Rules of the road

America’s food-truck revolution stalls in some cities

IT WAS in 2008 that an out-of-work chef named Roy Choi began selling $2 Korean barbecuetacosfromaroamingkitchenonwheels, tweeting to customers as he drove the streets of Los Angeles. Mr Choi’s gourmet food truck hassinceinspiredareality-tvprogrammeand a hit Hollywood film, and helped jumpstart a $1.2bn industry.

Within the food industry, the food-truck business, built on unique dishes, low prices and clever use of social media, is the fastestgrowing segment. Restaurants fret about an army of trucks stealing customers but such concerns are unwarranted. According to the Bureau of Labour Statistics, counties that have experienced higher growth in mobile-food services have also had quicker growth in their restaurant and catering businesses.

Although many cities have treated food trucks as a fad, a nuisance, or a threat to existing businesses, others have actively promoted them. Portland, Oregon, known for its vibrant culinary scene, has had small food carts on its streetsfordecades.afterastudyin2008byresearchers at Portland State University concluded that the carts benefited residents, the city began encouraging the use of vacant land for food-truck clusters or “pods”. Today, Food Carts Portland, a website, reckons the city has over 500 carts and trucks.

Yetgovernmentfiguressuggesttherevolution has stalled in several of the country’s biggest cities . The sector is subject to a patchwork of state and local regulations. In few places are these stricter than in Chicago. Influenced by a powerful restaurant industry, the city prohibits food trucks from setting up shop within 200 feet of a bricks-and-mortar eatery or from parking in any one location for more than two hours. Vendors are required to carry GPS devices that record their whereabouts every five minutes, on pain of heavy fines. Such restrictions have stifled the industry’sgrowth.despitebeinghometomorethan 7,000 restaurants and 144 craft breweries, Chicago has just 70 licensed food trucks.

Thewindycitymaybetheleastfood-truckfriendly place in America but New York and Boston are little better. In Boston vendors must compete for space on public roads at specified places and times through an annual lottery. In Newyorkavendormustobtainatwo-yeargovernmentpermit,whichrequiressittingthrough a15-yearwaitinglistorshellingoutasmuchas $25,000torentoneontheblackmarket.adam Sobel, owner of Cinnamon Snail, a popular veganfoodtruck,shutdownhisoperationsin2015 because of rising costs. “You kind of have to be crazytohaveafoodtruckinnewyork,”hesays.

Fortunately, truck operators can drive to more welcoming cities, such as Minneapolis and Philadelphia. Once there, and no matter how cosy they get with policymakers, truck owners still want to cultivate their underdog image. “It used to be the restaurants and their chefsthathadallthepower,”sayshanhwang, the chef and owner of Portland’s Kim Jong Grillin’. “Now it’s the people. That’s the revolution that’s happening right now.”

Reuters With stiff competition from food trucks, Chicago and New York try to protect bricks-and-mortar restaurants.