Chapter

1

The Food Truck Revolution

In This Chapter

My first experience with food trucks was a delectable dose of Americana. I was four years old and playing in the park with my friends. As I played on the swings, slide, and jungle gym, I patiently waited for the bell—the bell of the ice-cream truck!

That jingle was the highlight of my many days at the park. Who cared about slides and swings when you could taste the succulent sweetness of vanilla soft serve? I thought for hours about what combination or special treat I would choose. I became partial to Creamsicle Push Pops and King Cones, usually with a side of Nerds candies and Watermelon Big League Chew. We are all creatures of habit. Though I wanted to venture off into the latest Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles green ice-cream creation, I was tied to what I knew and loved. Who could bear the thought of wasting my hard-earned allowance on some second-rate ice-cream treat? Not me, not then, not now.

But more than the food, there was something out of this world about the experience of the ice-cream truck. Nowadays marketers might call it aspirational, but the ice-cream truck made my day magnificent. Waiting for the truck to show up, its arrival, eating my goodies in the grass, and the truck’s eventual departure was about far more than just an ice-cream cone. The colors, sounds, and interactions with friends and neighbors made the ice-cream truck an unforgettable food experience.

That’s the same type of experience you can create with a food truck business. As you find out about the nuts and bolts of inventing, operating, and marketing your very own food truck business, always keep in mind the most important factor between being moderately and wildly successful: creating an emotional connection between the customer and your food, and giving them an unforgettable experience.

Fast-forward to the present day, and urban centers teeming with food trucks. They’re the hottest food trend of the decade and the most exciting new segment of the food industry. The ice-cream truck remains, but now it’s the Van Leeuwen Ice Cream Truck in downtown New York City, serving homemade Red Currant ice cream prepared with fresh cream and oak barrel–aged vanilla.

Not only has the ice-cream truck evolved into a gourmand’s dream, but it sits alongside a virtual streetside food court serving Korean tacos, souvlaki, falafel, schnitzel, waffles, pizza, dumplings, and every other type of food imaginable (and some even unimaginable). Gone are the days of candy bars, ice-cream cones, and prepackaged sandwiches at construction sites. In this chapter, I explore the food truck phenomenon and how to find the right truck to begin your business.

What Is a Food Truck?

A food truck is a mobile kitchen, canteen, or catering truck that sells food or drinks. Some trucks, such as ice-cream trucks, sell mostly frozen or prepackaged food, but many restaurants-on-wheels have full kitchens with equipment specific to the creation of their specialty. Many cater to individual items or particular meals, such as breakfast, lunch, or late-night grub. The trucks usually park in high-traffic zones in urban centers, or at events like carnivals, festivals, and football games. Many trucks move to different locations throughout the day in order to maximize business. Food trucks are a beacon of experimental cuisines and new ideas. The low barrier to entry makes a food truck the perfect testing ground for the newest and most exciting concepts in the food business.

Tip

Don’t confuse food trucks with food carts. Although both are mobile kitchens set up to sell food to local pedestrian traffic, the difference lies in how they travel. Food trucks move from place to place on their own power, while food carts are either towed by another vehicle or pushed by the person running the cart.

A food truck revolution is underway, and not only does it taste incredible, it’s an opportunity for entrepreneurial magic. So let’s take a look at where this revolution began.

How It All Began

Los Angeles was ground zero for the food truck revolution. The mobile food business began there with taco trucks back in 1910, thanks to the influx of Mexicans into California, with East L.A. receiving the highest concentration of immigrants. The taco truck became a staple of the SoCal landscape over the years, with an estimated 7,000 trucks operating in 2010. But it wasn’t until a self-described failure, 30-year-old Mark Manguera, had his “aha” moment, that the modern food truck revolution was officially born.

Manguera’s story begins after a late night of drinking. Mark and his sister-in-law, Alice Shin, decided to head to one of Los Angeles’s many taco trucks. As he enjoyed the greasy goodness, a thought popped into his mind: combine Korean BBQ and tacos.

This simple idea, the fusion of these Korean and Mexican staples, was a match made in food truck heaven. Many people would have abandoned the idea along with their hangover the next day, but Manguera didn’t. He believed in following his dream. He was willing to put his money, hard work, reputation, and everything else he had on the line to follow his passion and become his own boss.

