Food Trucks And Street Food

Yesterday we talked about street food and what better place to discuss than at food trucks?

QSR takes a look at the industry that was all a buzz a few years ago, but seems to have lost the attention of many. Question is if the trend is over, or about to have a resurgence? 

More than 4,000 food trucks are zipping around the nation these days, with annual sales exceeding $1.2 billion. Food-truck revenue jumped at an annual rate of 7.9 percent over the past five years, estimates IBISWorld, the market research specialist.  Here are a five trends that QSR collected from various experts about the future of food trucks.

1. Food no longer has to be sold from the truck. Food-truck operators are increasingly dishing their menus at markets, food fests, and pop-up stores, says Ben Goldberg, founder and president of the New York Food Truck Association. 

2. Branded promotions are on fire. When big companies have major new product launches, they are increasingly bringing along food trucks to the rollouts to add to the excitement, Goldberg says. AME Network had an event with its media partners, the New York–based company linked with locally popular Katz’s Delicatessen. The New York Food Truck Association helped to organize nine Katz Deli food trucks for the occasion.

3. Unconventional menu items are popping up. The trucks at Seventh Street Truckyard will sell everything from homemade ice cream sandwiches made with local doughnuts and ice cream to pizza topped with unusual proteins like alligator, snake, and wild boar meat, Ingram says. 

4. Trucks are becoming test kitchens. Olive Garden and Outback Steakhouse have used food trucks to test new products. Some major marketers test new products from food trucks without putting their names or logos on the trucks, Goldberg says. 

5. Menus are getting healthier. It wasn’t that many years ago when deep-fried Snickers or Oreos ranked among the most popular food-truck items. But those days are gone. Trucks today are offering healthier options, particularly leafy green salads. At the same time, fewer food trucks are selling big sandwiches and giant tacos or burritos. 

And of course there is another trend least we forget – free wifi. For the complete list of trends visit QSR magazine.com