The food truck industry has grown significantly in recent years, generating about $650 million of revenue annually. This expansion may be attributed to consumers’ desire for quality, speed, and value ( Data, 2012 ). Most residents also appreciate fresh, local food. This paper provides a brief macro-level market and industry analyses for the Food Truck industry.
Impact of Political Factors
The political issue facing many food truck companies is the restriction on public space, especially in major cities. It has been found that some of these cities have regulations that make it hard to quickly to identify permitted regions from the unpermitted ones (Williams, 2012). In Atlanta, for example, vending on public property has been given an outright ban ( Pill, 2013 ).
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Impact of Economic Factors
The most important aspects of the economy for this industry would be the customer expenditure patterns and economic development. By analyzing how families divide their income between food, housing and items, and taking note of economic forecasting, food truck companies would be less likely to be surprised by abrupt economic changes ( Esparza et al., 2014 ).
Impact of Social Factors
The changing age structure of the country has been found to be the most important social factor affecting this industry. The industry has gained more popularity in the recent years because they population is increasingly younger. Young people, particularly the college going ones, are more attracted to food trucks than their older counterparts because they are cheap and convenient ( Hawk, 2013 ). By using low-cost strategies and aiming their advertising campaigns to this fraction of the population, food truck companies have increased their revenues considerably over the past few year.
Impact of Technological Forces
The rapid development and application of new technologies have compelled many companies in the food truck industry always to be informed. Otherwise, these companies are likely to lose to competition. The Internet, for instance, has changed how the industry operates ( Esparza et al., 2014 ). It has been found that some companies use innovative system to make their customers feel more honored. Some mobile food vendors also use special systems to capture the names and contacts of their customers, so that in the future when these customers call again, the customer service attendant can address them by name ( Anenberg and Kung, 2014) .
Impact of Environmental Factors
The availability of raw materials is one of the most significant environmental factors for this industry. Some of the resources needed in the business operations in this industry are currently very limited, and companies need to find alternatives or reduce usage. This situation has seen many mobile food vendors turn to recycled paper, for instance, which lowers the amount of forestland that is cut down ( Pirog et al., 2010 ). The food truck industry also needs to manage pollution as environmentally aware companies are more likely to be popular than those that do not demonstrate a desire to preserve the environment.
Impact of Legal Factors
Despite the progress made by the food truck industry, most cities are not adequately legally equipped to take advantage of the potential benefits of this industry. This is because most of the laws in these cities were written several decades ago when mobile food vending was quite different from its current state (Williams, 2012). Regulations regarding mobile food vending tend to be strict and based on the argument that this kind of business congests the streets and is unsanitary. Regardless, the current food truck industry offers high-quality, healthy and affordable food.
Conclusion
The PESTEL analysis on the food truck industry implies that the industry is mainly influenced by the political and legal factors in major cities. Even though the industry has grown over the recent years and mobile food vending has become more acceptable, food trucks still find it difficult to operate in these cities. Regardless, the industry benefits a lot from advanced technology.
References
Anenberg, E., & Kung, E. (2014). How Smartphones and Social Media Dialed Up the Food Truck Boom and Increased Access to Food Variety
Esparza, N., Walker, E. T., & Rossman, G. (2014). Trade associations and the legitimation of entrepreneurial movements: Collective action in the emerging gourmet food truck industry. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly , 43 (2_suppl), 143S-162S.
Hawk, Z. (2013). Gourmet Food Trucks: An Ethnographic Examination of Orlando's Food Truck Scene.
Pill, A. J. (2013). Changing Food Landscapes: Understanding the Food Truck Movement in Atlanta, Georgia (Doctoral dissertation, Emory University).
Pirog, R. S., Van Pelt, T., Enshayan, K., & Cook, E. (2010). Food, Fuel, and Freeways: An Iowa perspective on how far food travels, fuel usage, and greenhouse gas emissions.
Williams, C. T. (2012). A hungry industry on rolling regulations: A look at food truck regulations in cities across the United States. Me. L. Rev. , 65 , 705.