Mark partnered with a local chef, the incredibly talented Roy Choi, and purchased a taco truck. The truck took a while to catch on. After several weeks of parking in different locations, including the busiest part of West Hollywood, and not getting any customers, they began going to clubs and giving free samples to the bouncers, who helped spread the word. Their first big break came when they got the idea to contact food bloggers about the tacos. This led them into the world of social media and an eventual use of Twitter to announce the truck’s location.

The outcome of Mark’s passion and hard work is the Kogi Korean BBQ taco truck. Kogi is a Los Angeles food phenomenon that inspires rabid dedication from its fans. Every time the truck reaches its destination, hundreds of people line up to taste their standard menu items and Chef Choi’s rotating specials. Kogi set the example for many entrepreneurs to jump into the food truck business. They’ve even garnered nationwide attention among foodies and the food press.

For our purposes, the most powerful thing about Kogi was that they showed the potential of the food truck industry to many incredibly talented people. Not only that, they formulated a blueprint for the industry. The floodgates had opened, and the revolution was just beginning.

Truck Tales

Kogi chef Roy Choi was named to Food & Wine magazine’s best new chefs in 2010 and was honored by Bon Appetit in 2009. Currently, Kogi has five food trucks and has recently opened its first bricks-and-mortar restaurant. Kogi’s massive buzz on social networking services, including its 85,000 Twitter followers, led Newsweek to call Kogi “America’s first viral eatery.”

As we begin this journey together, there are a couple of questions I’d like you to ponder. How did this Kogi phenomenon come to life? Was it the food, Spicy Pork Tacos, Kimchi Quesadillas, and Short Rib Sliders? Was it the marketing, a family of Twitterers posting truck locations combined with trendy downtown Los Angeles slang? Was it the design? The trucks are actually pretty simple for the world of food trucks, white with a fairly tame Kogi logo. Was it the culture? Kogi involved their fans in the naming of their trucks and sometimes brings along a DJ to spin for those waiting to dine. Was it connections? Manguera’s wife, Caroline, was a food, beverage, and hospitality specialist with Four Seasons hotels. Was it the combination of high-end food at street-level prices?

What’s Driving the Growth?

Food trucks have been around for a century, satiating the need for food far and wide, but why the revolution now? What happened that took the lowly food vendor from street meat and dirty water dogs to the top of the culinary food chain? Here are the factors that lit the food truck fire.

The Recession

The hospitality/food business is one of the largest industries in the world. It’s filled with some of the hardest-working and most creative minds around today. When the economy tanked a few years ago, a couple of things happened to the industry. First, more people lost their jobs or couldn’t find work. Traditionally people flock to the food industry during times of economic hardship. They want to find a career they’re passionate about, need part-time work, or want to become their own bosses. A restaurant costs a minimum of $500,000 to open, but a food truck can cost less than $100,000. Which do you think is a better place to start? A food truck is the perfect entry-level project for an entrepreneur looking to test the waters with an incredible new idea.

Second, Americans love to eat out. But what happens when you want to eat out when your income has declined? You look for cheaper options, such as food trucks. Food trucks aren’t just less expensive, however. Food trucks tend to focus on specialty items, often from the youth or ethnic background of the truck creator. This is exactly the type of comfort food people are looking for when the rest of their lives is uncertain.

So why don’t Americans just go to McDonald’s or Burger King for a cheap meal? Modern young professionals are very conscious of what they put into their bodies. Gourmet food trucks are clearly more appealing to this demographic than calorie-laden, over-processed fast food. Food trucks make most of their food from scratch with high-quality, fresh ingredients. Therefore customers are getting something that is better quality and healthier at a similar price.

Technology

The next element of the perfect food truck storm is technology. The advent of social media (Facebook, Twitter, and Foursquare) and the ubiquitous nature of the Internet made for the perfect platform for marketing food trucks.

Using social media was like adding gasoline to the food truck fire, allowing trucks to communicate with their followers hourly and announce their location in real time. For customers, the game of finding the trucks and having the latest information about them became almost as important as the meal itself. Social media, combined with the spread of information through food blogs and other websites, made gourmet food trucks an overnight trend.

