culinary insights

by Julie Kendrick

Caterers food
trucks are on a roll
Many caterers are including a food truck
chef sean sherman, in business as the sioux chef,
as part of their operation. Is it time for started as a caterer, then added a food truck.

you to hop on?

M
any people credit the birth of the modern, chef-driven food truck to Thanksgiving
2008, when Los Angeles-based chef Dave Choi began selling $2 Korean barbecue
tacos from his Kogi BBQ Taco Truck. But mobile food has a much longer
history in America. Predating Choi by 136 years is Walter Scott, an innovative chap from
Providence, Rhode Island, who, while running a street stand selling newspapers, fruit, and
candy, happened upon the brilliant idea of launching a mobile food service, selling meals
directly from a horse-drawn wagon he parked in front of the Providence Journal office.
While many who run diners claim Scott as one of their own, the food truck movement ought
to erect a statue to the enterprising guyalthough, by rights, it should be a statue on wheels.

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 Food trucks have gained in volume,
variety, and popularity, and there are
now more than 4,000 of them on the
streets of the U.S., generating $1.2
billion in annual sales, according to
Mobile Cuisine magazine.
The typical business trajectory is food
truck-to-restaurant, as many chefs find
the cost of starting a business with a
truck less onerous than whats required
to launch a freestanding restaurant.
But some caterers also are getting
on the food truck (pardon the pun)
bandwagon. Theyre finding a truck
can be an effective mixture of mobile
business card, freestanding revenue
generator, and new-style serving the sioux chefs chef sean sherman with partner and co-owner dana thompson

method for trend-savvy clients. Still, inside tatanka truck

the road traveled by the modern food

truck can occasionally be a bumpy
one. Learn from these three caterers
about their successes, surprisesand
what theyd do differently if they were
taking that first test drive today.
Community
outreach with
indigenous foods:
The Sioux Chefs
Tatanka Truck
With a goal to make indigenous
foods more accessible to as many
communities as possible, Minneapolis,
MN-based The Sioux Chef, founded
by chef Sean Sherman and co-owner
Dana Thompson, began with a
strongly educational focus. Catering,
Thompson says, was one delicious
means to an educational end: It
allowed us to reach out to many
different types of people to tell our
story about these enjoyable foods
that are naturally gluten-, dairy- and
sugar-free, she explains. Their catering
business was up and running when
The Little Earth Community of United
Tribes approached them about starting
a food truck, which they named
Tatanka (the Lakota word for bison).
It serves everything from indigenous
tacos to winter wild rice bowls and
features ingredients such as wild
greens, bison, Red Lake walleye, and
smoked turkey.
From the beginning, they knew they
didnt want to join the downtown
Minneapolis lineup of lunchtime
trucks. Were most likely to be at
tribal gatherings, pow wows, and
cultural events, Thompson says.
We love the idea of anyone being
able to spend $10 and try indigenous
foods. Theyve also partnered with
various Twin Cities taprooms, which
are not allowed to serve food, and
have found a home at St. Paul, MNs
Burning Brothers gluten-free brewery.
The biggest challenge, Thompson says,
has been learning how to anticipate
demand. With catering, you know
how much food youre going to need
to prepare, but the truck is more of a
gamble, she says. We dont want to
have overages, but we also dont want
to sell out in an hour and leave a line
of 200 disappointed people.
TipS from The Sioux Chef
1) Develop a solid pro forma. But
also know that when you start any
new business, there will be losses, so
allow for that in your budget.
2) Have a strong marketing plan. Do
massive amounts of social media
and cross-promote everywhere.
When we launched on Facebook,
we had more than 1,000 likes in the
first 24 hours.
3) Connect. Other food truck owners,
part of the Twin Cities great
culinary scene, have been so helpful.
Plus, reaching out to others makes
your life richer. Otherwise, its easy
to feel isolated in that truck.
Kicking the tires:
Attitude on food
(Aof)
Omaha, NE-based caterer Attitude
on Food has made a name handling
Fortune 500 clients and major civic
events like the U.S. Triathlon, which
attracted 10,000 athletes. Co-owner
and director of sales Melissa Tibben
says that purchasing a food truck
had been a backburner idea for a

