Chapter

18

Food Truck Events and Opportunities

In This Chapter

It’s mid-August 2011 in New York City’s South Street Seaport. The sun is shining and beats are pulsing from a DJ booth overlooking the water. South Street is usually a destination for tourists, but today it’s twice as busy as usual and filled with what seem like actual New Yorkers. Why are they spending their summer day in the city rather than at the beach? The answer: food trucks. More than 30 food trucks have descended on the seaport for a festival. The event, organized by the New York Food Truck Association and covered by The New York Times and food blogs like Eater.com and New York Magazine’s Grub Street, has created a frenzy, with Manhattanites ready to line up for a taste of what everyone is talking about.

Did that fire you up? I know it got my juices flowing and taste buds watering. Walking the festival that day, I noticed that some trucks, like Taim Mobile, Rickshaw Dumpling, and Korilla BBQ, were jam packed with people, though others were pretty barren. So I sat down at a table for an hour to observe. Why were some crowded and others not? My conclusion is that it came down to branding and marketing. The trucks that were doing well were putting on a show. They were living their brand, enjoying the process, and engaging the customers. Not only that: the truck operators who seemed to be enjoying themselves were clearly putting out a better product. Trucks like Korilla and Taim have the whole package—branding, personality, process, colors, music, and food all working together to create a better food truck experience, the kind of experience that produces memories. And, as you know by now, memories create cravings.

Festivals

Food truck festivals are becoming modern-day food courts, featuring the best gourmet grub you can find in one location. No longer are trucks just showing up in high-traffic areas; they’re now planning events and happenings that create their own high-traffic locations. Thousands of people attended the festival in New York City, translating into extra income for the food trucks involved.

A food truck festival is similar to a music festival that’s centered on eating. As food trucks have become a phenomenon, they’ve run into parking problems and difficulties in supporting the growing number of trucks on the road. There used to be plenty of business on the street, but these days trucks need to figure out new ways to build their businesses and new places to sell their products. The food truck festival is a fabulous result of American ingenuity that has sprouted from these issues. The truck community and/or event organizers with connections to the world of food have created and promoted these events as a secondary revenue option. They usually involve 10 to 50 trucks in an open-air location combined with live entertainment, other vendors, and, sometimes, contests for the best truck or the best of a specific item. Prime locations for these festivals include harbors, parks, beaches, and urban squares.

Truck Tales

Downtown L.A. Artwalk hosts the mother of all food truck events, produced by Philip Dane’s Truckit Fest. On the second Thursday of every month, 22 food trucks line up alongside 50 pop-up vendors and multiple art galleries. Lobsta Truck, Tom Bom, Hot Shot Hot Dogs, Tornados Potatoes, Sloppy Gourmet, and Baby’s Bad Ass Burgers are among the trucks that regularly attend the event.

Festivals are organized, marketed, and promoted weeks or months in advance of the actual date. The event often sells passes that allow customers to sample one item from each truck for a set price. A festival can attract tens of thousands of foodies and can generate big revenues for the organizers and the trucks involved. Trucks also get tremendous publicity through public relations outreach and inclusion in distributed marketing materials. The ability to expose your product to thousands of potential clients can be both a blessing and a curse; your product will be under a microscope. The key to maximizing the exposure is to provide the best product and service and showcase the culture of your brand.

Getting Noticed

You can’t afford to be quiet when there are dozens of other trucks surrounding you. You want to ensure that you make money at the festival and, more important, generate repeat business for the future. Go out of your way to make a statement. Here are some ways to do that:

Offer samples of a signature item. Make sure your samples are just enough to entice customers. Samples will draw a lot of people to your truck, and at these festivals the action around your truck is what draws in more people. Keep people crowding your truck and, soon enough, you’ll have a line around the block.

Music. Play great music at your truck through a speaker system, live performer, or DJ. It will generate attention and is a great way to display the energy of your brand.

Signage. Make sure your signs are big and bold, especially at a festival. Make a larger than usual brightly colored menu board to help you stand out from the crowd and focus on the items you want to sell.

Specialty items. Create a one-of-a-kind taco or meatball that will only be available at the festival. Spend the week before promoting it to your loyal clientele and then offer it as an add-on to your more traditional items at the event. It’s a great way to increase the customer spend during a food festival.

Combo meals. Create a combination of entrée, side, and drink for a special festival price. It works for McDonald’s and Burger King; it can work for you.

Tip

Festivals are incredible places to gather contact information for your e-mail and Twitter lists. Most of the people attending the festival are avid food truck fans and foodies. They represent your most dedicated client base, so make sure you get their information and thank them immediately for their support.

Getting Involved

You can find out about festivals through food blogs, city websites, your local chamber of commerce, and food truck trade organizations. When you find out about one that you’re interesting in joining, e-mail or call the organizers to find out how trucks become involved. Don’t seem too eager; an event producer will sense desperation and take a hard line on your deal for involvement. If you can swing it, find a friend in the industry who’s involved and try to get him to recommend you to the festival organizers.

