They told

the competitors to
show up about an
hour before the
competition. I show
up an hour and a half
early and the line is over
a mile long, five people
wide. That wasnt the
competitors, that was
the people waiting to get
By: Seth Treptow, BGS Communications Director
in, Danhi said. I realized
then what a huge, fanatical grilled
cheese following there is out there. I
ts lunchtime on a typical Tuesday
didnt win the competition but as Im leaving I see one of these specialty gourmet food
and you and your fellow co-workers
trucks out front taking advantage of this captive audience in line.
decide to step out of the office for a
The ironic thing was that the truck was serving healthy organic wraps. I thought
quick nosh. You could pop on down to
this is kind of ill placed. You have gluttony on one side of the line and an organic freethe local diner for a bite, or hit the driverange chicken burrito on the other. And thats when a little light went off in my head.
thru around the corner. Been there, done
What about a grilled cheese truck? I went home, did a little research and I couldnt find
that. You bust out your smartphone and
one in the world.
check your Twitter account. Low and
The light in Danhis head would be illuminated even more brightly a week later
behold, the new food truck youve been
during a fishing trip with other top Los Angeles area chefs.
dying to try is going to be near your office
The day before they asked all the chefs to bring a bit of food for everyone to share.
today. Bingo. Problem solved. Better go
Still having grilled
now if you want to beat the line.
cheese in my head
People are captive at their work,
I asked if I could
they have an hour to eat, and they have
use the griddle
the same restaurants around them all
on the boat. They
the time, explained Dave Danhi, owner,
said absolutely,
operator and self-described Big Cheese
so I made my
of the Los Angeles based Grilled Cheese
chessy mac and rib
Truck. When the food trucks come
sandwiches and
in, there may be eight different ethnic
I blew them all
cuisines outside their door that werent
away, he said.
there yesterday and tomorrow theyll be
As I was
different. That creates a demand.
walking by the
The concept of food from a truck is
editor who
not a new one. For almost as long as there
organized the
have been trucks, there have been people
whole trip, she
The sandwich
that launched
serving food from them. But the trucks in
looked at me
The Grilled Ch
Dave Danhis
eese Truck this new wave of mobile eateries have set
wide-eyed and
Cheesy Mac an
d Rib sandwich
.
themselves apart from their predecessors
said, This is
with unique menus, creative marketing
amazing. I
and utilization of social media to drive
asked her if she
their businesses.
could imagine a grilled cheese truck and she was just beside herself.
The trucks themselves are part
That was that, Danhi recalled. Four days later, back on land, I get a call from her
rolling kitchen, part rolling billboard. The
saying that she had four people who were very interested in talking to me about my
operators within are as varied as their
idea. That sat with me and I realized that maybe I should actually think about this.
cuisines, representing a variety of cultural
Another proprietor who opted to parlay her previous restaurant experience into a
tastes and culinary styles. They are
career in the mobile food industry is SuAn Chow, owner and operator of Chow Haute
vanguards and entrepreneurs, navigating
Asian Cuisine on the Go. Chow was the first food truck operator to hit the scene in Salt
their way through a myriad of legal
Lake City, and for that matter, all of Utah.
issues, not to mention opposition from
I saw the trend of this concept, and I wasnt interested in starting another fullexisting eateries. And they are coming to
on brick and mortar business, Chow said. I have done that in the past, and I
a parking lot or street corner near you.
was interested in re-entering into the food industry in a different manner.
For many food truck operators, fine
I had researched the food truck industry and saw how well it had
dining is in their background. Such is
been received in other parts of the country and realized that
the case with Danhi. After 20 years of
it would probably hit Salt Lake City at some point, so I
working as chef at many high-end fine
figured I would rather be the first than the last.
dining restaurants, Danhis inspiration to
In other countries foods from trucks
open his truck came while competing in
are nothing like whats been the
the Grilled Cheese Invitational, an annual
history of truck food here
cooking contest in which competitors vie
in the United States.
to make the best you guessed it grilled
Here its been
cheese sandwich.
processed

