LONGPORT – Downbeach towns have at last addressed a very important issue for the throngs of residents and visitors who flock to the ocean each summer to cool off from the sweltering heat. They heard what everyone was clamoring for, and two of the three towns have already delivered what they want - ice coffee service on the beach.
Longport is the latest community to revise its municipal code to include the issuance of a coffee service vending license. It also passed a resolution July 2 setting out the rules and regulations for coffee vending during the summer months and is soliciting proposals from qualified vendors to serve coffee from a self-contained truck or vehicle to be stationed at 33rd and Atlantic avenues. No hookups to utilities will be allowed. Days and hours of service will be 8 a.m. to noon Saturdays and Sundays from Memorial Day to Labor Day.
The minimum bid amount is $1, and bids are due to the municipal clerk by 2 p.m. July 15.
The successful bidder will be eligible for a one-year extension with a 5% increase in this year’s bid amount. Liability insurance of at least $500,000 is required.
Ventnor is in the third year of a multi-year contract to serve coffee and snacks to beachgoers and visitors. The contract gives Brothers Enterprises, LLC of North Wildwood the exclusive right to serve coffee, soft drinks and snacks on the recently built Pier Shack on the Ventnor City Fishing Pier. The contract also permits the vendor to have up to two carts rolling along the beach serving iced coffee, tea and small snacks.
Brothers Enterprises pays Ventnor $4,000 a year for the Pier Shack, and $500 per year for each of the carts they operate on the beach. The vendor may have a third cart for an additional $500.
The contract will expire after Labor Day this year, and the city will likely go out to bid again in time for the 2026 beach season.
Anglers who frequent the pier and those who beach near the pier are often seen walking up to the Pier Shack to purchase snacks and a cup-o-joe.
As it is with ice cream vending, the big money in coffee sales is in the town sandwiched between Ventnor and Longport.
In neighboring Margate, after a second round of bidding in spring, the Board of Commissioners awarded a one-year coffee vending license to WC Ice Cream, LLC of Cinnaminson, which offered the city $20,000 for the 2025 season with the ability to extend the contract for two more years at $25,000.
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