Council has approved five hot food vendors to operate at the Port Douglas Markets in 2016.

Council invited applications for hot food vendors that could deliver multicultural cuisine dishes for visitors to the Port Douglas Markets in August after extensive an community engagement process which showed 80 per cent of 144 respondents supported the concept.

From the 14 applications received, Council has selected five hot food vendors which offer:

• Dutch cuisine including poffertjes, croquettes and sausages;
• Acai berry bowls, crepes, juices, hummus and salads;
• Sweet and savoury crepes;
• German and Swiss sausages; and
• Indian curry and samosa.

Mayor Julia Leu said the five new hot food vendors would be a great addition to the markets which features more than 150 stalls and attracts thousands of visitors to Port Douglas every Sunday.

“The Port Douglas Markets are a must-do experience for visitors to the Far North and the addition of these diverse and delectable hot food vendors will make them even more enticing,” Mayor Leu said.

“Council has had requests from the public to allow hot food at the markets over many years and the decision to allow a limited number of vendors to provide a diverse selection of snack-sized dishes meets these expectations.”

Of the 14 applications, two were received after the closing date for submissions and not considered, one was for an ice-cream van which was outside the advertised criteria and six were assessed as non-compliant with the relevant Food Safety Standards.