Rice Guys — a London-based brand offering healthy Chinese food — are always on the go. They travel with their delicious offerings to cater at all sorts of events, so it’s essential that their vehicles are as appealing as their menu.
We’ve worked with the lovely team at Rice Guys a number of times now, converting vintage vehicles to suit their brand. This time, they brought us a Peugeot J7 camper van to convert into a catering unit. It needed to be easy to drive and serve from, retaining the original vintage feel while featuring an updated interior and paint job to showcase their distinctive branding.
The challenge
The vintage look proves consistently popular on the catering and hospitality circuit, with customers drawn to the kooky-cool aesthetic. We needed to ensure the Rice Guys Peugeot J7 kept its handsome retro looks, while converting it to become a user-friendly workspace with all the mod-cons a catering business needs.
The approach
While vintage vans may look stylish, without some cleverly designed conversions they can be cramped to work inside. We dodged this issue by raising the roof height on the Peugeot J7 to create extra internal space, allowing staff to cook and serve up dishes with ease.
We made it simple for the Rice Guys staff to serve food at its piping-hot best too, with heat lamps suspended over the pass. We also added an LED menu monitor display, so staff can update it with new menus and advertising deals to suit each event they cater.
Branding is key when it comes to standing out from the crowd. That’s why we took time to create custom vinyl artwork, so the vehicle looked sleek and slotted neatly into the Rice Guys fleet.
The result
The finished conversion fits the bill perfectly and we’re so pleased to see it join the Rice Guys gang. Investing in a bespoke conversion can cost more upfront since it requires expert craftsmanship to enhance the original design in a practical, stylish way. But, as this Peugeot shows, the pay-off can be impressive and lucrative. The vintage trend is set to stay, so retro conversions are a strategic way to draw in customers and enhance your business.
If you’re interested in adding a retro conversion to your collection of catering units, or are starting up your hospitality business and need help with your first vehicle, we can help. Get in touch, and we’ll be happy to discuss your project.