Mobile Food Services
Industry Profile Report
Dive Deep into the industry with a 25+ page industry report (pdf format) including the following chapters
Industry Overview Current Conditions, Industry Structure, How Firms Operate, Industry Trends, Credit Underwriting & Risks, and Industry Forecast.
Call Preparation Call Prep Questions, Industry Terms, and Weblinks.
Financial Insights Working Capital, Capital Financing, Business Valuation, and Financial Benchmarks.
Industry Profile Excerpts
Industry Overview
The 10,100 mobile food service operators in the US use food trucks and carts to sell prepared meals, snacks and beverages for immediate consumption to walk-up customers. Mobile food services also contract with individuals and businesses to cater food at events, such as parties, corporate gatherings, and festivals.
Economic Sensitivity
Food trucks that catered to construction sites and industrial parks were hit hard during the Great Recession when construction and manufacturing declined and workers were laid off.
Permit Restrictions
Food trucks are typically permitted and inspected by the city in which they operate, with regulations varying significantly from city to city.
Industry size & Structure
A typical mobile food service firm operates out of a single location, employs 2-3 workers, and generates over $350,000 annually.
- The mobile food service industry comprises about 10,100 companies, which employ about 27,000 workers and generate about $3.5 billion annually.
- The industry is highly fragmented with the 50 largest firms accounting for less than 15% of industry revenue.
- Most companies are small, independent operators - about 83% employ less than 5 workers.
- Immigrants own 30% of America’s food truck businesses, which frequently represent the first step toward launching a restaurant, according to the Bush Institute-SMU Economic Growth Initiative.
- Cities with large numbers of food trucks include Los Angeles, Washington DC, San Francisco, Houston, and Miami.
- Customer industries include individual consumers, event organizers, and businesses seeking mobile catering.
Industry Forecast
Mobile Food Services Industry Growth
Recent Developments
Oct 14, 2024 - No Degree Required
- A recent poll of 422 food truck owners found nearly two-thirds (62%) had no formal culinary training before becoming a food truck vendor, Mobile Cuisine reports. By comparison, 21% of those polled reported having some culinary school experience but no formal degree, while only 17% had a formal culinary degree. Key takeaways from the survey include experience can come from anywhere, with many food truck owners transferring skills from unrelated careers, and that drive matters more than degrees with entrepreneurial spirit and passion for making and serving food key ingredients for success.
- Employment by catering and mobile food services jumped 11.6% in July compared to a year ago, while average industry wages increased 2.6% over the same period to $23.17 per hour, according to the latest US Bureau of Labor Statistics data. Food trucks' growth in popularity and rising consumer spending – up 2.6% year over year in June and 0.2% versus May – are driving business and employment growth in the industry. The food away from home index, which measures the price of eating out, rose 0.3% in August after rising 0.2% in July, according to the BLS.
- Good communication, efficient kitchen operations, and planning ahead are the recipe for preventing long wait times at busy food trucks, Mobile Cuisine reports. Advanced planning, including doing prep work ahead of time and taking advance orders, is key to reducing waits. “Whenever we can, we do the prep work ahead of time, especially for catering events,” says Sid Gauby of mobile coffee catering company Slow River Coffee. Other strategies for reducing the long wait times that frustrate and repel customers include using the point-of-sale system to analyze customer traffic and adjust staffing accordingly and cross-training staff to fill multiple roles so that when someone calls in sick, they can fill in. If short staffed, consider simplifying the menu temporarily. Moreover, MC advises limiting menu size to around five to eight items, which simplifies kitchen operations and speeds up the serving process. Lastly, setting correct expectations for wait times is crucial.
- As heat waves broil the nation, the Biden administration has announced new protections to protect workers from extreme weather, according to a White House press release. The Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration proposes a rule to protect workers that, if finalized, would establish the nation’s first-ever federal safety standard addressing excessive heat in the workplace. The proposed rule includes requirements for identifying heat hazards, developing heat illness and emergency response plans, and implementing work practice standards — including rest breaks, access to shade and water, and heat acclimatization for new employees. If finalized, OSHA projects the rule would affect approximately 36 million workers. Temperatures can climb to over 100 degrees Fahrenheit inside the trucks, largely due to the heat produced by grills or stovetops. Moreover, food safety regulations in some states require workers to keep the back doors of food trucks closed, cutting off a critical source of ventilation.
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