The Food Truck: An Old Business Idea Worth Exploring?

Food trucks have been around for quite some time now, an idea sprung forth from an older necessity-driven idea, the chuckwagon. It is a simple proposition, really: instead of the public going to a restaurant or diner to eat, the food comes to them. One could consider it the older cousin of straight-to-your-door food delivery.

In the later years of the nineteenth century, food trucks make their
appearance in the streets of New York, selling simple, inexpensive, and
easy to eat fare that could fill the stomach for a pittance compared to
regular restaurant cuisine. These lunch wagons (“roach coaches” being
the derogatory term for the not so sanitary examples) served hungry
customers at regular hours as well as odd schedules, particularly the
night shift.

The humble food truck has experienced a great resurgence all across
the United States and the rest of the world. This time around, they’re
not just serving low-budget, barely edible foodstuffs just to keep the
customers’ stomachs filled; food trucks are at the cutting edge of
modern cuisine, fearlessly exploring both old and new ways to prepare
and serve food. This is no longer your grandfather’s idea of “street
food.”

With the ever-growing demand for better-tasting and healthier
organically-grown food, now may just be the time to throw your hat into
the food business, and the food truck presents a lower barrier of entry,
compared to that of a full-blown restaurant. Enumerated below are just a
handful of reasons why you should consider starting a food truck
business:

Mobility and Flexibility

This has to be the most obvious advantage of putting up a food truck
eatery, especially when comparing it against a less-modular food stall
or a full-blown diner or restaurant. There is almost no such thing as a
slow business day for a food truck, for as long as there is a potential
high customer traffic area within driving distance. Given the ascension
of food trucks in terms of food quality and taste, the trend has
actually been turned on its head; people are practically chasing their favorite food trucks.

Food trucks can easily change schedules to adapt to special occasions
such as festivals, carnivals, fairs, and other outdoor events that
bring in multitudes of hungry people.

Low Starting/Operating Costs

The small size of the food truck may limit the amount of customers it
can serve at any one time, but the upside of that is that with the
small crew and compact work and service area (most food trucks don’t
even bother with tables and chairs), the maintenance costs won’t eat too
much into the profits, either. Note that you still have to pay your
dues to the cities and towns you operate in, just as any business
establishment would.

Since this piece is supposed to encourage people to get into the
business in the first place, consider that the biggest financial
investments lie in the truck and the food preparation equipment
installed within it. Reliable, albeit used freightliner trucks would make sufficient platforms for up-and-coming food truck business.

Gastronomical Freedom

Food trucks are adaptable in more ways than one. Since they are not
mired by any requirements to adhere to any traditions or orthodox ways
of preparing certain food, they are in the position to innovate. Beside the food you can also give some fancy names to your food truck. They can take the best dishes or methods from any number of food cultures, so long as it is easy to serve and consume, as street food should be. Fusion cuisines are very common among food truck circles, and this ensures a wealth of culinary variety for the customers.

Your limited menu can also be a boon to you when you start sourcing
for your ingredients. You can opt to buy better-quality produce to
supply your budding food business with, and your customers will
definitely appreciate tastier and healthier food, thanks to premium
ingredients. Go ahead and cater to a select group of eaters, for as long
as you know where most of them are. All you have to do is drive on over
there!

With these points, I hope more will embark in this exciting food enterprise!