12 bgs international exchange SPRING 2011 www.betagammasigma.org

For so many years, the franchise fast food concept has

predominantly been the same, and very repetitive. There havent
been a lot of alternatives and there hasnt been a lot of quality. We
are able to offer a quality product, using fresh local ingredients,
that is delicious and affordable at a grab-and-go price point.
SuAn Chow
and pre-packaged. In other countries, food from trucks is some of
Owner and Operator, Chow Haute Asian Cuisine on the Go
the best you can get. As people have become savvier about traveling
to other countries and experiencing the cultures, they have realized
that the concept of street food does not have to be a negative.
by the chance to interact directly with
Chow says offerings made available by trucks like hers are great
customers, an opportunity not available
alternatives to the existing fast food and grab-and-go options.
to chefs in most restaurants.
For so many years, the franchise fast food concept has predominantly been the
My husband gets to cook for
same, and very repetitive. There havent been a lot of alternatives and there hasnt been
them, hand them their food, and a
a lot of quality. We are able to offer a quality product, using fresh local ingredients, that
lot of times get instant reactions from
is delicious and affordable at a grab-and-go price point.
people. We have some followers who
A relative newcomer to the gourmet food truck industry is Sabora Street, owned
have literally followed us around to the
and operated by the husband-wife team of experienced chef Jorge Pimentel and
different locations. Its just fun to see
attorney Christine Sarapu. Hitting the streets of Washington, DC in February 2011, the
the enthusiasm that people have for the
truck has already gained attention for its Latin inspired street food.
truck.
We had a great response on a local food blog that we are tapping into this great
According to Sarapu, it took
tradition of Latin food that is just not available to the masses. Right now we have
approximately a year-and-a-half for
arepas on our menu and thats something you dont find much on the east coast,
Sabora Street to go from
said Sarapu. I know of a great little restaurant in San Francisco that sells them,
concept to fruition. Besides
but they are pretty hard to find out here.
the purchase of the truck
Sarapu says that she and her husband saw the food truck industry as a fresh,
and the installation
cutting edge way to get their food into the marketplace. They were also attracted

bgs international exchange SPRING 2011 www.betagammasigma.org 13

Coming to a
Parking Space
Near You...Lunch
(continued from page 13)

of the kitchen, one of the

biggest hurdles and most time
consuming processes to overcome
was the paperwork.
We had to go through quite a bit
of paperwork with different agencies
Department of Health, Department of
Consumer and Regulatory Affairs, the
Fire Marshal and get our licensing
completed, she explained. When
you are doing this for the first time,
everything is so new, so it is really easy
to underestimate how long things are
going to take to do. We definitely did that
at first. We originally thought we would
be able to open at the end of December
or the beginning of January. Paperwork,
though, took longer than what we
expected.
Paperwork and red-tape aside, one
big advantage that has attracted many
proprietors to go the food truck route is
the amount of start-up capital it takes to
get the ball rolling.
To open a small restaurant in
Los Angeles will cost you no less than
$250,000 to $300,000 and you can get
into a truck comfortably for ($60,000),
explained Danhi. The problem is that
many people who are getting into it are

going in very
under-capitalized
and with no industry
background and they are losing
their money because they fail to realize that
this is very hard work with a lot of moving parts. Its a lot
harder than a restaurant to maintain.
I often get asked, Whats harder running a truck or a restaurant? I used to say
neither. They are both hard, just different. Now though, after doing this for a year and
a half, I would say that opening a truck and running a truck is much harder than a
restaurant.
Just like any business, food trucks present their own set of pros and cons that can
make life complicated for owners and operators.
A restaurant, on a slow day, cant go to where the business is. They are stuck
there. Thats a huge plus for us as we can customize our demographic just by where we
schedule ourselves. But with that pro comes a big con in that the regulations are really
coming down and we operate to the letter of the law, said Danhi. Were not just this
rogue truck who sees a parking space and pulls over and sets up shop.
Further complicating things for truck proprietors is that the laws regulating their
operation can vary greatly from stop to stop, even within a very short distance.
In Los Angeles there are 88 sub-cities. If a city has a city hall, we need to have a
business license to operate there, Danhi explained. You really have to make sure you
know what each citys laws are because they are all different.
The legal variations that exist from city to city are not issues isolated to the Orange
County area. Gourmet food truck proprietors across the country have been battling the
Continued on Page 16

I often get asked, Whats harder running a truck or a

restaurant? I used to say neither. They are both hard, just
different. Now though, after doing this for a year and a half, I
would say that opening a truck and running a truck is much
harder than a restaurant.
Dave Danhi

Owner and Operator, Grilled Cheese Truck

14 bgs international exchange SPRING 2011 www.betagammasigma.org

People will know we are coming, so they

will not only flag us down, but theyll save
us parking spots.

