Catering Truck business-good or bad? (Sacramento: for sale, how much, houses) - California (CA) - City-Data Forum

hellaslover · 03-20-2009, 12:56 PM

Those catering trucks that i see on the street always seem to be busy, there's always cars pulling in. How much do they make on average? Do they stop at any place they want, does it require a permit of some sort? I found a catering truck for $20k, it's a 1994 model but looks really clean inside and out. The price seems pretty cheap. Initially i was looking for a catering truck to sell food outside my store, then i thought why don't i buy the catering truck and make the money instead, and if business doesn't go as planned i can always drive it to another stop...and since there's a lot of construction in the area there will always be a place to go and park.

wburg · 03-20-2009, 12:58 PM

Due to a recent city ordinance, catering trucks can only stay in one place for 30 minutes before they have to move on.

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edwardius · 10-14-2009, 12:10 PM

In LA, they have the gourmet roach coaches. I suspect that idea would work here if someone executed it properly. Some of the best burritos and tacos I have ever had came from roach coaches.

Kogi Korean BBQ, a taco truck brought to you by Twitter -- latimes.com

justducky2 · 10-17-2009, 06:36 PM

we used to have an espresso catering business...you are always on the move...it is a lot of HARD work. People always thought we were making hand over fist, in fact, some would copy us and try to follow our routes (it is cut throat competitive to the point the roach coaches were threatening my husband who wasn't anywhere near stepping on their toes territory-wise or product wise...some of those operators are VERY threatening re: their territory). Bottom line, we were very happy to sell it. He worked 6 days a week, 12 hours a day - made about $300/day average. That sounds great, but we had a payment on the trailer; our main ingredients were coffee beans and milk, and they tripled in price; and we had to put gas into the trailer generator and our Suburban to pull it (which get about 12 mpg). The generator ran 12 hrs/day and eventually blew; that was a $5k replacement, but after about $2k repairs a couple of years earlier. So....

I agree with deathrage, some great tacos out of some of those trucks, but it is not an easy life. And don't be fooled if you think they are making tons of money...it is not always what they seem.

Good luck with whatever you decide! Just go into it with your eyes open! Oh - and make sure the truck will pass inspection in whatever county you are going to operate in...and if you will cross county lines, it has to be certified in the counties you work in...they will nail you...health dept regularly surprise-inspected us (which was fine, we were squeaky clean)...

Shope · 10-20-2009, 09:23 PM

Ducky is correct. The roach coach biz is pretty cut throat. I have seen competitors get into fist fights on construction sites. And the Kogi trucks down in LA are terrible, Asian meat stuffed into tortillas is fusion gone wrong in my opinion.

satty0 · 05-10-2010, 09:27 PM

If you ever believe anyone telling you they didn't do good in a business, it's because they didn't plan properly. Have a great biz plan. Also always know the possible risk- acknowledge it and plan to deal with it. Don't go based on others that have failed. As for the person writing that Kogi's idea is terrible...... the creator of Kogi was featured on the front page of the Wall Street Journal recently. That should speak for itself. Idiot.

justducky2 · 05-16-2010, 08:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by satty0

If you ever believe anyone telling you they didn't do good in a business, it's because they didn't plan properly. Have a great biz plan. Also always know the possible risk- acknowledge it and plan to deal with it. Don't go based on others that have failed. As for the person writing that Kogi's idea is terrible...... the creator of Kogi was featured on the front page of the Wall Street Journal recently. That should speak for itself. Idiot.

Oh, we did fine, made about $70k/year. Started doing a lot of movie shoots and we were requested by several actors and special effects studios to their craft services folks. But it wasn't worth the hours or the threats on the daily routes and the nasty competitors. We planned and did our homework. At the time, mobile espresso was brand new (we were the first in town - even before Starbucks came to town). We sold the biz for a hefty profit to one of our customers who snapped it up when she heard we were moving out of the area - we didn't even have to try to sell it. So, I wouldn't say we failed. It just wasn't what we wanted to do. I was trying to give the OP some info about my personal experience.

hellaslover · 07-27-2010, 03:55 PM

Hi guys
So i'm still looking for a catering truck. I had no luck since it's very hard to find catering trucks for sale (maybe i'm not looking hard enough) but i did visit the yard in Sacramento and they don't have any for sale, except one which is really old, and i even stop whenever i see a catering truck and ask if they know anyone that's selling their truck, but no luck.
My plan B is to build a small building (kind of like those storage little houses they sell at home depot) or even buy one and add a kitchen, sink and whatever else it needs to pass inspection. Do you think it's a good idea?