Favorite fair food is not fried?

Food Truck Foodies
FLORIDA H & R DIVISION NEWS
Plan r ev i ew i s n ot an
o p t i o n i n li c ensin g
DBPR to begin enforcement 6/1
Tim Henkles and James Long enjoy their first Fudge Puppie Photo by Roxann Rodney
Favorite fair food is not fried?
A baked waffle on a stick is the best seller at the this year’s fair
French fries. Fried twinkies. Southern fried pickles. Fried butter.
The most popular foods at the fair
have one thing in common: they all
come out of a deep fryer.
That’s about to change.
Fudge Puppies just hit the local fair
scene and Shun and Rosie Lee, the
vendors making them, are raking in the
dough. And these delicious, decadent
desserts are baked, not fried.
What is a Fudge Puppie, you ask?
“A Fudge Puppie is a belgian waffle
baked on stick, dipped in hot fudge,
dusted with sprinkels or nuts, served
hot with whipped cream,” Rosie explains. “It’s even hard to describe them
without salivating.”
Tim Henkles and James Long, regular fair-goers, tried one for the first time
this year.
“Wow! I could eat a bunch of these,”
exclaimed James.
Vendors with decades of experience
would never have guessed any treat not
fried would generate such buzz. One
look at the line of festive fairgoers waiting for a Fudge Pupplie leaves even the
most experienced food truck vendor
shaking his head.
“If you had told me last year that a
baked food was going to top the list of
fair foods this year, I would have said
two things,” said Ozark Garcia, a 10year veteran vendor at the fair.
Page 2
‘Who are you kidding?’ and ‘Where
do I buy one of those machines?’”
The Fudge Puppie machine has actually been available since the 1940’s.
The idea of a waffle baked on a stick
never really took off at the fairs of that
time, but Gold Medal Products continued to make the machine.
Granny’s Kitchen has been selling Fudge Puppies since 1991 at the
Minnesota State Fair. Reporting sales
of more than $19 million, owner Pat
Braun knows the
The investment
secret behind
to include Fudge
the success of
Puppies on your
her product. “I
menu is less than
use top quality
$5,000.
products and I
practice, practice, practice.”
Braun has introduced new flavor
combinations every year since 2000.
White chocolate with raspberry sauce,
created in 2010, is her latest and greatest creation.
Granny’s Kitchen has been voted
the favorite Minnesota State Fair Food
by a Discovery Channel team and featured in Midwest Living magazine.
Gold Medal Products is one of our
trusted partners that sells the Fudge
Puppie baking machine. They also have
other supplies necessary to add Fudge
Puppies to your menu. For minimal
initial investment, Fudge Puppies will
draw the crowd to your truck, too.
Florida Division of Hotels and Restaurants (H & R) announced in its 2014
first quarter update that more than 15
percent of new food truck owners have
neglected to submit pre-licensing floor
plans since the requirement went into
effect January 1, 2014. Statewide enforcement begins June 1, 2014.
Once considered a requirement for
new builds only, the requirement now
applies to any new, used, or remodeled
food truck or trailer.
Diann Worzalla, H & R Director,
wrote in a memo to regional inspectors
across the state, “Effective June 1,
2014, no licenses will be issued to
new food trucks unless a floor plan is
approved and on file in the Tallahassee
Plan Review Office. This rule applies to
annual and temporary licenses.”
Failure to adhere to the plan review
requirements, and getting caught not
having it on file in Tallahassee, will
mean the difference between selling at
an event or packing it all up and taking
it home.
Regional inspectors will not issue
onsite vendor licenses unless the
plan review approval is loaded on the
electronic file when they inspect a
vehicle. Further, vehicles will be tagged
to make it easier to identify a noncompliant vehicle.
The fine for removing the tag is
$500 but that’s not the worst of it.
Vendors who skirt the enforcement tag
also face licensing disqualificaiton for
six months. There are no provisions
with the new statutes or in Worzalla’s
directive for grandfathering in any
vehicles.
