The Grazing Shed’s new Mercedes-Benz Sprinter burger van conversion
When Cardiff-based restaurateur Duncan Black decided to expand his award-winning burger restaurant, The Grazing Shed, he decided to take his business on the road with a burger van.
The Grazing Shed was voted the Number One Burger Joint in Wales at the British Burger Awards 2016. Duncan’s ‘Super Tidy Burgers’ use only locally-sourced beef, fresh-baked artisanal bread and homemade sauces and chutneys. Clearly his mobile unit would need to be able to sustain the high standard of cooking, service and presentation his customers are used to.
The team had been selling at festivals and events since 2014, but always from temporary stalls. So Duncan and his colleagues already had an accurate idea of the kind of volume, storage and cooking capacity they’d need.
“We can be doing anything up to 200 burgers an hour at a festival. As well as grills big enough to cook the food in these high volumes, we also needed a walk-in fridge with sufficient capacity for all of the burgers and accompaniments we might need for a full day.”
They were also already familiar with Mercedes-Benz vans, as the company already ran a Vito Dualiner as a general runaround. The desire to combine mobility with the efficiency and convenience of a permanent setup led Duncan to opt for a custom-built Mercedes-Benz Sprinter van conversion.
The solution was a 3.5-tonne Sprinter 313 CDI chassis cab with purpose-designed body built by Commercial Truck Bodies, of Cardiff, and Carrier refrigeration unit. The van has been generously specified and came with options including air-conditioning, a satellite navigation system, light and rain sensors, and electrically-adjustable door mirrors.
The fuel-efficient vehicle has opened the door to many new opportunities to meet and serve the public, for example at corporate events, parties and even weddings. Manned by up to six members of The Grazing Shed team, it has also fed supporters outside Cardiff City FC’s ground, and the crowds which have descended on the popular Barry Island resort on sunny days.