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Sydney food trucks unite to ensure they're no flash in the pan

Esther Han
Esther Han

Justin Parry-Okeden and Ian Hudspith lunch on pulled pork rolls from the Monster Roll truck in Queen's Square.
Justin Parry-Okeden and Ian Hudspith lunch on pulled pork rolls from the Monster Roll truck in Queen's Square.Dallas Kilponen

It's flattering; hungry masses staring at you and your truck with "dreamy eyes". But Sydney's food truckers say it is high time the relationship progressed to the next, more serious, level.

"People see food trucks with the same dreamy eyes as they see the circus parade. Like the circus, it is serious business behind the scenes," says crepe purveyor Andrew Hay of the red-and-white Sarazine caravan.

To ensure food trucks are not just another novel, short-lived craze, 10 vendors including Eat Art Truck and Urban Pasta have banded together to form the Australian Food Trucks Association, accounting for more than half those on Sydney's roads.

Stephane Chevassus from the Urban Pasta van parked in Smail St, Ultimo.
Stephane Chevassus from the Urban Pasta van parked in Smail St, Ultimo.Nick Moir
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Hay's French-born wife, Gaetane Potard-Hay, was the driving force, spurred by the desire to better engage with the public, boost buying power with suppliers, and have a greater say in council policies.

At the top of the agenda are the tensions with bricks and mortar restaurants fearing lost profits, limited commercial parking zones, and ever-increasing asking prices to set up shop at events.

"In one year, the share of our revenue that we have to give to event organisers went from 10 per cent to 20 per cent, plus there are other fees," says Potard-Hay.

"The only way a food truck can manage that is to lower the quality and increase volume and we don't want that. We need to have a better discussion with event organisers to have a win-win situation."

Lana Zegura, who oversees the City of Sydney's food truck project, says the unity is a sign there is huge potential for the trade to expand.

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Right now, there are 19 council-approved trucks, vans and carts filled with pastries, steamed buns and choripans. Seventeen more are on the way. On Friday, Zegura received her 1000th food truck business inquiry.

In addition, the council-built Sydney Food Truck locator app has been downloaded more than 194,000 times – three times the figure this time last year.

"We want to see the program expand so that food trucks are trading all over the city beyond the City of Sydney's boundaries, as has happened in Melbourne and New York," she says.

"We are hoping that by encouraging food truck businesses to trade, not only are we trying to create vibrancy for Sydney, we will create more jobs with minimal investment and support young business people."

For the first time, Sydney Airport has granted food trucks access to its international arrivals precinct.

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But John Hart, chief executive of powerful lobby group Restaurant and Catering Australia, is watching the growth with a furrowed brow.

He says it is unfair that fixed cafes and restaurants are being crimped by regulation that does not apply to food trucks simply because they do not meet the thresholds.

RCA lobbyists, without the direct input of food truck operators, are pushing "all" councils across Australia to develop mobile food vending policies skewed in favour of fixed premises.

"We're asking for explicit support for bricks and mortar premises. If there's a tender, priority should be given to existing businesses. Secondly, we're asking for the hours of operation and proximity to businesses be limited," he says.

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"Finally we're asking for a level playing field. In a lot of cases, food trucks and pop-ups have a preferential arrangement in relation to regulation in that they don't have to comply with [it], and that's dangerous for all of us."

Hart fears a food truck patron being struck with a foodborne disease will see the trade "come crashing down".

"Also, if you look at how it's played out in some cities like New York, we don't want to get to a situation where there are three food trucks on every corner. We don't want a proliferation that is out of control," he says.

But Zegura's statistics show Sydney is far from reaching saturation point. City of Sydney has set a cap of 50 mobile food vending permits in any 12-month period, and is far from hitting it.

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"Each food truck is thoroughly assessed by a design panel based on five criteria: innovation, sustainability, ethics, design and menu," she says. "The process is very rigorous."

And the food truck business model, she happily notes, is sustainable. All nine trucks from the original trial in 2012, including Asian bites seller Tsuru and organic produce-focused Agape, are still feeding Sydneysiders night and day.

"For small businesses, the dropout rate is high. To have all nine businesses, 100 per cent success rate over three years is just fantastic. Most of them are thinking of purchasing second or third trucks."

THE 10 FOUNDING MEMBERS OF THE AUSTRALIAN FOOD TRUCKS ASSOCIATION

Agape Serves food truck favourites such as nachos and chilli fries, with an emphasis on organic, sustainable and natural ingredients.

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Bite Size Delights – Purveyor of handmade pastry pockets filled with tasty mixtures such as beef curry, or the decadent chocolate and ricotta.

Caminito - Sounds like come-and-eat-two. This Latin food truck specialises in choripan, or chargrilled beef chorizo served in bread with lashings of chimichurri.

Cantina Movil Claims to be Sydney's first food truck. Its delicioso menu consists of three signature meats and autentico pinto beans, each to be enjoyed in taco, nacho or burrito form.

Eat Art Truck The three-hat-kitchen trained chefs describe their menu as "progressive street food influenced by American barbecue flavours ... utilising fresh and seasonal produce".

Monster Rolls – When this truck rolls into your corner of town, you can be sure to find slow-cooked meats served on chewy baguettes with a slather of sauce and crunchy home-made slaw.

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Sarazine La Creperie The operators say that in French, ''sarazine'' means buckwheat, related to rhubarb, not wheat, and the main ingredient of the traditional gallete. The crepe caravan sells sweet and savoury options.

The Nighthawk Diner The Nighthawk chefs have reworked diner classics such as the Philly cheesesteak, Cuban sub, and Yankee nachos. All mains are proffered with crisps and Kosher pickle.

Tsuru This black-and-red van offers a simple, steamed buns-focused menu with an ambitious range of Asian flavours. Its signature filling is PIG – slow-braised pork belly with cucumber pickles.

Urban Pasta The brightly coloured mobile pasta bar serves up al dente pasta topped with famous sauces. Try the Terry Durack-approved gnocchi with beef ragu.

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Esther HanEsther Han is a homepage editor at The Sydney Morning Herald. She was the overnight homepage editor based in New York City, and previously covered state politics, health and consumer affairs.

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