Moving feasts moving up
It seems no popular commuter route is complete these days without a coffee cart or food truck lining the road. Jono Galuszka tracks their rise.
When Andrew Feldon opened Mouthwater Coffee’s first site on a February morning, he was greeted with clear skies and blazing sun.
Fast foward six months and he realised he had a problem. A gap in the front of his business meant, when the wind was just right, rain and hail were able to hit him while he made coffee.
It is a situation almost completely out of the question for cafe owners, but likely a familiar pain for those who have moved into the mobile coffee cart and food truck industry.
Take a drive around most New Zealand cities and the trend of budding hospitality operators picking carts, caravans, containers and various wheeled objects for their businesses over ‘‘brick and mortar’’ locations is apparent.
It has become so popular there is even an annual New Zealand Food Truck Festival. It is not just about hot dogs and chips either, with almost any kind of cuisine on offer.
But why take that option over a traditional cafe or restaurant?
Feldon says he was always going down the coffee cart route, having learned the ins and outs of the model while working for Streetwise Coffee, firstly in O¯ taki, before moving to its Sanson cart.
Streetwise has gone on to open in 22 locations across the North Island, with many of its distinctive carts setting up out the front of car yards, supermarkets and hardware stores.
‘‘Streetwise targeted car yards because they are high-profile spots, so you can be seen,’’ Feldon says.
He wants to be a good former employee – ‘‘it’s a small industry and you still want to be able to sit down and have a beer with someone’’ – so aims to keep away from Streetwise sites.
But he sticks by the same rule book as Streetwise when looking for a site: Be on a busy road, make sure you can be seen, and have plenty of parking for traffic to stop.
His first cart, on Palmerston North’s Tremaine Ave, is a prime example. The red cart is positioned near the footpath and Tremaine Ave is one of the city’s busiest streets throughout the day.
There is also plenty of parking, thanks to the cart’s location in front of a tavern.
His recently opened second location, near The Warehouse on Main St, also follows those rules.
It is a slightly quieter stretch of road, but he is confident about how it will go.
‘‘Some sites can be harder to get going, but as long as customers can get there easy enough, and you build a reputation, those sites can work.’’
The cart concept enables him to keep things simple. Coffee, a few snacks he gets from suppliers and coffee brewing gear is about the extent of his offerings.
It was tough to interact with customers while whipping around a cafe, while the cart, somewhat ironically, keeps him stationary while working.
A cart also has fewer moving parts, focusing the business down to its core elements, keeping bills relatively low and staff numbers down.
But every pro has a con.
Having a smaller business limits your income, which Feldon is philosophical about.
‘‘I can focus on what I’m good at, which is coffee. It might mean I earn less, but I enjoy customers and coffee.’’
While Feldon went into Mouthwater Coffee with a clear vision, others enter the cart and temporary world in a hazier state.
Jake and Poppy Braid wrapped up a four-month temporary location for their business, Daily Supply, on George St, Palmerston North, on March 2.
Initially founded as a boutique furniture supply business, Daily Supply moved into a vacant space and became a spot to get a cold brew coffee, kombucha and bagels.
The Braids also used their self-built bar for events, taking it to O-week at Massey University and sparking a few conversations by wheeling it through the city to get to UCOL.
‘‘People just kept coming up and asking ‘is that beer in there?’’’ Jake Braid says.
They are now moving to Mt Maunganui to concentrate on mobile bar hire and selling coffee and tea supplies online.
Poppy Braid says evolution is normal for a small business and the temporary model gave them the chance to do that. ‘‘It’s low risk and low cost.
‘‘We could just keep doing pop-ups throughout the North Island, but we really want to concentrate on the events side of things.’’
Using the temporary store as a bridge to the new stage of the business gives then a chance to try things in a lower-pressure environment, she says.
It also helps with prototyping – having the hire bar at the temporary location ensures it gets plenty of use, proving it is fit for purpose.
The daily presence on the street also acts as advertising, drawing in customers who go on to hire Daily Supply for events.
The biggest problem has been weather. Apart from an umbrella, there is no shelter at Daily Supply, leaving it open to the elements.
Rainy days mean not being able to open, while the almost-constant wind off the Manawatu¯ plains can also cause issues.
Feldon’s carts are more solid, but every cart he has worked in struggles with heat and ventilation, so the weather conditions are felt all the more, he says. ‘‘It makes for a long day for us. ‘‘That’s what people don’t realise – it’s long days to make it work and putting up with all extremes.’’
Feldon and the Braids agree a strong social media presence is key to making it work, as is having a point of difference.
Daily Supply uses cold brew coffee and kombucha – both served from kegs – as its niche, while Mouthwater aims for extremely good coffee.
The trend towards mobile or lean operations is something Restaurant Association chief executive Marisa Bidois has noticed, especially because it seems to only apply to the hospitality industry.
Although food trucks are not new – The White Lady, arguably New Zealand’s most famous food truck, hit the Auckland streets in 1948 to serve the six o’clock swill crowd – numbers have risen in the past six years, she says.
Their perception has also changed. They’ve gone from being seen as cheap street food to a high-quality option for diners.
Creativity is key to making a food or beverage business last and extending that mindset to where a business can go is only natural, she says.
‘‘It’s so accessible, although it still costs to start up.
‘‘It’s definitely not a cheap exercise to fit out a commercial kitchen in a truck.’’
It also lends itself well to netting customers.
‘‘People want to eat when they are out and about, or at an event, or when something special is going on.’’
Temporary locations are a natural way for a business to find its feet, or for an already established operator to try new ideas, she says.
Association members say they looked at food trucks as a way to test the water before dedicating themselves to the lease on a building.
The lifestyle choice also helped. Open when you like, go where you like, serve what you like.
But Bidois has a word of warning – it’s not all touring around and working when you want.
You may need to find somewhere you can access power, while some cities require you to have a permit to sell from a truck or cart.
Securing a regular site is also becoming harder as trucks and carts become more popular, she says.
Like any hospitality business, it is hard work getting the right combination.
It seems to be working for Feldon, given he has been able to invest in a second cart.
His secret? Keeping it fun. ‘‘Coffee is a social lubricant and being social is a fun aspect of life. You work too hard to not have fun.’’
‘‘Coffee is a social lubricant and being social is a fun aspect of life. You work too hard to not have fun.’’
Andrew Feldon