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V O L . X X V I I N O. X M AY 1 7 , 2 0 2 1 22 S M A L L B U S I N E S S F O C U S "ere's absolutely demand right now to have more trucks, and I don't foresee the demand going down any time soon," says FoodTrux founder and CEO Matt Noone. "e scene is going to continue to explode." Based on his research into busi- ness registrations, Noone estimates there are more than 200,000 food trucks nationwide, not including the growing number of hotdog, dessert and coffee carts — and predicts the number in Maine to double within as many years from around 100 today. Eventually, he expects Portland to designate specific areas as food truck parks as this part of the country slowly catches up to western cities like San Francisco and Denver. "e Portland scene is never going to be able to support the numbers that some of the bigger West Coast cities have, but I can see Maine having 200 trucks in the next couple of years," he says. "I think it's sustainable." Portland's appeal As Maine's biggest city and foodie capital, Portland is a big draw for mobile food businesses, with 26 cur- rent licenses and 27 applications pend- ing as of late April, according to city spokeswoman Jessica Grondin. She says Portland is on track to issue more than 100 new licenses for mobile food businesses in 2021 or about double the yearly average for the last five years; she notes that the numbers represent only places that serve food to eat but not retailers serving packaged foods. During the pandemic, a number of trucks have introduced online advance ordering and pickup. e cost of getting a license in Portland, not including a night vending permit, is $546 for a food truck and $322 for a mobile cart or ice-cream truck plus an application fee required to be renewed annually. at comes on top of the $50,000 to $70,000 needed to start a food truck business. But whether it's a food truck, a food trailer or a mobile cart, it's all cheaper than starting a physi- cal restaurant, which can easily cost $250,000 to $300,000. Why so many food trucks now? SCORE Maine Assistant Director Nancy Strojny, who mentors entrepre- neurs, boils it down to these factors: "Portland is currently an underserved market, the low barrier to entry, and in a post-COVID world, street food is a safe, easy alternative to brick and mortar. Food trucks and mobile carts help build a community." At the same time, she notes that some aspiring food-truck owners are under the misconception that starting out is easy and takes little time. "In fact," she says, "it is a 24/7 enterprise during the season and there are so many moving parts. Yes, it requires limited overhead versus a restaurant, but as a first-time opera- tor, it is a steep learning curve. You learn as you go." at's certainly the case for eight new Fork Food Lab members with mobile food businesses from Vietnamese sandwich truck Vy Banh Mi to a coffee pushcart set to start in mid-June, according to Fork's general manager, Corinne Tompkins. She says that while the majority of owners are seasoned profession- als looking to add a revenue stream with a mobile business, some are brand new including two farms. To accommodate the growing number of mobile food businesses using Fork as a base, the nonprofit-owned facility recently introduced a reservation sys- tem for 15-minute bookings so that no more than four trucks or trailers can dock there at any one time. "I think it will be an effective change," Tompkins says, "and allow us to bring in a lot more revenue." Speaking more generally about membership trends amid Fork Food Lab's own transformation to ecommerce during the pandemic, Executive Director Bill Seretta says, "We've seen a significant increase in demand for our services from many more food trucks. at's made it interesting for us." He points to several Fork Food Lab alumni who have gone on to open traditional restaurants while Tompkins says there's also a strong financial incentive to keep a truck business going. RISE to the MOMENT Lead Now provides leadership skills, knowledge and networks. You provide the moxie. PROGRAM INFO AND REGISTRATION: MDF.ORG/LEADERSHIP-DEVELOPMENT » C O N T I N U E D F RO M P R E V I O U S PA G E There's absolutely demand right now to have more trucks, and I don't foresee the demand going down any time soon. — Matt Noone FoodTrux

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