Visit myfloridalicense.com for more
information.
The Leading Manufacturer of All Your Concession Needs.
813-621-2676
June 2014
EDITOR’S NOTES
Florida is the land of
Oz for food truckers
Learning how to select events is
key to success
Rosie Lee, Editor
T
here is no denying Florida is the
land of opportunity for food trucks.
Not only does the state host 50 county
fairs and one tremendous state fair
every year, the season runs virtually
24/7, twelve months a year.
Then there are the thousands of
organizations that set up shop in
Florida, hosting conventions, rallies,
festivals, and fund-raisers.
Yep, Florida is a food truck owner’s
Land of Oz , no witch’s broom needed to
come inside.
But how do you decide which event
is going to be the most profitable?
Which one is going to turn into an
annual event? Which one will generate
referral business?
The first rule of thumb is there is
no rule of thumb. What’s hot this year
may be dead or dying next year. Here
are five tips to help figure out which
events are the best for you.
CALL the county office responsible
for permitting the event and ask to see
the permit paperwork. The number of
port-a-potties stipulated on the permit
will tell you how many people are
expected.
CHECK THE LOCATION carefully.
Is it likely drive-by traffic will be heavy
or is the event held in a cow pasture?
If you cannot visit the site personally,
check out Google Earth, a great
resource for looking at the property.
NEVER trust the promoter for
event statistics. ALWAYS call vendors
who’ve been there or worked with
that promoter. Ask which vendors will
be there and then speak with them
personally and ask lots of questions.
DO THE MATH. Nothing makes as
much sense as 2+2=4. Compare your
last five events with this one to figure
out how much you must sell of your
best items to break even.
WHAT is the weather going to be
like? Is there a rain date? Sometimes
the weather forecast is the best
predictor of the success of an event.
Photos by Shun Lee
Building your rig: Windows
Multiple serving windows enhance the function of your truck
Every month, FTF spotlights a
feature that is important to consider
when building or purchasing your first
vehicle. For most new owners, knowing
what is needed is as much as mystery
as to why it is needed.
This month, because the weather is
turning and we’re more apt to be taking
out the windows when we can, we are
going to focus on serving windows.
Serving windows on any side panel
offer the advantage of segregated
and concealed cooking space. It also
provides, usually, the maximum
amount of serving space in a truck.
Removeable sidelights maintain
visibility while protecting food stock
from environmental contaniments.
If you’re building or remodeling,
removeables are important to include.
Having two sets of windows, side
and rear, doubles your serving capacity
for those lucky days when the crowds
are big and hungry. Without crowding
out food prep areas, multiple serving
locations will keep the crowds moving,
and buying.
This configuration is also ideal
when your space is not. Having the
versatility to serve from either side
or the rear of the rig can mean the
difference between effectively serving
the customers or losing half your sales
because of your space.
A wild time at the Florida State Fair closes the night
The Florida State Fair, held in February,
was the scene of a frightening new
trend that had nothing to do with
amusement park rides: wilding.
This is a term used to describe a
group of people who terrorize using
threats, assault, robbery, and general
mayhem, and has been occuring at
events around the country at an
alarming rate.
This year’s fair was the setting for
200-300 teens stampeding the fairgoing crowd in a wilding craze that
ousted 99 from the fair and caiused the
fair to close two hours early.
Several injuries were reported in the
fray and 12 teens were arrested. One
teen trying to escape the frenzy was
killed when he ran into the path of a
vehicle on the areas famed Interstate 4
freeway.
Tampa’s Fox 13 reported “the
situation was so out of control, and
deputies were so overwhelmed and
outmatched, that the commander on
the scene asked fair officials to shut the
whole thing down.”
That was bad news for food vendors,
not that anyone complained. Willie, a
veteran vendorat the fair, reported “I
didn’t see anything like that at all and
I’ve been doing this over 22 years.”
