menu. You do not have to provide a drink.

PLEASE NOTE: Top-up payments should never be required, one voucher = one main meal.

At Shambala 2024 traders may receive Crew Vouchers and Performer Vouchers.

If you have any concerns about these vouchers please speak to the Trader Managers on site. Failure to contact the management team or deliver this scheme as outlined here will affect your ongoing trade with us.

WIFI & CONNECTIVITY

All traders are asked to accept both cash and card payments at Shambala. There are cash points for customer use on site and traders can pre-arrange banking and float from our onsite banking service listed in the Recommended Suppliers List.

Shambala will provide a dedicated network for your card payment devices across site and this cost is split equally between every single concession user on site. All stalls contribute to the cost of this infrastructure.

GETTING CONNECTED

1. Bring your POS devices to the onsite trader meeting where our WIFI team will be on hand to manually authorise your devices (there will be no Trader WIFI password at Shambala this year!)
2. Position your card device at the front of your stall
3. If your till is at the back or you have a metal structure, contact traders@shambalafestival.org with an updated stall layout diagram that features your till position.
4. CHECK YOUR DEVICE IS COMPATIBLE FOR OUR NETWORK SPECIFICATION by following the steps below.

IMPORTANT – YOUR HARDWARE / DEVICE SPECIFICATION

We will only be providing internet at 5GHz in 2024. There will be no support for 2.4 GHz devices. (5GHz is an operating frequency for devices and is not the same 3G / 4G / 5G signal reception)

We will be delivering the network at this technical standard: 802.11n /  802.11ac / 802.11ax so if your device lists any of these 3 standards or combinations of, then it should be OK. You may see them referred to by the more friendly WiFi 5 or WiFi 6 names. 

HOW DO I FIND OUT IF MY DEVICE MEETS THESE STANDARDS?

• Go to ‘Settings’
• ‘About my phone / device’

2. Search your device specification online

3. Look in the ‘Comms’ or ‘Mobile and Wireless’ sections or similar.

IF YOUR PHONE DOES NOT MEET THESE TECHNICAL STANDARDS DO NOT BRING IT – IT WILL NOT WORK

If you are struggling – you can hire a till device from Event Till who are on our Recommended Suppliers list.

If you do have any issues on site, please speak to the trader team who will get assistance for you.

POWER

POST EVENT INVOICE & HOW IT WORKS

Shambala uses 100% recycled HVO fuel. This is more expensive to use, but the festival heavily subsidises this cost to provide traders with power at the price of using standard diesel.

We charge for power post upfront based on connection type. It is essential that you let us know exactly what you are going to be plugging in at Shambala 2024 by completing the Power Requirement Form. This is so that we can accurately calculate the loads to our site generators and will allow to continue on our journey to reduce overall event power and to ensure that Shambala is powered with 100% green fuel.

Energy Reduction Tips

USING LED BULBS CAN REDUCE USAGE BY 90% ON TYPICAL FRONT OF STALL LIGHTING.

 

Many people use either 2 x 500w lights or 1 x 1W light to light the front and/or back of house area of their stall. Over an hour it consumes 1kW of power, therefore it uses 1kWhr. Assuming it is left on much of the time, (which is quite common) and you run it for 4.5 days or 108 hours, that one light will consume 108kWhr or power (average total power was 140kw in 2019!)

 

Replace the 2 x 500 w bulbs with 2 x 50w L:EDs = 100w and we can reduce the overall power consumption to just 10.8kWH.

 

OTHER QUICK ENERGY REDUCTION TIPS:

 

1. Heating and cooling are the main energy draws in a kitchen. Consider whether you and your staff are using your appliances efficiently?
2. Look at the energy rating scale when hiring / buying new appliances
3. Check your refrigeration temperature. If it’s set too low, you are wasting energy trying to chill it.
4. Consider hot water useage. Is it really necessary to have continuous hot water? The amount of energy used to boil water is directly proportional to the quantity of water i.e. boiling 5 cups uses 5 times the energy of boiling one cup.
5. If you use a Burco type boiler, remember to switch it off at night or before your evening wash dow

ONSITE DELIVERIES + WHOLESALERS

⚐ Our delivery address is below, and in the A to Z (bottom of page).

But please also check out our Recommended Suppliers List 2024. Shambala strive to find amazing, independent producers who supply goods in line with our sustainability and environmental procurement criteria. Many of these producers are regenerative, ethical, and independent and many are local to site, allowing great flexibility on delivery. They often deadlines for pre-order so please check as soon as possible.

We also have epic wholesale area on site. Please support these amazing suppliers with your procurement where you can:

⚐ Deliveries can arrive to the following address but PLEASE DO CHECK YOUR TICKET FOR YOUR ARRIVAL GATE which is different from this delivery gate.

Your Name, Your Stall Name

FAO Traders Team

Shambala Festival

Red Gate Production Entrance

Kelmarsh Hall Event Site

Northamptonshire

NN6 9LY

TRADER AWARDS

We want to celebrate you, your food and all the positive things you do to make your operation more sustainable! Award winners will receive a guaranteed pitch at Shambala 2024, a 10% reduction in pitch fee, a feature in our 2024 programme and coverage on our website and social media platforms.

BALANCING EMISSIONS

CLICK HERE TO CHECK OUT THE A-Z REFERENCE OF ONSITE INFORMATION

THANKS FOR READING THIS GUIDE AND FOR COOPERATING WITH OUR ONSITE OPERATION.

WE LOOK FORWARD TO WORKING WITH YOU!