Katharine & Company’s trailer serves up breakfast burritos at the farmer’s market in Beaumont, Texas. Photo (CC) by Sheila Scarborough.
Today, food isn’t limited to restaurants. Food trucks, pop up cafes, and other mobile food options are taking hold. But what works for big cities doesn’t necessarily work for small towns. What are the rural options for mobile food?
In northwest Oklahoma, we commonly see barbecue trailers and trucks. At events like festivals and fairs, food trailers are the usual. And there’s a long history of roadside farm stands and truck sales. With our recent oil boom, we’re seeing food trucks used to feed workers on job sites way outside the city limits.
The urban food truck trend is more about better-quality food, more specialties and creative cuisine in this stripped-down format. Most focus on a single specialty. There are trucks for grilled cheese, noodles, fusion cuisine, even cupcakes. You’ll see them brightly painted and decorated to draw you in. Most use social networks to share their daily locations. Atlanta has a section of their farmers market dedicated to food trucks. Now, food scooters may be the next new trend. Thanks to Master Card Business @MasterCardBiz for sharing that link.
Small Town Examples
Pauls Valley, Oklahoma, has Norma’s Pupuseria y Taqueria. She serves El Salvadorian and Mexican street food from a food truck, my friends at Wynnewood State Bank tell me. Then there’s the ‘wiches Cauldron just outside of Ottawa in Sittsville, Canada. Rural Hill Cultural Center in North Carolina is hosting a Food Truck Rally on July 26.
So the trend is definitely making in-roads.
Is your small town short on usable buildings that will meet code for a restaurant? Fitting out a food truck may be a less expensive option, and will let you reach out to other nearby towns for a bigger market.
But there are more ways to innovate. Here are a couple of ideas.
Jennifer Campbell aka @plowwife tweeted from her tractor:
“Why can’t farms have beer carts that go from field to field-tractor to tractor like golf courses do for golfers? #icoulduseacoldone”Amy Urbach @amyurbach tweeted while on a road trip:
“Do you think we could find a pizza delivery that would deliver on the highway???”
(No, I don’t advocate drinking and plowing.)
What could you do with more mobile food in a small town?
- How cooperatives improve small town economies - May 8, 2022
- Metaverse business idea: virtual world tour guide - April 15, 2022
- Make extra money from extra workspace: co-working and 3rd workplaces in small towns - March 28, 2022
- Trade show booth design trend: hand drawn visuals - March 21, 2022
- New business sign design? Don’t use cursive script - February 14, 2022
- Way more people prefer rural than urban, new Pew Research study finds - February 1, 2022
- Top 5 Rural and small town trends 2022 - January 3, 2022
- How to start a real small small business - December 17, 2021
- Tip for better pop-ups and shed businesses - December 5, 2021
- Small town business idea: cat grooming - November 15, 2021
[…] By Becky McCray | Small Biz Survival […]