Selling 1,000 skewers a day, the street vendor earns 150 million VND per month.

Fish balls cost 5,000 VND/skewer, shrimp, sausages, and cured meats are all priced at 7,000 VND/skewer… Every day, the owners of these self-service grilled skewer carts sell up to 1,000 skewers, generating revenue of up to 150 million VND/month and a considerable profit.

The street is filled with the aroma of grilled skewers.

With one hand constantly turning skewers of fish balls and meatballs on the blazing charcoal grill, and the other hand swiftly placing the hot, fragrant grilled skewers onto plates for staff to serve to customers, Ms. Tran Thi Tam, the owner of a mobile self-service barbecue cart located behind the dormitory of the National Economics University, said that she has been selling grilled skewers here for over a year.

"These are reddish beef meatballs, fragrant fish balls, dill, sweet squid balls, cheese fish balls, Chinese sausage, grilled meat skewers, dumplings… on average, I sell 900-1,000 skewers like this every day," Ms. Tam revealed.

The self-service skewers come in many varieties, are visually appealing, and look very tempting.

She shared that self-service skewers aren't a new dish. However, when winter arrives, grilled skewers become a favorite snack for middle school, high school, and even university and college students.

Accordingly, even though there are only about 3-4 types of grilled skewers, on windy days the students flock to them, and before the skewers are all gone, the vendor has finished them all.

Seeing this, she discussed it with her two younger siblings and they pooled their capital to open a mobile barbecue stall with a large, easily movable truck that could carry more food. From purchasing ingredients and preparing the food to collecting payments, she handled everything herself, while her two siblings only helped with serving and cleaning.

Specifically, she goes to the supermarket three times a week to buy pre-packaged frozen meatballs, squid balls, vegetable balls, dumplings, etc., which she stores in the refrigerator to sell gradually. For more unique items like cheese fish balls, Chinese sausage, and fermented pork rolls, she orders them from a wholesale supplier by the kilogram. As for the grilled skewers, she personally goes to the market to buy the meat and marinates it daily to ensure it's always fresh and delicious.

Every day, when setting up her stall, Ms. Tam grills a few skewers of "bait" first. Along with her, the vendors next door also busily prepare, filling the entire street corner with an incredibly enticing aroma. Each skewer, golden brown and slightly charred, emits a fragrant scent that makes passersby drool with desire.

The skewers of various grilled meats emitted an irresistible aroma, making passersby's mouths water.

After devouring a plate of 2 skewers of shrimp, 2 skewers of beef meatballs, and 1 skewer of Chinese sausage, Dinh Thi Huong (a second-year student at the National Economics University) happily shared that self-service grilled skewer restaurants have boomed in the past year and have become a favorite dining spot for her and her group of friends.

On this street corner, only 4-5 skewers stalls are operating, filling the entire street with a delicious aroma as customers sit and enjoy the hot skewers. The street looks bustling and noisy, much like a market in Hanoi.

Earn 150 million VND/month from grilled skewers.

Every morning, Ms. Tam and her siblings wake up early, fry the meatballs until golden brown, meticulously skewer them onto small wooden sticks, and arrange them on a pushcart. According to her estimate, she skewers up to a thousand meatballs a day.

"Some people are selling meatballs in bulk, for example, fish meatballs for 45,000 VND/pack of 180 pieces, squid meatballs for 50,000 VND/pack of 180 pieces if you buy more than 10 packs, but the products have no labels or origin information, so I didn't buy them. I'd rather go to the supermarket to buy slightly more expensive products, but that's more reliable," Ms. Tam said.

Ms. Tam also admitted that, although they are called squid patties, shrimp patties, fish patties, or dumplings, because the skewers are cheap, only 3,000-7,000 VND/skewer depending on the type, the main ingredients are wheat flour, with only a very small amount of fish or squid, and additives are needed to create flavor.

Accordingly, for every 200 fish balls in a pack, Ms. Tam skewers 40 skewers, selling them for 5,000 VND each, making a profit of about 100,000 VND per pack. Each day, she sells about 6 packs of fish balls along with nearly 40 packs of other types of meatballs such as beef, shrimp, squid, and vegetables, as well as grilled skewers and sausages. For some more expensive items, she earns double or triple the profit.

"In total, I sell around 1,000 skewers a day. That works out to about 150 million VND a month, and the profit is quite substantial," Ms. Tam revealed.

Despite selling such large quantities, Ms. Tam only starts her stall at 2 PM, and after just 5 hours, by 7 PM, her cart is completely empty. On hot days when there are fewer customers, Ms. Tam can leisurely pack up her stall by 9 PM.

A busy street corner sees people stopping their vehicles to enjoy a self-service grilled skewers meal.

Similarly, Ms. Nguyen Thi Phuc, 61 years old, from Nam Dinh province, said that her children all work in the city, so she also followed them to the capital to look after her grandchildren.

"Every day, passing by this area, I saw the self-service skewers food cart attracting many customers. I discussed it with my children and we decided to make a pushcart. Every afternoon, I set up my stall here to sell skewers and grilled pork sandwiches, and then go home to rest at 8 pm. And yet, we still manage to sell 500-600 skewers a day," Mrs. Phuc boasted.

According to her, the self-service skewers sell best when the weather starts to get cold. At that time, she's constantly busy. Customers just park their bikes, point to the skewers they like, and she quickly picks them up and grills them until they're hot and fragrant. If customers don't want to take them away, they can sit and eat on the plastic chairs set up on the sidewalk. Since the cold weather started, there hasn't been a single day when her cart has had an empty seat.

"Some vendors meticulously fry these fish and squid balls before grilling them, but I just boil them first and then grill them, so the taste might not be as appealing. However, because this area has a lot of students, I still sell quite a lot," Ms. Phuc revealed, adding that on average, she "easily" earns 40-50 million VND per month.

According to vietnamnet