You don’t have to stay in the kitchen anymore to become a chef. Food aficionados are slowly adapting to the idea of food trucks and we suggest you consider it before competition gets thick
If you are as frustrated as chef Carl Casper from the film Chef, and always aspired to start a venture of your own, food truck is the way to go! The newest occupation on the block, a food truck works best for people with a passion for food and who lack the enormous funds required to start a brick and mortar restaurant. A food truck usually involves selling of food items such as ready-to-go snacks such as hot dogs or burgers from a truck or a minivan. The food is either cooked in the truck, which requires a separate level of investment into the power supply and extensive equipment, or precooked and assembled at the truck. Either ways it is a great way to get started.
WHY FOOD TRUCKS
With food trucks taking over the street food scene, the numbers of food trucks are only rising. However, it was only last year that Mumbai grew up to its counterparts, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Delhi with respect to the food trucking business. Food trucks is a great career because
* For amateur chefs with a passion for cooking, and who do not own the financial resources to start a restaurant, this is a great way to get started.
* Further, there is scope for constant experimentation with the menu as the menu is not as elaborate as it is in a restaurant. For example, Latin American hot dogs and burgers or Lebanese Shawarma’s which do not require a tedious arrangement.
* Food truckers believe that the best part about their job is that there is always something to look forward to and there is a sense of variety and change which they enjoy the most. So, if you are someone not looking for consistency and routine, food trucks would be a great opportunity for you.
GETTING STARTED.
The first step for every food trucker is to acquire all the necessary licenses required to drive and park a food truck in the city. Since the government has not yet recognised food trucks as an entity and there is no specific food truck license available, there are still certain licenses one would need to acquire. It usually takes about two to three months to acquire the same. The next most important step would be to decide upon the place where you would like to operate out of and fix upon a parking place. Most food truckers usually face a lot of problems with respect to the parking and regular tiffs with the policeman are unavoidable in our country where efforts by the National Food Truck Association are
still on to ensure recognition.
The next step would be to decide upon the menu. The menu to a large extent affects the choice of the truck. If the menu is elaborate and requires cooking the size of the truck would be much larger than a ready to serve menu would requite. It would be best to offer a trouble-free, not very elaborate menu in the beginning the looks of which are enough to excite the customer’s taste buds. Finally, getting a truck should not be a major hassle, with second hand trucks to the rescue. We still, however, lack elaborate and huge trucks dedicated to just food, which is quite a road bump with most aspiring food truckers who wish to cook gourmet recipes in their food trucks at lower prices.
As interesting as this profession looks, it has its own struggles, especially in India where it is still at a nascent stage. However, it is only growing, as we already have a whole bunch of food truckers in and around Mumbai, serving lip-smacking gourmet-styled food items. So, go ahead and take a plunge into a whole new style of dining and fulfil your passion for food and cooking, knowing that a restaurant doesn’t make a chef!