Christine Sarapu
Co-owner, Sabora Street

Coming to a Parking Space Near You...Lunch

(continued from page 14)

Sabora Streets Ar

epas

still in a location and that the line is

going down. Inevitably the line starts
same kinds of issues.
up again.
You have to take into consideration
Sabora Street is by no means the only food truck to harness the power of social
the ordinances of the municipalities in
media as a marketing tool. In fact, the recent growth in the gourmet food truck industry
which the truck is located. Every area
has very much gone hand in hand with the continued proliferation of Twitter and
can change and be different. Whether I
Facebook.
am in the city, the county or some other
By utilizing the smart mob potential of social networks, truck operators have
area, they all have their own regulations,
been able to keep followers up to date with where the trucks will be on any given day,
Chow said.
and even build a following before opening their windows for the first time.
As a lawyer, Saparu is trained to
I got real nervous because I didnt want to be the second grilled cheese truck in
understand the legalese of the regulations
the city so I jumped on Twitter. Before that I had no tweets never had I even thought
Sabora Street has to navigate. And while
of it being a verb in my vocabulary, Danhi said. I just put out a few simple tweets to
she says her legal background has been
three local blogs saying, Did you hear the Grilled Cheese Truck is coming? I shut my
advantageous, she too admitted being
computer down, went to dinner, came back and we already had 70 followers. In just
frustrated by the regulations.
two hours there were 70 followers for something that didnt even exist yet. The next
The vending regulations for
night we had 200, the following night 350, the night after that 500. I realized then that
Washington, DC were set up for ice cream
social networking was going to create the personality of the truck; this is going to be
trucks and sidewalk vendors who have
what the truck is.
to get permits for a particular spot. The
Flash-forward to the day we got our keys, we ended up having 2,500 followers
regulations, as they are written, state that
who were very hungry for grilled cheese, Danhi continued. I didnt want the buzz to
we are not allowed to stop at a particular
disappear so we did a pre-melt at a friends restaurant. We got the website ready to take
location unless we are flagged down
reservations and put an announcement out on Twitter that the first 250 people to sign
like an ice cream truck would be, she
up could try the sandwiches before the truck was out for free. It took a little less than 20
explained.
minutes to fill up the 250 and within an hour we had another 750 on the waiting list.
Saparu said they have been able to
Needless to say, Danhi has been very impressed by the power available to him
utilize social media to help alleviate some
through social media.
of these issues.
The social media aspect of it blows my mind. We had a special melt last week, a
People will know we are coming,
fried chicken and waffle melt, and I posted a picture of it when I was literally waiting at
so they will not only flag us down, but
a bar. Eight minutes later, over 500 people had already viewed it. Over the next couple
theyll save us parking spots. The rules
days, 6,000 people viewed that picture. It became a top-20 on Twitter. It is the true
also say that once you stop, if there is
definition of viral.
no longer a line you have to close your
window and leave. We cant sit and
While social media has proved to be a very useful tool for food truck operators on
wait five or ten minutes. We have to go.
the marketing and promotional front, it hasnt helped operators overcome another key
Tweeting during service is also handy,
challenge opposition from the existing restaurant industry. Owners and proprietors of
because we can let people know we are
many brick and mortar restaurants have met the trucks with a great deal of negativity
feeling threatened that trucks are taking away their business.
One food truck owner who takes issue with that allegation is Chow.
While she admits to struggling with the concerns expressed
by restaurant owners, she ultimately feels that
the experience offered by food trucks
differs entirely from that by restaurants,
and that her customers are looking for
something outside of what restaurants
provide.
I dont have tables. I dont have
anywhere for someone to sit. They have
to stand in front of the truck, eat in their
car, or take it back to work or home, she
said. People who go to a restaurant for
a sit-down dinner are looking for that
dining experience. Its extremely rare
that people wanting that experience
will change their minds and decide
Chow Haute Asian on the Gos Pork Cutlet Slider and Spring Quesidillia
to stand in front of the truck or eat in
the car.
16 bgs international exchange SPRING 2011 www.betagammasigma.org

Chow also argues that competition is just part of business.