Other vendors began shuttering
their trucks and locking themselves
inside, fearful that looting would begin
shortly.
A spokesman for the Tallahassee
Food Truck Association said it is too
soon to know what impact this incident
will have on food truck owners booking
other events in Florida. For now,
vendors are rallying together, forming
emergency plans should this occur at
other events in Florida.
Page 3
Food Truck Foodies
Menu-mania
The selection of menus offers something for every food truck
Chalkboards and whiteboards serve
well for menus because you can change
it on a whim. Colors and expressive
writing
draw attention to your
menu, too.
You must
have legible
writing, though, to make a chalkboard
work for you. Customers will not hesitate to move on to the next truck if they
cannot read what you’re offering.
Vinyl banners are reasonably priced,
include lots of color, and allow you to
change prices using regular duct tape
in colors to match the vinyl. A textbased
menu is
the easiest
to read
and vinyl
banners
allow you
to create
custom
menus as needed.
Banners are also easy to hang and
make your menu easily visible to
customers, even when you must change
your setup configuration.
Preprinted menu boards are great for
durabiity and legibility. Their shortfall
is the inability to make changes, either
to items
or prices,
without
ruining
the look
of the
board.
A good
choice, then, might be a slot board,
where you can insert menu items to
the board as needed. Additional slots
are cost effective and allow a more
permanent-looking menu without the
cost.
Menu magnets are also a costeffective way to have printed menu
items for
legibility and
still have
flexibility.
Individual
items are
printed on
magnets and
placed near
the serving side. Menu magnets can
be added and removed individually for
the most flexible,, and cost effective,
attractive menu system.
2009 FDA code
is law of the land
It’s not too late to obtain a copy of the
2009 FDA Food code, the requirements
for food handling the Florida H & R
division adopted effective January 1st.
Myfloridalicense.com has a link
on their website with a complete,
downloadable edition of the 2009
guidelines. Vendors are not required
to maintain a copy of the regulations
in their rigs but are advised to keep a
copy in their licensing folder. Nothing
impresses an inspector more than
having a complete set of regulations on
hand.
Take note, too, the 2013 FDA Food
Code is under Florida H & R review. We
may not see the new regulations adopted
anytime soon but it won’t hurt to know
what might be coming down the pike.
Jacksonville food trucks war y of newly
proposed regulations
By Joe Daraskevich & Steve Patterson
Reprinted with permission from The Florida Times-Union
There are 89 licensed food trucks in Jacksonville that might be forced to change the way
they do business depending on what happens
with a bill to be proposed by City Councilman
Reggie Brown.
The advocacy group Downtown Vision
circulated a draft version of a bill it ascribed to
Brown on Tuesday that would bar food truck
operation between midnight and 6 a.m. and
limit the trucks to operating in areas with commercial or industrial zonings.
Brown said he is at least a month away from
having a final version of the bill.
Page 4
Nothing has been finalized yet, but Mike
Field, co-founder of Jax Truckies, thinks the
proposed increases in food truck regulations
are a little extreme.
Reacting to the developments, food truck
supporters came out in force Tuesday night at
Aardwolf Brewery in San Marco as part of a
public forum hosted by the U.S. Green Building
Council of North Florida.
The group puts on the event regularly to
grow support for local businesses, and Field
was the final speaker Tuesday.
He said he doesn’t have a problem with
writing food trucks into the law because some
of the zoning laws in the city are outdated.
But he thinks some of the things in Brown’s
proposed bill are overreactions to a few unsanctioned food trucks and that there should be a
way to allow licensed vendors to make money
in Jacksonville.
“It doesn’t say they can’t exist but the
way they have the law set up, it’s pretty much
impossible for them to make money or to go
anywhere that’s profitable whatsoever,” he said
after speaking to the crowd.
