jacket potato ovens

With jacket potatoes surging in popularity across the UK, more people are considering starting a jacket potato trailer, van or pop-up food business. Social media has shown just how profitable a simple menu can be when it’s done properly, but success comes down to the right setup behind the scenes.

This guide breaks down the essential equipment you need to start selling jacket potatoes professionally, without overcomplicating things or overspending.

Why jacket potatoes work so well for traders

Jacket potatoes are one of the most reliable street food options available. They are filling, affordable, easy to customise and suitable for a wide range of dietary requirements. Customers understand them instantly, which means faster ordering and quicker service.

For traders, they offer strong margins, low food waste and a menu that can be scaled up or down depending on demand.

Choosing your setup: trailer, van or fixed site

Before buying equipment, decide where you’ll be operating.

A trailer

The humble jacket potato is having a serious revival. Once seen as a safe but slightly boring menu option, baked potatoes are now firmly back in the spotlight across the UK. Searches for jacket potatoes in the UK have increased by nearly 200 percent, highlighting just how strong the current jacket potato trend has become.

A big part of this renewed interest comes down to high profile street food traders who have turned the spud into a social media star. If you have noticed longer queues at jacket potato vans or more cafés adding them back onto menus, you are not imagining it.

The social media effect

Much of the surge in popularity can be traced to viral food traders such as Spudman and Spud Bros. Their videos regularly attract millions of views by doing something very simple exceptionally well.

Perfectly crisp skins, split open and fluffed up, finished with generous toppings. This style of content works brilliantly on platforms like TikTok and Instagram, and it has directly influenced