To make festivals as beneficial as possible to you and your business, you need to generate a lot of buzz about your truck. That buzz and a strong following will make you more valuable to festival organizers. Before long organizers will start calling you to capitalize on your popularity, and you’ll be able to decide which festival best suits your needs. It’s only a dream until it comes true.

Tip

Review the list of trucks involved in any festival before signing on. If you’re a pizza truck and several pizza trucks are already committed, you may want to reconsider your involvement. Make sure all the elements are in place for you to be a success before you agree to participate.

Also, you should see what their marketing avenues are. Check their social media pages and see how many people are following them or “like” them. To be successful, the event must be promoted well.

Covering Costs

Most of the trucks involved in festivals have to pay an entrance fee and sometimes a percentage of total sales as well. In some cases organizers will invite better-known trucks, like Kogi, to be involved for free, and these trucks might even be guaranteed a minimum amount of sales. When you’re first starting out that won’t be the case for you, and you might actually end up losing money from a festival. Entrance fees can be up to $2,500 for the day, and you might end up not generating enough revenue to cover them.

Beep! Beep!

When you agree to attend a festival, make sure there’s a weather contingency. You don’t want to spend money entering the festival and preparing your food only to hear that the event is being cancelled because of rain. Make a deal with the event organizers that you’ll pay a lower entrance fee if it rains, and make sure they have a rain date planned.

Food Truck Lots

The mini-backlash against food trucks has created a need for safe and friendly environments for trucks to ply their trade. When bricks-and-mortar businesses and the authorities are coming after you, there’s comfort in being part of the herd. Food truck lots are popping up all over New York, Los Angeles, and other urban centers throughout the United States.

A food truck lot is a piece of real estate, like a parking lot or an empty lot, that acts as an outdoor food court. Trucks pay $25 to $60 per day for access to the property. For that they’re provided with a daily spot, access to customers and, in some cases, infrastructure support and restrooms. For many trucks a lot creates the opportunity for steady income and a welcome sanctuary from daily parking tickets and other issues.

The key for any food truck lot is to attract large amounts of steady traffic. That will be a shared responsibility between the lot organizers and the truck operators. All parties need to work together to create awareness within the local community. I highly recommend not depending on the organizer; work with the other trucks to create hype. Canvass the area with promotional flyers, send out coordinated e-mail blasts and Tweets, and do local public relations outreach. Another very effective method is to reach out directly to surrounding businesses, and offer their employees an incentive to come check out your truck. You would be surprised at what you can get with a free soda or side of fries.

Food truck lots aren’t typically located in developed neighborhoods. Real estate values are too high, and food truck lots don’t generate enough profit. Instead, truck operators should seek out neighborhoods where there aren’t already a lot of restaurants. These neighborhoods play to their strengths as mobile business operators who can choose to be in a location only when the traffic is present.

Lots are also placed in cities where food trucks may rarely travel, too. As in a large city such as Los Angeles, it may be difficult for those living in surrounding cities to get to LA for a food truck. Find lots in areas where your customers are and where there is a want/need for food truck love.

For example, Rockrose, a major New York development company, recently launched a food truck lot in Long Island City (LIC), an up-and-coming area in Queens that’s close to Manhattan. LIC is home to many major businesses, including Citigroup, but is empty in the evenings, which has made it a difficult place for restaurants to develop. Rockrose is in the process of building multiple apartment buildings and had a vacant lot that wasn’t scheduled for construction for a couple of years. To attract attention to the neighborhood and more infrastructure for potential residents, they decided to open a temporary food truck lot. And boy, is it the perfect spot for one. The food trucks gain access to a bustling yet underserviced lunch business and drive off to greener pastures in the evening. This is the perfect opportunity for a truck operator to create stable income in the neighborhood and develop a following for a potential bricks-and-mortar location when it gentrifies.

On the West Coast, the Southern California Mobile Food Vendors Association, with its 130 member food trucks, runs five food truck lots. They’re currently in talks to develop additional lots, many in partnership with institutions such as the California Heritage Museum. What could be more perfect than institutions with tons of visitors offering better-quality, diverse food? That’s what food trucks are all about. Because food trucks are mobile, they don’t have to wait for opportunity to find them; they can go out and look for it themselves!

Beep! Beep!

Food truck lots are often the target of city health departments. They’re an easy way for inspectors to review multiple trucks in a short period of time. If you choose to be involved in a lot, make sure you’re prepared. Make sure the lot meets the local health department requirements as well. They will go after the vendor, not the organizer.

Developers use food truck lots as short-term ventures to attract interest in the properties, just as they do with pop-up restaurants and flea markets. Once the area develops and there are more lucrative options for the properties, the food trucks will have to move on to other locations. The key to your success as a truck operator will be to find the best opportunities and exploit them to the best of your ability. But that’s why you have a restaurant on wheels, right?

