In the summer, there is no sweeter sound than the jingle of the ice cream truck! This is the food truck we are most used to seeing in our neighborhoods, but it is far from the only option for providing moveable feasts via truck. Consumers across the U.S. are coming into more contact with food trucks than ever before.
Not only are food trucks growing across the U.S., they are also starting to span the globe by taking American-type of fast dining and combining it with local cuisines. One of the recent expansions is even in a city famed for its high-end gastronomy – Paris. Among the offerings from the mobile restaurants are food trucks which sell tacos stuffed with organic meat, a burger truck, fries, burritos, coffees, and more. Food trucks are also taking to the streets in London where the vendors offer affordable eating made from fresh local ingredients.
While street food is hardly a new concept, the improved ingredients – combined with the reach of social media to let customers know where you are – is taking the food trucks down a new road.
Group Activities and Discussion Questions:
- Start by showing a video from the New York Times: http://nyti.ms/LsCbrz
- Next, have students discuss about food trucks as a business. What are the positive and negative points about this business model?
- Ask students what food trucks they have seen? Where and when?
- Divide students into teams. Have each team research food trucks – they are numerous companies that can found on the Internet. Some of the sites that can be used are:
- http://www.chocstar.co.uk/home.html
- http://www.cantinecalifornia.com/
- http://www.caphevn.co.uk/
- http://www.luardos.co.uk/
- http://www.dogfatherdiner.com/
- http://www.bhangraburger.com/
- http://pursuitist.com/epicurean/london-street-food-10-best-food-trucks/
- For each company, have the teams analyze the marketing mix: target market, products, price, promotion, location, etc.
- What are considerations for companies to open a food truck network?
- Assign one team the task of analyzing the overall food truck industry. (Hoovers.com is a useful site for industry analysis.)
Source: New York Times, 5/4/12, Branchannel.com, 6/7/12, other news sources