Tip

Technology gave food trucks a voice to establish their brand. It wasn’t only what they were saying, but also the language they were using in the message. Successful trucks created their own culture through the use of social media, which established a strong connection between the truck and their customer.

Foodie Culture and Social Media

Long gone are the days of Julia Child demonstrating classic French food to housewives. Over the past 15 years, food has become theater and chefs celebrities. We’re more conscious then ever of what we’re consuming, and we love to talk about it. Cheeses, cured meats, wines, burgers, meatballs, cupcakes, exotic olive oils, and even the grossest foods in the world: you name it, and I promise you there’s a magazine, television show, or blog dedicated to discussing its taste, aroma, and the best place in the world to eat it.

Food trucks are no exception. Celebrity chef Tyler Florence hosts the Food Network show The Great Food Truck Race, where food trucks compete against one another. A search of the term “food truck” on the food blog Eater.com generates more than 1,000 results. Our culture has embraced the food truck as a testing ground for the future of the food industry and, more important, a regular stop for gourmet goodness.

Combine all of these factors and you have all the ingredients necessary to create a mouthwateringly profitable revolution. The question is, how do you get your piece of the pie?

Truck Tales

The Fojol Bros. of Merlindia specialize in the cuisine of Merlindia and Benethiopia, mythical places they created in a marketing move that has made their food truck one of the most popular in Washington, D.C. Kipoto, Dingo, Gewpee, and Ababa Du wear neon jumpsuits, mustaches, and turbans while selling spicy cyclones, lassipops, palakpaneer, and chicken Masala.

The cuisine is actually a mix of Indian and South Asian foods served over a choice of basmati rice or their special breads. The food is authentic and delicious, but packaged with whimsical theatrics in order to attract attention and differentiate their product. The truck was launched during the Obama inauguration. As millions of people flooded the nation’s capital, the Fojol Bros. drove around the city blasting marching band music from their 1965 Chevy step van. Today, the truck is welcomed by a line of patrons every time they pull up.

D.C. law mandates that there must be a line when they park, and the Fojol Bros. have made a game out of the regulation. They encourage customers to start a dance party where they want to park, and the person who starts the party gets a free meal.

If the Fojol Bros., four twenty-somethings, can invent a new cuisine and a mythical place where it originates, you, too, can conceive a fabulous new food business.

The World of Food Trucks

The following sections explore the many types of food trucks dominating the scene.

Taco Trucks: The Original

Taco trucks were one of the original food trucks on the scene. With thousands of taco trucks in existence, you could stop at a new one every day for years and never repeat. The mighty taco truck has spread far beyond its Los Angeles origins, with trucks throughout the United States and abroad. The two dominant forms are the classic Southern California style and Fusion, the Kogi style.

Classic taco trucks offer some of the best Mexican food available, with specialties ranging from pescuezos (chicken necks) to onboard suadero (rotisserie pork and pork fat seasoned with onion, lime juice, salt, and adobo). Taco trucks represent all aspects of classic Mexican cuisine. Some restaurants, like the El Gallito chain, park their own food truck in front of their bricks-and-mortar business to showcase specialty items. The Gallito truck specializes in Birria de Chivo, a traditional Jaliscan goat stew made of shredded goat mixed with roasted chilis, toasted cloves, and fresh oregano. Wrap it up in a tortilla, wash it down with a cold Modelo, and go back for more.

Fusion trucks tend to combine another cuisine such as Asian with the standards of tacos, protein, veggies, and sauce wrapped in a hard or soft tortilla. I’ve already discussed the importance of the Kogi truck to the food truck revolution, but there are countless similar trucks throughout the country. In New York you find the Korilla & Kimchi BBQ Trucks; in Dallas the Ssahm BBQ Truck takes to the road; and in Portland, Oregon, the fleet of Koi Fusion trucks are customer favorites. The Fusion tacquerias seem here to stay and are crossing over into bricks-and-mortar restaurants, essentially defining a new cuisine.

Tip

Many people would tell you to avoid a crowded market like taco trucks, but being part of a trend can be great. It can help grow your business, and people tend to go for the foods they know they’ll enjoy. The only precaution is to make sure your product is absolutely fantastic, because if it isn’t, other taco trucks down the road are only too happy to pick up your customers.