I could also open a restaurant next to an existing restaurant, she
said. There will always be competition with other restaurants and
competition with other trucks.
While many restaurateurs are choosing to do battle with the
food trucks, others are getting in on the action, using the trucks as a
marketing tool, taking their cuisine directly to the masses.
One such example is Pi Pizzeria in St. Louis, Mo. Opened in
2008, the upscale pizzeria received a huge boost following a ringing
endorsement from U.S. President Barack Obama. A subsequent
invitation to cook for the presidents family and staff at the White
House didnt hurt business either. Following the April 2009 trip
to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Pis business increased a reported
80 percent, and since that time the company has opened three
additional locations in St. Louis, and one in Washington, DC.
Pi was one of the first to jump into the food truck arena in St. Louis.
The companys Pi on the Spot truck makes regular rounds around the city, setting
up shop for lunch in various locations throughout the metropolitan area.
We do generate some new customers from the truck, but greater than 50
percent of our sales are to existing brick and mortar customers, so we go where
they live and work.We bring the product to them, rather than them needing to
drive to us, explained Chris Sommers, owner of Pi.
We saw it as an extension of our business, a way to get our product to people
who couldnt make it into our brick and mortars, a means to build a catering
business, and a means by which to test a new market for a potential brick and
mortar restaurant.
Since launching the Pi on the Spot truck, business at Pis brick and mortar
locations has been on the rise, so as far as Sommers is concerned, entry into the
mobile food arena has been a worthwhile investment particularly on the public
relations and promotional fronts.
The press that it generates allowed the truck to pay for itself before it even
began selling, he said. The truck is a roaming billboard for us, constantly reminding guests and
potential guests of our existence.
Continued on Next Page

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bgs international exchange SPRING 2011 www.betagammasigma.org 17

The Rise of Organic

By: Josh McCarty, BGS Communications Associate

magine if I told you that I had a plan to bring back the 1969
Sony Trinitron 13-inch television, absent all of the high
definition, three-dimensional, cable/satellite ready qualities
that exist in todays televisions, and I was
going to market it against every modern
model in stores today?
Obviously the chance of this business
venture succeeding would be pretty
remote (an ironic choice of wording
considering the Trinitron didnt even
include a remote).
As difficult as it is to imagine any
product succeeding in the 21st century
without the same advancements and
technologies of the direct competition,
you dont have to look too far to find
an example of one thats not only
experiencing success, but thriving.

The business of organic food has evolved into a $50 billion

a year industry while ignoring most agricultural manufacturing
enhancements that have been invented since World War II.
So what is it about this growing industry that allows it to
keep multiplying in consumers, product exposure and
value?
What is Organic?
To accurately understand the organic
food industry, you must first understand
what qualifies a product as organic.
The term refers to the way
agricultural products are grown and
processed, said Christine Bushway,
the executive director and CEO of the
Organic Trade Association (OTA). It
includes a system of production, processing,
distribution and sales that assures consumers
that the products maintain the organic

Coming to a Parking Space Near You...Lunch (continued from page 17)

Despite the marketing power offered by these roaming

billboards, there are many logistical issues that truck operators
have to take into consideration that traditional restaurateurs may
not.
Location Selection
We look for density, density, density. People need to be
able to walk to the truck, explained Sommers.We turn down
most locations in suburban settings, because people would still
need to get in their car to find us, and that defeats the purpose in
our minds.
Its confusing. You just have to work the best you can
around all the different areas, said Chow. Right now I only
have one truck, and scheduling the one truck requires a lot
of time. In the past year we have tried different locations and
events. Some have worked, some havent. Its just like the
development of any new business, you learn as you go. Its
always a juggle to keep it all straight, but you do what you have
to do.
Weather
Its raining here today, just horrible, and we had to close. If
the weather is really bad, and its raining really hard or we have
a severe storm well close said Saparu. As for the winter, all of
us in DC know and understand that our busy time is going to be
between April through October.
It will certainly slow down in the winter, but on days of
severe weather we will have to close. Unfortunately this isnt Los
Angeles. The trucks seem to still do pretty good business in the
winter months though. Its really amazing the temperatures that
people will endure to stand in line.
Space Constraints
The problem with a truck is that you have a very finite
amount of space so you can only serve so much. With a
restaurant you have as much storage as you can handle,
commented Danhi. We can only sell so much, which is a pain in
18 bgs international exchange SPRING 2011 www.betagammasigma.org

