OVERLAND PARK, Kan. — The expenses and obstacles of securing permits and licensing for pop-up food vendors in Kansas City, Missouri, are pushing some vendors out of the city.
The Greater Kansas City Restaurant Association admits the permit rules for food vendors can be confusing, it depends on which county and which state you’re in, not to mention how you make the food and where.
But one food vendor is taking her business across the state line, she says it’s easier that way.
Jhy Coulter claims stake over the cloud crust pizzas she created.
From her jalapeno bacon jam to the ricotta, she says ‘Devoured Pizza’ is a pop-up.
“It was more cost-effective,” Coulter said. “I was able to build capital, brand awareness, share with a smaller community and kind of build the brand like that opposed to straight out of the gate a food truck that costs thousands and thousands of dollars.”
She’s been making dough for one year, but recently had to switch up her strategy and says it all comes down to permits and which city you’re cooking in.
“I didn’t exactly choose to be in Kansas, it just kind of happened because it’s a little easier to get permits and licensing here as opposed to Kansas City, Missouri,” she said.
She says investing her food on the Kansas side was just simpler, there, she got a $550 yearlong permit.
“It’s hard to get the KCMO health department to accept a lot of your temporary events, especially if you’re collaborating with a brewery or a bar that doesn’t serve food,” she said. “There’s a lot of hesitation from them to give you a permit because it’s not a grand opening or an event. So it’s very hard to get an annual permit like you would for the farmers' market here or any Kansas establishment license.”
“There’s no annual permit and there’s no way for you to legitimately have pop-ups running like a food cart or a food truck,” she said.
The Kansas City, Missouri Health Department agrees. Naser Jouhari, the Deputy Director at the KCMO Health Department says there are 13 different permit categories and none that Coulter fits into because she doesn’t have a food truck or a food cart.
Coulter says she’s been applying for daily temporary permits.
“It’s very costly,” she said. “You’re paying $60 for a permit for one day, you have to go in person to fill out the paperwork they may or may not accept it, it's nonrefundable. There are a lot of stipulations that go with it. They also don’t always have the staff for inspections when you do have a temporary event. So you may get it or you may not and it’s hit or miss and we’d like to get a little more consistent with that.”
She says if the pizza oven isn’t on, it could cost her $1,300 a day.
“I’m talking on behalf of other pop-ups,” she said. “I really want us to spread our community in KC and grow the food ecosystem, but right now we don’t have the infrastructure to do that.”
The KCMO Health Department says while it may not be the case for Devoured Pizza, pop-ups or ghost kitchens are hard to regulate and they can’t customize a permit for each food operation.
Jouhari says they need vendors to upgrade equipment or downgrade the menu.
But Coulter wants to see a solution for those who are still trying to break into the market.
“Kansas City, we have a good food culture, why not build on that with some of the pop-ups we have? Why not build on that and expand?” she said.
KCMO has worked with smaller mobile vendors at the City Market, they use a commissary kitchen.
The Health Department says they’ll look into other alternatives on what can fit best with Coulter’s pizza pop-up, but further permit modifications could look like ordinance changes that would have to make it onto a ballot.