Pizza Trucks: It’s All About the Ovens

Pizza is one of the most popular foods in America, and pizza trucks are one of the fastest-growing segments of the food truck industry. Strolling out of my door at lunchtime in Manhattan’s Financial District, I bump into the Eddie’s, Jianetto’s, and Vinny Vincenz pizza trucks. Eddie’s Pizza’s bricks-and-mortar operation has been around in a New York suburb for decades, and its fan base expanded when HBO’s Entourage featured it. Its New York City truck specializes in the thin crust variety and has average waits of over an hour during the busy part of the day. Jianetto’s has a more diverse menu of Grandma slices, a Sicilian-style slice served with dots of plum tomato sauce above the cheese. And Vinny Vincenz serves classic New York–style slices for $1 each. Who needs to go to the pizza parlor when the pizza parlor can come to you?

The main concern when starting a pizza truck is product differentiation and quality. Look for inspiration from someone like Casey’s Pizza in San Francisco, which focuses on a well-prepared pie using only the best ingredients, or California Pizza Kitchen, which has built a chain through the use of unusual toppings and combinations.

Beep! Beep!

Some pizza trucks prebake their product offsite and then finish it on the truck. I advise against that practice. You’ll end up with a better-quality product if you bake it all at once, even if it takes a little more time. Customers will notice the difference.

Dessert Trucks: Nighttime Sweetspots

It was only a matter of time until deliciously decadent sweets made their way into the food truck game. On the night before Halloween 2007, direct from some underfed college student’s dreams, came Dessert Truck. The vehicle, which parks outside New York City college dormitories, serves pastries you would have to go to cooking school to learn how to concoct. Jerome Chang, the creator of Dessert Truck, went to the French Culinary Institute and left a job in the world-famous restaurant Le Cirque to establish his own brand, selling Warm Chocolate Cake and Espresso Panna Cotta. He has since expanded to a permanent location on the fashionable Lower East Side.

The idea for Dessert Truck came from a chance snack that Chang and his roommate, Columbia Business School student Chris Chen, came up with in their apartment. A combination of toast, Nutella, caramelized bananas, and sea salt ignited their passion for sweets on the street. Chen and Chang chose a truck because it had more space than a cart and lower overhead than a storefront. They invested about $60,000 to purchase and design their truck. They prepare their items in a kitchen during the day and sell their desserts at night.

Other dessert trucks include Cupcake Stop, specializing in nostalgic cupcakes, including Betty Crocker–style cake with buttercream icings or exotic flavors like chocolate caramel pretzel. Flip Happy Crepes, an old-fashioned trailer in Austin, Texas, serves French crepes; and Wafels & Dinges, who doles out Brussels Wafel, the “mother of all wafels” with sweet and savory artisanal toppings.

Tip

Dessert trucks have more limited sales options. Not that many people are looking for cupcakes at lunchtime. Dessert trucks flourish where students are looking for a quick sugar fix or couples are strolling after a nice dinner. To maximize revenue, many successful dessert trucks focus on delivery, catering, and providing sweets to savory truck operators.

Ice-Cream Trucks: Good-Bye, Good Humor

Oh, how the ice-cream truck has changed! Generally the lines in front of the Van Leeuwen Ice Cream truck are so long that you’d think they were giving it away, but that’s only until you get a taste. Ben Van Leeuwen’s off-white postal truck, decorated like a shabby chic Italian farm house, has a loyal following of folks looking to satisfy their sweet tooth.

Ben is a youthful former Good Humor Truck driver, who makes his ice cream from local, hormone- and antibiotic-free milk and cream. He combines his 18 percent butterfat ice cream with special ingredients such as Michel Cluizel chocolate and Tahitian vanilla beans. A farm in Sicily harvests the nuts in the pistachio ice cream and all the toppings are organic. In addition, Van Leeuven uses biodegradable cups, napkins, spoons, and straws. The Van Leeuwen truck is the haute cuisine answer to ice-cream trucks, a product of the Whole Foods generation.

Van Leeuwen is joined by many other gastronomists in his attempt to put his old employer out of business. Two standouts are the Coolhaus Truck in Los Angeles, specializing in creations like coffee toffee ice cream covered in red velvet cookies, and the King Kone, which delivers soft serve and flavored shaved ices to your doorstep.