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replacing a tire on a food truck is not easy, as co-owner melissa
tibben found out on launch day
while, but the final purchase was
made almost on a whim. Nathan
Newhouse, our co-owner, told me,
Hey, Melissa, theres a bread truck
for salegrab your purse and well go
look at it. Within a week, the truck
had been purchased and was being
fitted to their specifications.
While the AOF truck has been
successful both as a freestanding unit
and as a complement to catered events,
Tibben says they experienced what
just might be the worst launch in food
truck history. Wed tweeted all about
our big opening day, but on the way
to the venue, the truck ran over a nail,
and one of the brand-new tires went
By the NumBers
Annual food truck revenue
$1,200,000,000 Total number of
food trucks in U.S
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flat, she shares. We were desperate
to get there, but we quickly learned
that new food truck tires are not easy
to come by. We decided to poke fun at
our predicament in social media, and
people were super-supportive. These
days, the truck is fully booked during
the mild-weather season. We have to
turn people down all the time, Tibben
says.
While the menu can vary, AOF chefs
Jason Moore and Courtney Holbert
always include their legendary Short
Rib Nachos and AOF Mac n Cheese.
And while Tibben acknowledges that
catering operations and food trucks
are two different animals, she believes
Industry revenue
increase over the 12.4 %
past five years
4,130
Average revenue
generated per $290,556
food truck
$12.40
Average spending per
order at a food truck
Average cost of food truck
$85,000
Source: Mobile Cuisine magazine
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culinary insights (continued)
that strong foundation in catering has
helped them succeed. Our food is
such high quality, and we really know
what were doing.
TipS from Aof
1) Scope out the competition. Find
out who is out there and what
theyre doing.
2) Learn about local laws and
regulations. They can change, so
stay current.
3) Join your food truck association.
Go to every meeting!
4) Stay current on social media.
Develop a good following and
engage with people. Make a
comment when they post and
always answer their questions.
We had someone rave about us on
our Facebook page, so I told the
commenter shed made me smile
and offered her a free order of AOF
Mac n Cheese.
Staying exible:
Crave Catering
If theres one thing Mark Lopez
understands, its how to adapt his
business to changing times. As the
CFO (Chef, Farmer, Owner) of
Portland, OR-based Crave Catering,
hes seen his food business take many
twists and turns since he began with
a downtown taqueria in 1997. We
were located across from Enrons
headquarters, and we did daily meal
service as well as company picnics
and catered events. When that
company failed, we lost 40 percent of
our walk-in traffic.
With Enron zigging, Lopez zagged.
Along with opening a food cart at the
Portland farmers market, he flipped
his business model and went from
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the slogan, with the finesse of a caterer and the cutting edge of a food cart
hustler, we can make it happen! has served crave catering well.

the food truck is often a highlight at
craves catered events
being a restaurant that catered to a
catering company with a storefront
for lunch. When a national television
show announced plans to begin
filming segments in Portland, Lopez
was contacted by the Governors
Office of Film and Television to gauge
his interest in providing production
catering. He did extensive research and
training, bought whats called a hot
truck and got to work. During a lag
between film shoots, Lopez decided to
set up the food truck in the driveway
of the catering companys office,
an on-premise option that allowed
them to operate under the existing
catering license. Business would boom
one night, and lag the next, usually
depending on what was happening
at a popular bar across the street. It
was an easy experiment, since it didnt
require extra licensing, but it helped
me remember why I like catering more
than restaurants, Lopez says. With
catering, I get paid whether or not
people show up.
The food truck is often a highlight
of Craves catered events, whether
as a late-night snack option or the
centerpiece food service option.
Lopez has created Dia De Los
Tacos signage and takes the trucks to
outdoor events, as well.
TipS from CrAve CATering
1) Beat the lines. At big public events,
we set up tables in front of the truck
with multiple registers for collecting
money. Whoever collects money
faster is the winner.
2) Work with venues. They love us
because, with our catering expertise,
were good at things like bussing
and flow. We make the venues
happy.
3) Start simple. You dont
necessarily need a thousand pieces
of equipment right away. It might
be best to cut a hole in the side
of a truck and bring your own
equipment in there.
4) MacGyver needed. Make sure
your chef and crew have some
mechanical knowledge as well as
culinary knowledge. It comes in
handy.

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