Truck Tales

In Austin, Texas, they call their food truck lots food truck trailer parks. Feed the Soul, a lot run by St. Martin’s Evangelical Lutheran Church, houses food trucks such as Latasca Tapas, OneTaco, Evil Weiner, and Way South Philly. The organizers have been in a constant battle with the city to keep the park open. Where there’s a will there’s a way. Keep feeding our souls and fighting for the rights of food trucks across the country!

Television

Long gone are the days of Julia Child and the Frugal Gourmet. The Food Network, founded in 1993, combined with the incredible talent of Emeril Lagasse, changed how Americans think about food forever. Although they’re a relatively young industry, food trucks have found their way into your homes via TV. The lure of the mobile gourmet has been too great for TV executives to ignore.

Television is a great way to gain massive exposure for your food truck brand, but you want to make sure it’s positive exposure. You wouldn’t want to appear on local or national TV unless it was a positive portrayal of your product, brand, and self. There’s no way to make sure of that other than to trust the people you’re working with and control your actions while filming. If you have the opportunity to take your truck to the airwaves, be aware of everything you’re saying while the cameras are rolling, and only do business with producers you feel make content that’s in line with your beliefs. A positive TV piece should showcase your truck, not the conflicts and drama that go on within your organization. If you choose to go the way of a show like the Real Housewives series, producers will find a way to encourage drama and conflict. Don’t be naive. Protect your business at all costs.

Beep! Beep!

Television can be a very powerful tool to promote your business, but make sure you aren’t doing it for your ego. Any time you’re focused on promoting yourself, the viewer will know. The camera never lies.

The following sections offer a sampling of the greatest moments in food truck television to date.

The Great Food Truck Race: Season 1

The Great Food Truck Race premiered on August 15, 2010, on the Food Network. Hosted by celebrity chef Tyler Florence, seven specialty food trucks competed in a multi-week competition in different locations including San Diego, New York, a truck stop, and a farm. The trucks traveled across the country from west to east, selling their food and competing for the highest total revenues. The truck that earned the least amount of money each week was eliminated. The winner of the competition received a cash payment of $50,000, along with many prizes given out throughout the competition.

Season 1 teams included:

Top Chef

On Episode 8 of Season 3, Guilty Pleasures, each team was given a food truck and asked to create late-night grub at the Miami nightclub Nikki Beach. Contestants used their trucks to create items such as Oysters in a Half Shell with a Spicy Watermelon Ceviche Taco and Bacon Wrapped Shrimp with Cheese Grits and Tomato Chipolte Butter. Chef Sara Nguyen was eliminated for her take on Beef Sliders, while Chef Tre Wilcox won the competition. He took home a first edition signed copy of guest judge Chef Govind Armstrong’s book and a platinum access card to all Nikki Beach locations.

Throwdown! with Bobby Flay

The premise of this Food Network show is that celebrity Chef Bobby Flay has an impromptu cook-off with a chef or restaurateur known for a specific food item, such as meatballs or hamburgers. The contestant thinks he’s going to be on a Food Network show and instead is challenged by Chef Flay in front of a large group of people, many times the contestant’s closest friends and family, and Flay and his team create their own version of the food item. The episodes follow the cook-off, and dishes are judged by two local chefs to determine the winner. Since commencing the show, Flay has challenged two trucks.

First, Bobby was challenged by Jerome Chang and Chris Chen’s Dessert Truck to make a better chocolate bread pudding. The Dessert Truck boys put Bobby to shame; the contest wasn’t even close!

In his second food truck challenge, Bobby took on the boys of Wafels & Dinges. Once again the truck bested Bobby, as Chef Thomas DeGeest made his famous Liege Belgian Waffles. Doesn’t Bobby know not to try to out-do a Belgian when it comes to waffles?

What’s Next?

The food truck revolution is just beginning. Although big cities like Los Angeles and New York are saturated with food trucks, secondary cities are just beginning to be hit by the wave. The opportunity for new trucks now lies in these areas. Established brands, like Kogi, Korilla, Souvlaki GR, Rickshaw Dumpling, Mexicue, and many others also have the opportunity to open new trucks or offer licenses and franchises in these cities.

It’s incredible to think that what started as a way for people to enter the business with a small investment has become a booming industry all its own. And with many of the successful trucks opening their first bricks-and-mortar locations, it’s not crazy to think that the next big fast-food restaurant could come out of what once was a food truck.

In major cities, food trucks are in what I call generation 2.0. The streets are saturated and backlash is rampant; but despite all this, many trucks are still thriving. How? The opportunity lies in events and catering. You work in the streets to pay your expenses, generate a modest profit, and pay your staff, but establishing a catering or events business is the way to profitability. Restaurants have known for a long time that catering is where the big money is.

Now that the truck business is maturing in major cities and there’s more competition, trucks need this second revenue source. You can generate the same profits from catering one corporate function or working a day at a music festival as you can an entire week on the streets. It is especially important to promote your catering services in November and December. This is when businesses are looking to spend, and you should maximize your share of the pie by making direct contact by phone, using social media, and sending e-mails to your targeted list.

The Least You Need to Know