the neck. Plus there is the whole organizational side of it. If you
get out to a stop and you forgot your spatulas, you dont have
spatulas.
Health and Safety Inspections
We have to go through inspections once every six months
and we also have random health inspections when we are out
during service, explained Sarapu. We are inspected twice a
year, whereas brick and mortars are not inspected as often.
For the most part people in this area understand that we
are very clean and held to very high standards by the health
department. There is also some transparency, because people
can look right into the kitchen from the window. Thats very
reassuring for the customers to see how clean our kitchen
actually is.
Another issue for food truck operators, particularly those
just getting into the field, is market saturation. While gourmet
mobile dining may be new to many metro areas, in cities where
the business model has been well established it has become
increasingly difficult for start-ups to find success.
We got in early. When we first started working on the truck
there were ten trucks, recalled Danhi. By the time we got on
the road, six weeks later, we were number 36. We were in fairly
early, because a year or so later, there are more than 200 of these
specialty trucks in Los Angeles alone.
I have a half dozen people coming to me every week
saying that they want to open a truck. The first thing out of my
mouth, and it has nothing to do with competition, is Dont do
it in Los Angeles, Danhi continued. I want the industry to
thrive, and I will do anything I can to help someone to get into
the industry but LA is over-saturated. Every concept under the
sun has been done and new trucks are just going to fall by the
wayside as another truck.
Outside of the crowded major markets, Danhi sees a lot of
potential for further growth of the gourmet food truck trend.
The United States is one of the few countries in the world

integrity that begins on the farm.

In a nutshell, organic means crops are grown without
the use of conventional pesticides, artificial fertilizers, human
waste or sewage sludge. For animals, it means they were reared
without the use of antibiotics and growth hormones.
Industry Growth
In this age of high technology and time savers, consumers
consider cell phones to be inadequate if theyre unable to answer
e-mails, watch television, record video and listen to music all
from one little handheld device.
It may be hard to believe in a time when consumers want
more for less that an industry can continue to grow annually
while using less technology, but the organic industry has done
just that.
According to the Organic Industry Survey conducted by the
OTA, the global annual sales of organic food and beverages have
risen to more than $50 billion, a number that more than doubles
the $25 billion total from 2003.
In the U.S. alone, annual sales of organic food and beverages
are up from $1 billion in 2000 to more than $25 billion in 2010.
In total, there are more than 3.5 billion acres being
organically farmed by almost 1.4 million producers in 154
countries worldwide, according to data from The World of
Organic Agriculture 2010.

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War paint for todays business world.

Continued on Next Page

that doesnt have an established street food culture that is

a part of everyday life. If you go to Europe, Asia or Latin
America youll find that street food is part of business.
Its part of everything, Danhi explained. Here, we are
such a regulated country it just never was able to happen.
Now enter the food truck, and the state and the county can
regulate it, they can make some money on it, and it can
be done correctly. Thats really helped food trucks boom
around the country.
And thanks to that boom, along with an ever-growing
and increasingly fanatical following, these trucks have very
quickly become more than just a quick spot to get a bite to
eat on a Tuesday afternoon. They have managed to
carve out their own niche in business and in
popular culture.
I never thought it would turn into
this little slice of pop-culture, said Danhi.
Last Halloween I know of at least three
people who dressed up as the Grilled
Cheese Truck. That was the point that I
just shook my head, and realized that
we have impacted a lot of people.
I wouldnt say we are changing
the world, but we are definitely
making people smile. Itll be
exciting to see where this thing
goes next.

Dr. Bill Christiansen, Finance Department Chair

and Bank of America Professor of Finance

bgs international exchange SPRING 2011 www.betagammasigma.org 19