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Mark R.

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Food trucks stealing business from QSR restaurants

by Mark R. » Wed Aug 21, 2013 11:16 pm

Here's an article from National Restaurant News talking about how food trucks are stealing business from QSR restaurants. Not sure if we're seeing at here but I'm sure it will provide much fodder for arguments.

http://nrn.com/consumer-trends/npd-food-trucks-stealing-visits-qsrs?NL=NRN-02_&Issue=NRN-02__20130821_NRN-02__41&YM_RID=msradell@aol.com&YM_MID=1416948&sfvc4enews=42
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Rob Coffey

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Re: Food trucks stealing business from QSR restaurants

by Rob Coffey » Thu Aug 22, 2013 7:35 am

Mark R. wrote:Here's an article from National Restaurant News talking about how food trucks are stealing business from QSR restaurants. Not sure if we're seeing at here but I'm sure it will provide much fodder for arguments.

http://nrn.com/consumer-trends/npd-food-trucks-stealing-visits-qsrs?NL=NRN-02_&Issue=NRN-02__20130821_NRN-02__41&YM_RID=msradell@aol.com&YM_MID=1416948&sfvc4enews=42


I dont like the term "steal" as it implies that the customers are owned by the QSRs. But, otherwise, yeah I can see that happening. I always thought the slow food B&M restaurants complaining about food trucks were being whiny. They arent in direct competition. Fast food is.
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Re: Food trucks stealing business from QSR restaurants

by Robin Garr » Thu Aug 22, 2013 7:45 am

In other words, they want to be protected from competition? I've never understood that. I can see an argument for shutting down unfair competition, like false advertising and such, but for one sector to ask protection just because another is cutting into sales? I'm not so sure about that.
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Re: Food trucks stealing business from QSR restaurants

by RichardM » Thu Aug 22, 2013 10:36 am

Mark R. wrote:Here's an article from National Restaurant News talking about how food trucks are stealing business from QSR restaurants. Not sure if we're seeing at here but I'm sure it will provide much fodder for arguments.

http://nrn.com/consumer-trends/npd-food-trucks-stealing-visits-qsrs?NL=NRN-02_&Issue=NRN-02__20130821_NRN-02__41&YM_RID=msradell@aol.com&YM_MID=1416948&sfvc4enews=42


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Re: Food trucks stealing business from QSR restaurants

by Adriel Gray » Thu Aug 22, 2013 11:58 am

I'll sum up the article for you: "Boo Hoo, we can't rest on our laurels, we are being forced to work for customers..." :roll:
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Re: Food trucks stealing business from QSR restaurants

by Richard S. » Thu Aug 22, 2013 1:42 pm

I don't have a dog in this fight but I can acknowledge there are arguments on both sides that extend beyond which one has better food. Should a food truck be allowed to set up on a taxpayer-funded street in front of a restaurant whose owner is paying rent or a mortgage and property taxes? I can see why the brick-and-mortar guy might be pissed. On the other hand, how many brick-and-mortar people got started catering or operating a food truck and are they just trying to keep the new guy down?
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Re: Food trucks stealing business from QSR restaurants

by Leah S » Thu Aug 22, 2013 3:58 pm

Trucks are very likely paying off a loan for the truck, property tax on the truck, and for gasoline and vehicle maintenance. Also, they can only park on the street for four hours. While the restaurant can be open all day, the truck has to move somewhere else after four hours. Also, if it's cold, or raining, the truck does virtually no business. Many trucks park during the winter and therefore have no income for months. A truck also has quite limited storage and thus there is a limit on how much food it is possible to push out the window. There's no walkin or storage room on a truck for extra product when it gets busy. What you've got to sell is what you've got to sell.

IMO, the only thing threatened by food trucks is the brown bag.
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Re: Food trucks stealing business from QSR restaurants

by Rob Coffey » Thu Aug 22, 2013 9:18 pm

Richard S. wrote:I don't have a dog in this fight but I can acknowledge there are arguments on both sides that extend beyond which one has better food. Should a food truck be allowed to set up on a taxpayer-funded street in front of a restaurant whose owner is paying rent or a mortgage and property taxes? I can see why the brick-and-mortar guy might be pissed. On the other hand, how many brick-and-mortar people got started catering or operating a food truck and are they just trying to keep the new guy down?


Its a public street. Food truck owners are members of the public. As long as parking is legal in that spot, I dont see the problem with it. Food truck, random guy, whatever, what does it matter who is parked in the parking spot?
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Suzi Bernert

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Re: Food trucks stealing business from QSR restaurants

by Suzi Bernert » Thu Aug 22, 2013 9:46 pm

Business First also has an article about this:
http://www.bizjournals.com/louisville/n ... -fast.html
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Re: Food trucks stealing business from QSR restaurants

by Jeff Cavanaugh » Fri Aug 23, 2013 9:41 am

Food trucks sure as heck steal my business away from brick and mortar restaurants on occasion, and I like it that way. More choice is good for the consumer.
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Re: Food trucks stealing business from QSR restaurants

by Joel F » Fri Aug 23, 2013 9:43 am

given the diversity of markets, and within markets, this seems to be a misapplication of a survey designed for corporate bean counters.

I'm assuming it comes from NPD's annual "Report on Eating Patterns in America".

whatever the survey may be the reporting seems skewed.

food trucks aren't new - depending on the locale. I was patronizing a burrito wagon way back in 1992. the trend is newer and the hype is newer but not the basic form and function and role(s) in the market place.

maps and phone apps (etc) combined with good product and consumer awareness might lead some to plan in advance to eat at a truck versus going to a taco bell, asian joint or panera. might. That'd be pretty specific and pretty local.

As a consumer it's pretty stark to understand how the corporate / hospitality-industrial complex does its best to Temple Grandon us into the food chute. There are some choice words from Bill Hicks on this general theme.
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Re: Food trucks stealing business from QSR restaurants

by Robin Garr » Fri Aug 23, 2013 10:07 am

Joel F wrote:food trucks aren't new - depending on the locale. I was patronizing a burrito wagon way back in 1992.

Bruce Ucan's Big Blue Taco Truck? The progenitor of Mayan Cafe got started as a food truck primarily serving Latino roofing crews in subdivision developments around that time, and it wasn't long before well-off Anglos started following it around, and it evolved into the several iterations of bricks-and-mortar Mayan Gypsy/Cafe, one of the first entries in NuLu before they called it NuLu. The rest, as they say, is history.
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Re: Food trucks stealing business from QSR restaurants

by Joel F » Fri Aug 23, 2013 10:17 am

nope. this was in California. same principle though. the food truck would pull into various light industrial sites to feed folks at break times and lunch. they ran a route to feed the working people.
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Re: Food trucks stealing business from QSR restaurants

by Robin Garr » Fri Aug 23, 2013 2:07 pm

Joel F wrote:nope. this was in California. same principle though. the food truck would pull into various light industrial sites to feed folks at break times and lunch. they ran a route to feed the working people.

Well, it's not quite the same as food trucks, but I can remember working at a regional newspaper in the LA area (Glendale/Pasadena) back in the '70s and heading out at midmorning for a snack from the "roach coach." Those things go back for decades! They were well-named, too. But it's not really a valid comparison since food trucks are set up with professional, inspected restaurant kitchens rather than a guy with a stool and boxes of packaged donuts and cokes and stuff.
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Re: Food trucks stealing business from QSR restaurants

by David R. Pierce » Sat Aug 24, 2013 2:13 pm

Robin Garr wrote:Bruce Ucan's Big Blue Taco Truck?

I had my first horchata from this truck.
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