Among the proposals in the draft bill, food
JACKSONVILLE to Page 7
June 2014
Innovative food truck partner:
Tampa Bay Food Truck Rally
Tasting Tampa began as a food
blog for an out-of-work engineer, Todd
Sturtz. In 2011, he and then-partner
Michael Blasco held the first food truck
rally in the Tampa area. Shortly after,
the guys parted ways to focus on their
individual passions; Todd continuing as
a food blogger, Michael formed Tampa
Bay Food Truck Rally.
The company, which sounds much
more like an event, is an eventful
development for food truck owners all
over Florida. Tampa Bay Food Truck
Rally (TBFTR)oranizes food truck
rallies all over the state. From the notso-humble beginnings when nine food
trucks served 4,000 people, TBFTR
has grown to more than 100 food truck
operators working together to create
the best food truck network in the
country.
For all its associate food truck
owners, TBFTR schedules rally events
across the state as well as acts as a
booking agent for individual truck
owners. TBFTR oversees licensing
issues for truck owners, site planning
and placement, saftety manager
compliance, and even secures
competitive insurance policies for rigs
as well as events.
For new truck owners or those
investigating the industry, TBFTR
offers professional consulting for
owners and seminars for interested
newbies.
The company also promotes its own
food truck catering services to business
in Tampa Bay and surrounding areas.
The latests addition to the company
is a mobile DJ truck service where they
provide a DJ for your next outdoor
event or can host a customer’s DJ of
choice.
TBFTR is worth looking into when
looking for a good network of food
trucks in Florida. Though they are
based in Tampa, their reach is far and
wide as are their aspirations to serve
the food truck industry.
Gourmet Truck Expo Tampa food truck
rally sets Guinness
Food truck networking is
working in South Florida
World Record
If you are looking for a food truck
network in the South Florida region,
predominately Fort Lauderdale,
Margate, Boca Raton, Delray Beach,
Miami, Hollywood, and Pembroke Pines
areas, Gourmet Truck Expo (GTE) has
an opportunity for you.
Not only does this company book
events for themselves, they also look
for coordinating vendors to attend.
GTE understands there is better
business when there is more business;
food trucks work together to attract
and feed the crowds. Not to mention
feeding their own success.
GTE books events hosted by towns
and counties, governmental agencies,
private corporations, and individuals.
Their website boasts a full calendar and
welcome other food truck vendors to
register their truck and apply for a site.
Saturday, April 5th was a redletter day for the food truck industry
in Tampa Bay. A new Guinness World
Record was set for holding the largest
food truck parade.
The Florida State Fairgrounds
hosted food trucks for the official
count. The new record set Saturday
is 121 food trucks versus the 62 truck
parade, a record set in Miami last year,
according to Jennifer O’Brien, a Florida
State Fair Authority spokeswoman.
More than 170 food trucks
participated in the event at the state
fairgrounds. Only those trucks with
food photographs depicted on the
exterior of the trucks were counted in
the parade record attempt.
More than 30,000 patrons attended
the event, hailed as a success for the
record as well as for all the vendors.
Save the date
Summer and fall are the slowest
seasons for Florida fairs; many of
the promoters head for the prime
summer season up north. That does
not mean there aren’t any events
happening, just a different mix and
flavor. If you are not taking the
summer off, then you might be interested in some of these events:
Florida’s Largest Labor Day
Home Show & Festival
August 29 - September 1
Show Dir.: Paige Kolm
Phone: 813-677-6925
St. Augustine Greek Festival &
Arts & Crafts Fair
October 10 - 12
Show Dir.: Greg Alatis
Phone: 904-461-9003
Mount Dora Fall Craft Fair
October 25 - 26
Show Dir.: Janet Gamache
Phone: 352-217-8390
Downtown Festival & Art Show
November 8 - 9
Show Dir.: Linda Piper
Phone: 352-393-8536
Hoggetowne Medieval Faire
January 24 - February 1, 2015
Show Dir.: Lindaa Piper
Phone: 352-393-8536
At Food Trucks South, our paramount
commitment is to manufacture the finest
quality “platform and wheels” for the
food service industry.