Tip

The ice-cream business is great in the summertime, but business chills when the weather turns cold. If you’re planning an ice-cream truck, assume your business will be seasonal, or find a warm-weather climate.

Dumpling Trucks: Simply Delicious

What do you get when you combine high-quality ingredients and tasty dipping sauces with a celebrity chef? The Rickshaw Dumpling Truck, of course. Rickshaw is a reverse truck Kenny Lao and David Webber created after building their dumpling empire on a bricks-and-mortar location. When you have a restaurant as well as a truck, you can share overhead and have fewer start-up costs, which means more profit for you. During slow months, you don’t have to take out your truck. Having a bricks-and-mortar establishment, even if it’s small, is a massive advantage in creating a successful food truck business.

Truck Tales

A reverse truck is a food truck business that began as a bricks-and-mortar food operation.

Dumplings are the perfect food truck item. Most of the prep is done off the truck, with the dumplings just steamed or fried on board. They lose none of their freshness, cook quickly, and are easily served and eaten alongside a salad and a dipping sauce. Done right, dumplings are simple, fresh, clean, and, most important, authentic.

David and Kenny consulted with celebrity chef Anita Lo when formulating their concept. Kenny used to sell dumplings out of the back of his truck at farmers’ markets in New Hampshire. They’re a passion that comes straight from his heart, and it shows. David is a businessman with a fascination for efficiency, and that shows, too. Combine their skill sets with their desire, and you have the odd couple of food trucks: Felix and Oscar have nothing on these guys.

Tip

To make fresh dumplings correctly takes a lot of time and manpower. The key to your profitability is controlling your labor costs for the prep work. If you can put together a good system for that, you’re one step closer to your dream.

Burger Trucks: Look Out Mickey D’s, We’re the Burger Kings!

The Latin Burger and Taco Truck was launched in early 2010 by Ingrid Hoffman of the Food Network, along with her boyfriend, Jim Heins. It was one of the first gourmet trucks in Miami and is best known for the Latin Macho Burger, with a patty made of blended chorizo, chuck, and sirloin topped with Oaxaca cheese, caramelized onions, avocado sauce, and red pepper mayo. The result is an over-the-top, melt-in-your-mouth creation that proves burgers have a home in the food truck game.

Burger trucks have taken hold throughout the country. In New York, E-squared Hospitality, the group behind the enormously successful BLT restaurants, has the Go Burger Truck. La Cense Beef, a grass-fed beef company, has created a truck to promote their brand of beef. And in Los Angeles, Baby’s Badass Burgers are being featured on the Travel Channel and CBS. The ladies of Baby’s Badass sell burgers such as the Au Natural and the Covergirl, referring to the owners’ feminine charms.

Tip

Propane is the key to the burger business on a truck. Grills (burgers) and fryers (fries) use a lot of propane, so you’ll need to work the cost of extra tanks into your numbers.

Mediterranean Trucks: New York’s Taco Truck

Souvlaki, gyros, and falafel have always been favorites in the world of street food. Nowadays a new breed of Med trucks are taking hold, such as the 2010 Vendy Award–winning Rookie of the Year, Souvlaki GR.

Truck Tales

The Vendy Awards is an annual award ceremony organized by the non-profit street vendor project. The event celebrates New York’s street vendors and awards prizes in categories such as “rookie of the year” to top street vendors.

Souvlaki GR specializes in the signature street food of the founders’ beloved homeland, Greece. With a commitment to only the freshest handmade ingredients, the company has created the ultimate Greek food truck. Their signature souvlakis are available on sticks or wrapped in hand-rolled pitas, and served alongside signature salads such as the Prassini, featuring chopped greens, dill, and feta cheese in a lemon/olive oil dressing.

Truck Tales

Mediterranean trucks are Manhattan’s answer to the taco trucks of Los Angeles. Moshe’s Falafel and Taim Mobile are engaged in truck-to-truck combat for New York’s best falafel truck, both serving some of the crispiest falafel, smoothest hummus, and freshest salads in Manhattan.

The types of trucks mentioned here are just samplings of the many possibilities for food on wheels. Just because you don’t see your favorite cuisine on the list, don’t be discouraged. Part of what makes the food truck industry so successful is that people aren’t afraid to experiment and take a risk. Whatever you choose, make it yours by letting your personality show.

The Least You Need to Know