IntroductIon H
ave you ever dreamed of running your own food business, but are too afraid that your dream will likely be crushed? This is a common anxiety people who try to venture out into the food world face. In an attempt to become more independent and start their own business. Fortunately, there is another method of diving into the food business that provides less of a risk. Food trucks are an option individuals should consider if they want to try to enter this growing industry. Food truck culture has grown over many years and has been showing no signs of slowing down with the food truck industry value potentially going from 803.8 million dollars in 2014, to 996.2 million dollars in 2020 (“Value of the U.S. food truck industry”). The food truck trend began in Los Angeles with a man named Roy Choi, who was named Best Chef in 2010. In 2016, he was included in TIME’s “100 Most Influential People in the World” list. Choi began his adventure in 2008 through his gourmet Korean
taco truck “Kogi.” This truck revolutionized the food industry and brought forth the food truck movement (LaPorte). There are many different opinions as to what the appeal of food trucks are, that “the food comes out faster, and you don’t have to wait much” (Rivera G.) or that “it’s usually fairly inexpensive, so it’s not gonna break the bank and its also gonna be good food,” (Stone) but it is undeniable that people are loving food trucks and the trend isn’t gonna stop any time soon. “If you had to choose between a food truck and a restaurant, which would you pick?” “The truck,” (Borrega) was Jorge’s response to this question. Jorge is a co-owner of a series of taco trucks under the name “El Taco de Oro.” He and many others started their adventures in the food industry by acquiring a food truck and abused the benefits of having a mobile and cost efficient truck to sell their food in rather than in a traditional brick and mortar establishment. 11