We specialize in design, engineering
and manufacturing of custom food
trucks tailored to your exact needs.
Optimize your corporate image and
expand the ability to take your unique
menu to food
pods office
parks, catering,
festivals, and
fairs.
(404) 913-4452
Page 5
Food Truck Foodies
June 2014
Looking for bloggers
New fees for food
trucks are given a
green light in Sunrise
Do you want to write for the Web?
Food Truck Foodies is interested in
working with several bloggers for an
innovative new communication tool.
Collaborative, imaginative, and real
tech-junkies are needed.
If this sounds like you, email our
editor, Shun Lee, at [email protected].
You must be willing to dedicate one
week in our corporate office to get this
project off the ground.
Reprinted with permission
by Alyssa Cutter, Sun Sentinel
menuism.com
More small towns are offering
food truck family nights
T
he food truck craze continues as, all
around Florida, small towns and cities are holding food truck family nights.
Between the Chambers of Commerce
and the recreation departments of
small cities, food truck rallies of all
shapes and sizes are bringing economic
releive to truck owners.
The Town of Windermere Downtown
Business Committee hosts a family food
truck night on the 4th Friday of each
month. Winderemere, with a population of 2,580, according to 2012 census
data, is part of the Orlando-Kissimmiee
Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Approximately 15 miles southwest
of Orlando, Windermere has been holding the event for more than two years.
Some nights they host small local
bands, others are dedicated to vigils for
law enforcement officers lost in the line
of duty.
Port St. Lucie, on the east coast of
the state and just 40 miles north of
Palm Beach, hosts a food truck invasion
on the 1st and 3rd Wednesdays of each
month.
Held at Tradition Field, home of the
St. Lucie Mets minor league baseball
team and the New York Mets spring
trainining facility, fans flock from as far
north as Vero Beach to as far south as
Jupiter.
Food truck vendors come from even
farther. Food trucks owners from Miami have found a receptive audience for
their truck fare, as well as several who
hail from Orlando. That’s a two-hour
Page 6
drive to set up for three hours so apparently these vendors know how good the
market can be there.
Photo by Roxann Rodney
And when food truck foodies thing
their favorites are not coming back,
well, let’s just say they panic a bit.
Food Truck Invasion, a truck as
well as a booking agent for other truck
owners, dispelled rumors about Monsta
Lobsta, a fan favorite in Port St Lucie.
“They don’t have the staff to come as
far as PSL at this time but they are not
closed,” the Facebook post read.
Others on the Facebook page ask impatiently when the next event’s lineup
of food trucks is going to be posted.
Clearly there is a thriving business opportunity at small local events
around the state. It is a fact known by
veteran truck owners that small local
events are usually better attended,
cheaper to buy into, and make more
money than some of the larger events.
Time to find time to research all the
little towns in Florida for the best dates
and locations.
Sunrise, FL — A new set of fees are on
the horizon for food vendors, like food
trucks and retail vendors wanting to be
a part of events in Sunrise.
City commissioners voted unanimously on first reading of a new law
that will charge vendors to be included
in Sunrise events or to have their own.
The city had most of the fees in place
already, but now they’ll be a part of the
city code.area locations each week.
Since the success of the city’s new
Tunes ‘N’ Trucks event series, Sunrise
decided to figure out a consistent rate
to charge vendors, like the newly allowed food trucks, that come to events
within the city.
City staff recommended $400 per
event or $40 per food vendor for events
less than three hours, and $100 per
food vendor for events more than three
hours. Those prices are on the high
end of what is charged elsewhere in the
county, according to City Manager Alan
Cohen.
“We are at the upper end [on what
we charge], and we believe that the
market can bear those costs easily,”
Cohen said. “We don’t feel that we are
going to be discouraging [businesses].
Commissioners just want to make
sure that the fees are equitable and consistent with the rest of the county and
wouldn’t drive businesses away.
