3 Reasons Why Your Food Concession Stand Needs Business Insurance

You know that sometimes, hungry people want to grab some grub on the go. Maybe they don’t have time to eat a full sit-down meal inside a restaurant. Or perhaps they just want to stroll and enjoy the beautiful scenery at the same time they enjoy a tasty snack. Either way, you’re ready to fill that niche for hungry passersby everywhere.

Your concession stand is a great option for people looking to grab a quick, convenient bite to eat. But running any food business still comes with risks. That’s why, behind the scenes, you’ll need food business insurance to protect yourself against liability that’s anything but convenient! Here are three reasons why:

Your awning collapses on a customer, injuring them

It’s a warm, breezy day and you’re serving up ice cream cones as fast as you can humanly scoop. As you bend down for another spoonful of mint chocolate chip, a big gust blows by, knocking down the support arm that holds up your awning. As it falls, it hits your customer in the head. Suddenly, ice cream is the last thing on anyone’s mind.

General liability insurance, as the Insurance Information Institute writes, is your business’s backup for “slip-and-fall” accidents, meaning your “services, business operations or your employees” cause injury or property damage to someone. It will cover the cost of legal fees, damages and medical bills in the case of an accident. It’s no wonder why it’s the foundation of any solid business insurance plan.

An outbreak of food poisoning links back to your business

The statistics for concession stands are sometimes startling. As ESPN reports, at 30 sports venues that underwent a health department inspection, over half of the concession stands within had received a citation for a “critical” or “major” health violation. And, as we all know, violations like these can contribute to the spread of foodborne illness.

Food poisoning can shutter your concession stand faster than you can say “soft pretzel.” Besides following all food-handling safety guidelines and keeping your stand up to code, it’s important to carry liability insurance coverage in case you are involved in an unfortunate foodborne illness case.

Wind damages the structure of your concession stand

You arrive at work one morning to find your beachside concession stand heavily damaged. It appears that gusting overnight winds collapsed part of your entryway. It’s a mess—you can’t serve snacks in this environment! Plus, it will cost you time and money to get it appraised and patched up.

Property insurance, often bundled with general liability insurance into a Business Owners Policy (BOP), covers wind damage. It also usually covers fire, lightning, theft and vandalism. And you can design policy to include business interruption coverage, meaning that your policy will cover your costs during downtime after a covered event. Otherwise, you’d be missing out on important revenue and struggling to pay bills in the interim.

Food business insurance is the backbone of any stable concession stand. Ready to obtain or upgrade your coverage? Get a quote from CoverHound today!