Wednesday Wisdom: Book a Food Truck For an Event in 5 Simple Steps
By Glow Global Events
From acai bowls to zeppole, nothing says hip, local, fresh, and convenient like the tasty fare of a food truck at your event. These mini-kitchens on wheels tap into today’s trends for authenticity and experiences, as well as the age-old trend of appreciating delicious, thoughtfully prepared food. In short, food trucks get people excited.
And the food truck business has been booming for more than a decade; it’s now a $2 billion industry and growing. Despite their popularity, they don’t break the bank for event organizers. In fact, food truck catering can be significantly less expensive than traditional catering.
These 5 key questions can help guide your decision making and event planning process. You’ll find the answers vary widely by event because no two food truck events are the same—that’s part of their fun. But once you know the basics and the variables to consider, you’ll be able to book food trucks for all of your events—no muss, no fuss.
1. Learn the cost to rent a food truck for an event and set your budget.
Food truck catering costs range from $10 to $35 per guest. So the cost of catering 100 people will range from approximately $1,000 to $3,500. (There is usually a minimum cost, which may range from $800 to $1,300.)
This is a wide range, so let’s take a closer look at what influences whether the cost is at the high or low end of that range.
The pricing structure
When booking a food truck for an event, the main pricing structures are catering, attendee-pay, and business guarantee.
- Catering is the most common structure for private events. In this structure, the food truck acts as the caterer and provides an agreed-upon menu for an agreed-upon number of people.
- Attendee-pay is common at large events that will host several trucks. Attendees simply order and pay for their own meals, as they would at any other food truck location. Food trucks aim for about 40-60 sales per hour at this type of event. Sometimes the food truck pays a fixed amount (often about 10 percent of projected revenue) or a percentage of its event revenue to the event organizer.
- Under an attendee-pay pricing structure, food trucks may ask for a business guarantee—a minimum amount of business the organizer will guarantee. The organizer is on the hook for any shortfall between actual business and the guarantee.
The location
In busy metro areas where it seems like everything is more expensive, food trucks are no exception. Labor, ingredients, and permits are typically more expensive in these areas, and food trucks charge more to maintain their profit margins. NYC and LA lead the pack in food truck costs.
Conversely, in less populated areas, the home base of your ideal food truck may be a significant distance away. Expect to pay a premium to get food truck operators to travel beyond their customer range.
Small to mid-sized cities and towns with food truck options are in the low-cost location sweet spot.
The meal and food types
A dessert truck will cost less than a food truck providing mains, sides, and drinks for lunch or dinner. A food truck catering an event like an evening wedding reception, with its complex logistics and full dinner, will probably top out the price range. (Note that the approximately $35 per eater at the top end of food truck catering is still likely to be cheaper than the average of $70 per eater for traditional wedding catering.)
Some trucks come in at the end of a catered reception or other late-night affairs, specializing in dessert and coffee. (Belgian waffles, anyone?) This is a cost-effective option that still makes a big impact.
Tacos, hot dogs, and BBQ tend to be inexpensive food truck fare. Costly ingredients like lobster or on-trend trucks that serve fusion or organic creations may be more expensive.
2.Decide how many food trucks you’ll need for your event.
A reasonable starting estimate is one food truck per 200-300 attendees.
You will need several trucks if eating a meal is one of the central draws of the event, such as a lunchtime employee appreciation picnic. And you will need to book several trucks if everyone is going to eat at once, such as during a wedding reception.
You can consider one food truck per 400 attendees or so if there are several other attractions during the event, and no set time when everybody eats—guests will visit the food truck when the lines are lower.
Talk with the food truck owners about your attendee estimates and how many customers they are capable of serving per hour. Provide the truck owners with attendee estimates a week before the event so they can factor that into their ordering and prep.
3.Pick your food truck menu for the event.
Food trucks provide a mind-boggling array of mouthwatering choices: hot dogs and fries; chicken and waffles; Dal-and-egg breakfast bowls; street tacos; pizza; Korean-Mexican fusion; Indian food; BBQ (one of the most popular food truck types). The list goes on and on.
Of course, discuss the options with your clients. They may be crystal clear about the type of food they want and even have a few favorite trucks in mind. Or, they may need a long list of suggestions.
By their nature, most food trucks have streamlined menus. But for catered events, it’s smart to narrow the offerings even further. Fewer choices make service faster so event attendees don’t get hungry waiting in line. Food truck owners have been around the block—ask them which of their items are most popular, and you’ve got the basics of your menu.
Also, take a look at the proposed menu through the lens of dietary restrictions: does your guest list include people who need a vegetarian or vegan option? If you’re not sure, better safe than sorry. The food truck operator should have an idea of what is popular with the animal-free crowd.
Here are a few ideas about how food trucks might vary by event type:
- Industry networking event: For an event during a national professional conference, consider contracting with several food trucks with varied cuisines—street tacos, Indian, and burgers, for example. The options your guests choose are great conversation starters while standing in line. And the Indian fare will include options for vegetarians.
- Wedding: Have a dessert-focused food truck outside towards the end of your wedding. Crepes, ice cream, donuts, churros. No matter the treat, guests will make one more sweet memory before the night ends.
- Youth organization (i.e., athletic league, club, school): Whether it’s an end-of-season celebration or a fundraising event, kids come ready to eat. Fast-prep fare is your best bet, such as burritos, empanadas, and wood-fired individual pizzas.
4.Find the best food trucks for your event.
Once you’ve narrowed down the cuisine, use Roaming Hunger, FoodTrucksIn, Yelp, or a city-specific site or app to explore all the options in your region. Spend some time exploring reviews from catering clients to see how operations handle the high-volume, short-turnaround involved in a scheduled event.