Ent 1000 3-20-2013
Industry Paper
Food Truck vs. Organic Trucks
The street food trend has been a growing industry nationwide. According to American City Business Journal of Orlando, Fl., “more than 3,000 street vendors made $1.3 billion in revenue in 2010, a 12.7% jump from the revenue from the prior year. The average startup cost of a food truck is only about $5,000-50,000 and the yearly profit potential can be anywhere from $100-250,000 per year.” The list of costs for startup include fuel, maintenance, business permits, equipment, supplies, insurance, marketing and is still minimal in contrast to the fees required for a stand-alone café spot in a busy business area. This is good news.
Organic food trucks have almost no competitive market compared to the food trucks that provide fan fair (unhealthy) fast foods. The mobility of this business provides a wider profit gross than a stand-alone brick and mortar business and the flexibility to drive wherever the customers are can be a competitive advantage. I wanted to start an Organic Food truck business first rather than open a small restaurant for a few simple reasons. Startup costs are considerably less, and profit margins can be more. During my research of looking up for sale ads, I found that a used truck right now can be as low as $15,000 or a new one at $30-50,000. According to Forbes.com, I can move towards my market selling in more populated areas, whereas, “Purchasing a small café in my local area with twenty seats, around 2,000 square feet in size can cost upwards of $175- 300,000,” and then I am stuck in the same community for years.
The basic food truck concept started way back in 1961 when New York began to regulate vendors selling food from push carts. Mobilecuisine.com- the History of American Food Truck article says, “Horse drawn chuck wagons started in 1866, sausage vendors sold quick hot foods to students at their dorms at Yale, Harvard and Princeton in 1974 and the first Taco
Bibliography: “The cost of starting a food truck.” Forbes.com. Web. 27, September. 2012. Investopedia. Anjail, Fluker. Orlando Commisary Forms Association for Food trucks. Orlando American City Business Journal. Web. 14, March. 2012. Myrick, Richard. The history of American Food Trucks. Mobile Cuisine magazine. Take the Cannoli Productions L.L.C. MCM 2010-2013. Web. 2, July, 2010. Theresa, Ehrlich. Best Customers: Demographics of Customer Demand. 2008. Web. SBCC.net Pon, Jackie. 5 Things you should know About Starting Your Own Food Truck. Pbs.org. 2013 WNET.org. Web. 15, October. 2010. Myrick, Richard. Running a Food Truck for Dummies. Dummies.com. 2013 John Wiley and Sons, Inc. Web. Wikipedia.com. Food trucks in Tampa. 14 February 2013. Web.