“I just want to make sure it’s fair,”
Assistant Deputy Mayor Larry Sofield
said. “I don’t want to chase anyone off
who wants to come here and do something.”
Sunrise’s fees are higher than neighboring Plantation, which charges $35
per food truck or vendor per event, but
the city offers a 50-percent discount to
Sunrise businesses. On the lower end of
the spectrum, Broward County charges
roughly $25 per truck during a food
truck event.
The commission will vote on the
second reading of the new law at an
upcoming meeting.
June 2014
Jacksonville
Gainesville eatery
takes food truck to
the poor and hungry
from Page 4
trucks would be assigned specific locations to operate, truck operators would
be forbidden from doing business within
500 feet of a house or subdivision, and
trucks would have to keep that same
distance from areas zoned as neighborhood commercial.
Brown said he eats at food trucks
and doesn’t want to stifle that industry,
but thinks some basic requirements,
such as standards for sanitation, should
be developed.
“There are some who are doing it right,”
he said, adding that others could hurt
the food truck industry by operating
without keeping food properly or keeping preparation areas clean.
Brown has scheduled a meeting
at 3 p.m. Wednesday at City Hall, 117
W. Duval St., where he said he hopes
people involved with food trucks and
with brick-and-mortar restaurants
can begin to talk about rules that both
groups could live with. He said he’d like
to develop a committee reflecting both
camps before he proposes a bill.
By The Associated Press
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National scammers taking
food truck vendors for a ride
You don’t have to pay a firm to help you get a license
You’ve seen the flashy ads promising
to secure you a food truck license
good anywhere in the state, or even
the country. Others assure you that
a “consultant” will walk you through
every step of the process.
The most beligerant are the few who
try to scare you with horror stories
of others who spent their life savings
getting a truck that now sits in a
storage yard.
The truth is this: You do not need to
pay a firm or individual to complete the
paperwork and other steps necessary
to obtain a food truck vending license.
This is true anywhere in the United
States.
The confusion lies in the fact that
each state has a different department
that handles food truck vendors.
Some don’t have any department at
all. Instead of paying someone to
help you find the details for a license,
start with your state Department of
State, Division of Corporations, or
Department of Restaurants, or any
department similarly named. If your
state has none of those, call the county
board of health (nearly every county
has one of those) and ask who licenses
restaurants in that county.
Also, remember that even when you
have a license issued by some authority
in your state or county, oftentimes you
will be required to purchase a permit,
license, or other document to prepare
and sell food in different locations.
If the promoter doesn’t tell you the
specifics, call the county where your
next event is being held.
Gainesville, FL — There really is a free
lunch. That's what the sign on a Gainesville food truck says.
Thanks to the American Lunch
program sponsored by the Five Bar
restaurant, underprivileged people in
a Gainesville neighborhood are being
treated to free, hot lunches. Owner
Chris Eddings says the idea for a mobile food-based charity came from his
co-owner's son, Chatham Morgan.
The Gainesville Sun reports the
truck is run by restaurant staff. Extra
food is bought each week to prepare
about 300 meals, which are delivered
three times a week. The truck rotates
between three different Gainesville area
locations each week.
Food Truck Foodies is published by
Concession Connections, Inc., in
Ellenton, Florida
Shun Lee
President/Publisher
[email protected]
941-417-7938
Editor/VP
941-417-9625
Rosie Lee
[email protected]
Advertising
941-419-1564
Karen McInnis
[email protected]
Photographer
941-428-9635
Roxann Rodney
[email protected]
Circulation
941-431-1314
Sue Lingner
[email protected]
To subscribe to Food Truck Foodies, contact circulation at [email protected] or
call (941) 431-1314.
No part of this publication may be used
without permission of the publisher. © All
rights reserved.
Every effort is made to avoid errors, misspellings and omissions. If, however, you
notice an error, please accept our apology
and notify us. Thank you.
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