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Tuesday, June 18, 2013
Food truck pod could be preview to future mobile food hub
by Brandon Darnell, published on October 2, 2012 at 5:10 PM
Storyline: Local Business
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It’s been a dream for Sacramento food truck lovers for years: a permanent location for food trucks. A place where a variety of mobile food fare can be available. Somewhere that allows live music, art and other family-friendly events.
On Saturday, Sacramentans will get a glimpse of that as a food truck pod sets up at 1425 C St.
Property owner Skip Rosenbloom said the industrial buildings currently in the space house artists’ studios, a music recording studio and a glass blower’s workshop.
“I think the food trucks are synergistic with lots of complementary uses,” Rosenbloom said.
From 5 - 9 p.m. Saturday, more than 10 trucks will take up station in what is being called the “Truk Farm,” along with live music and entertainment. The Truk Farm is in a central courtyard that used to be a truck docking terminal.
One of the trucks at the event will be OM Karmabile, an Indian fusion food truck that is a relative newcomer to the Sacramento scene.
“I think it’s groundbreaking, and if it’s done according to what we’ve been planning, we can be the envy of other cities where people can go as a hub,” said owner Voltair Ignacio.
Rosenbloom said he hopes to see the event become a permanent fixture for the foreseeable future.
“I think ultimately we’ll attract other food and arts and entertainment businesses,” he said. “It’s not a heavily trafficked area, and it has to become a place where people want to go to do something such as eat or listen to music or watch a film or have other events.”
Food truck advocate Catherine Enfield said she has long been a proponent of the idea of central locations where food trucks operate – food truck pods – and that a post about food truck pods on her blog remains her most-viewed piece.
She said the SOMA area in San Francisco has a food truck pod where trucks pay rent for slots depending on shifts and days of the week.
“They haven’t decided how they’ll do it in Sacramento yet,” she said.
But what makes the Sacramento food truck pod unique?
“This is the only one that I am aware of that incorporates an existing building,” Enfield said. “It’s hard to picture because it’s bare-bones and rough, but if you really have vision, you can see this being an awesome space with so much potential.”
One of the strengths of a food truck is its mobility – it can provide food to different locations on different days of the week, set up at events and appeal to a larger group of people than a stationary restaurant, so a stationary food location might seem counterintuitive.
According to Enfield, it’s not.
“They supply a permanent spot where people will always know they can find trucks and find a schedule of them,” she said in an email. “Also, for the trucks, it's a secured spot, especially during the winter when it's hard to go out, find spots where people can get out of the weather and help sustain them during the rougher months.”
Saturday’s event is being run by the nonprofit Foodmob organization, and proceeds will benefit the Francis House, one of the Sacramento area’s leading providers of services to the homeless.
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While I can't speak to the location of another food truck pod, I can say that the trucks regularly make rounds as individuals to areas outside downtown and Midtown. Each truck typically has a Facebook or Twitter account where its location is updated. I'd suggest going to SactoMoFo's website or the Foodmob website to check for different truck locations and to see one that might come to your area.
Which "outer areas" had issues? If it was outside of the city, I doubt this is true, unless you are talking about Roseville or something like that
I recently visited Portland for two days to write a story about Cartlandia - Oregon's first food pod licensed to serve alcohol, then again for a full week to visit Mississippi Marketplace and Cartlandia. You can find the stories on my blog and on Food Network's, Eat St blog.
We launched Stitches 'n Dishes in Rancho Cordova, and I'm very familiar with many of the food trucks in Sacramento, as well as the marketing climate there. We're now located in Santa Barbara, but I try to stay in touch with the folks in Sacramento whenever I can.
I don't think that creating a pod outside of some buildings is really something unique, though in the area they're proposing, it's going to be a nice feature. The article doesn't really explain what they'll use the buildings for, since there are existing businesses in the space.
The SOMA pod in San Francisco features a pavilion equipped with a sound system and heating, so I'm not sure the idea of a fixed building is new, either. One thing SOMA has is a perfect location with ample parking for hundreds of cars across the street in a large parking structure for COSTCO. It's on the corner of a main artery in the city, close to major shopping, parks, businesses, night life, and residents. This location was poised for breaking success on its opening day, and it's lived up to it.
The SOMA pod is designed for food trucks to rotate on a schedule, the same way that Truck Farm is being established. Rather than look at these pods as fixed locations for a group of trucks, consider them more like food truck round ups that are held in constant locations with rotating trucks.
In contrast, both Mississippi Marketplace and Cartlandia in Portland were established with a goal to improve conditions in their neighborhoods. Both areas were once riddled with drugs, prostitution and other crimes. Portland's street food scene consists largely of trailers. Some are extravagant, with wood exteriors, while others are just metal boxes. They park for long periods of time - months - in food pods and rarely move to different locations.
Both Mississippi Marketplace and Cartlandia feature fixed buildings on their lots. Mississippi Marketplace features a pub that opens into the food pod. Cartlandia features an outdoor beer garden and a fixed building with additional seating and a movie room. The purpose is to support the food carts even during the colder months when many close or go to condensed schedules.
Consequently, both MM and Cartlandia are situated in heavily traveled areas, near thriving businesses, night life and residents, much like the SOMA pod in San Francisco. In fact, the owner of the pod in San Francisco, visited Portland for a week to come up with ideas to develop his own pod.
I don't think that Truck Farm compares to any of the three pods. There isn't a lot of traffic, there is no parking, and there doesn't appear to be a lot of business in the area. The pod will rely on itself to attract customers, rather than enhance an existing business market. Sure, you can drive to the mall, but there isn't anything driving customers toward this location, which means it's going to be an uphill battle attracting customers. People will show up for something new, when it's exciting and feels like an event, but the question is, will a food pod be enough to infuse some life into this particular neighborhood? Only time will tell!