Over the past few years, you may have read stories like this Wall Street Journal article about the ongoing battle between food trucks and restaurateurs. The basic premise of the hundreds of stories written over the past half decade is typically the same: Restaurant owners want to restrict the number of food trucks in the area and to prevent competition. Food truck owners, on the other hand, want less restrictive laws that will allow them to vend when and where they want. While this animosity between restaurants and food trucks may have been the case a few years ago, this [...]

Jae Kim, owner and founder of the Austin-based Chi'Lantro, didn't make it into ABC's hit investment show “Shark Tank” on his first two attempts to be on the show. Kim’s concept was to launch a Korean BBQ inspired restaurant chain that had the potential to generate millions in revenue each year. But on Kim’s first attempt to be featured on the investment show, Chi’Lantro was just an idea without a proven track record of sales. Instead of getting discouraged by not getting on the show, Kim started to put his concept into action by buying a food truck because he [...]

Laurel Hague, owner of The Ugly Apple Cafe based out of Madison, Wisconsin, works with local farmers to minimize waste by using overstock produce to help the cities less fortunate. We had the opportunity to speak with Laurel about her business and the long-term vision of The Ugly Apple Cafe. M&R: Tell us about the Ugly Apple and your goals. Laurel: The Ugly Apple is a food cart that serves breakfast in downtown Madison.  Madison has strict size restrictions for mobile food, so it's a 6ft by 9ft trailer that is designed to look like an apple crate. It's a [...]

How many food trucks are currently operating in the United States? According to a 2015 report from IBISWorld, a leading industry research agency, that number is less than 5,000 (4,130 food truck vendors to be exact per the report). The number of active food truck businesses operating in the United States has been a topic of much debate over the past few years. Adding to the confusion of an agreed upon accurate estimated number of food trucks are the varying media reports. Some of the most cited reports have been inconsistent while others rendered completely inaccurate when a bit of [...]

According to a report in The Daily City, Orange County, Florida has adopted new zoning ordinances that impact food trucks. The new laws adopted on September, 13th 2016 prohibit vendors from operating past midnight. The new laws also prohibit music and customer seating for food trucks as well. Food Truck Curfews Nationwide Unfortunately,  food truck curfews are not exclusive to Orange County, Florida. This action has been taken in other locations across the country as well. Here are a few examples of cities or counties where food trucks are restricted to serve past a certain hour: Des Moines, Iowa – [...]

Photo Credit: Progressive Grocer The concept of a grocerant is the new and innovative term being used around grocery store circles. Care2.com defines grocerant as a new term for grocery stores that includes restaurant and ready made foods. Forbes even called these budding institutions "the future of food shopping" in a recent article. Of course restaurants within restaurants or department stores is nothing new. Retailers like Kmart or Target have had in-store cafe's that sell everything from slushies to hot dogs and pizza for decades now. What makes this movement different is the penetration into traditional grocery stores [...]

Oktoberfest. The yearly holiday that attracts not only people German heritage, but also general lovers of beer served in large steins, sausages, and sauerkraut. As a food truck owner, it’s a smart idea to constantly be looking for ways to associate your business with local events and holidays like this as well. Each city has annual events for Oktoberfest, Cinco De Mayo, and others that attract hundreds or thousands of people into a day or multi-day event can result in a huge windfall for concession businesses that can put a concession business into the black for a month. Depending on [...]

Did you know that just about any trailer can be converted into a food serving machine? This includes those classic Airstream trailers made popular in the 1970s and 1980s that are immediately recognizable due to their streamlined design. The design of these trailers have reached icon status that harken back to simpler times and cross country road trips. Although the Airstream was originally intended as a mobile home used during a long camping trip, an increasing number of mobile food entrepreneurs are leveraging head-turning ability of these trailers to attract attention for their concession businesses. This is a smart idea [...]

When most folks think about starting a food truck, the goal is to build a successful small business. By most people's definition the goal of a small food business or restaurant is to serve food within your own community and create an enterprise that will support their family. Building a small business, being your own boss, and living life on your own terms is an awesome goal and the American dream of many. But the Macarollin food truck based out of Webster, NY, had more ambitious goals in mind when they started their food venture. Since the owners of Macarollin Peter [...]

First time entrepreneurs and long-time business owners alike are waking up to the opportunity of transforming shipping containers into full blown commercial kitchens. As you'll soon see in the examples below any food business you could want to operate including traditional diners, coffee shops, and fast food establishments are all possible with these structures. In fact, some adventurous individuals have even gone as far a to convert these containers into a permanent home. Your imagination really is the limit when it comes to repurposing containers and we're confident your view of these seemly boring metal cubes will change by the [...]