The Downtown Fresno Partnership and Creative Fresno have proposed two concepts for downtown restaurants to get in on the CartHop food truck event buzz, but crucial details still need to be hammered out before implementation.

The two proposals were presented last Monday at the Downtown Fresno Partnership’s monthly meeting with downtown restaurants. The ideas came in response to concerns recently raised by the restaurant owners about the weekly CartHop event along Fulton Mall cutting into their Thursday sales.

“The restaurant owners attending the meeting didn’t have a distaste for CartHop, they were just concerned how it affected their businesses,” said Jake Soberal, board member for Creative Fresno, which organizes CartHop.

The first of the two proposed solutions is to have the partnership set up a booth on the Fulton Mall during CartHop with marketing material and menus for the downtown restaurants.

The second proposal was to set up another booth with food service equipment that the downtown restaurants would take turns using every Thursday during CartHop.

Both the solutions will take some time to implement, but according to Kate Borders, president of the Downtown Fresno Partnership, the marketing booth is much closer on the horizon.

“Maybe not this Thursday, but we will definitely set up a mobile marketing booth and more than likely we will do the mobile food booth, but we’re still collecting more information,” Borders said.

The largest of the many details needing to be determined regarding the mobile food booth is deciding who will foot the bill for the equipment.

Mike Smith, the owner of Kocky’s Bar & Grill, said his understanding was the Downtown Fresno Partnership would purchase the equipment. However, he wasn’t sure how the organization would go about acquiring the funds.

“Will I have to pitch in or they’re just going to do it? As long as I have the opportunity to sell food and advertise my food, it is fine with me,” Smith said.

Borders views the concept still in its infancy and is unsure how the booth will be paid for and operated.

“We don’t know the cost of the equipment or what it would take to get started, and we don’t know how many restaurants are interested,” Borders said. “We still have to have a lot research.”

Practical matters such as where the equipment will be stored during the rest of the week still have yet to be resolved.

Another key component still yet to be determined is whether downtown businesses would have to pay a fee to have a place in the booth.

The owners of the mobile trucks themselves were not invited to participate in the meeting on Monday.

James P. Caples, owner of the food truck Benaddiction, LLC, said although he does not like the idea of meetings being held regarding his industry without a mobile food vendor in attendance, he 100-percent supported both of the concepts.

“I actually don’t like those referred to as changes,” Caples said. “At any point, if any of these owners wanted to come out and set up a table or a booth, each of the mobile vendors would have said, ‘Thank you, you’re welcome to join us.’”

For Caples, the bigger issue is the absence of any local representation of the mobile food vendor industry.

He appreciates the efforts of Creative Fresno to organize events such as CartHop, but he feels there needs to be a trade group consisting of actual mobile food vendor owners.

“That lack of representation is not anyone’s fault but our own because we have not been quick enough in creating our own organization,” Caples said.

The downtown business owners are not the first to raise concerns regarding mobile food trucks.

In 2011, the Fresno City Council proposed an ordinance that would limit the vendors to be parked at one location for one hour on city streets. After that time period, they would have been required to move at least 500 feet and not return to that location for a minimum of 12 hours.

However in October of that year, the council elected to postpone making a decision on the ordinance and nothing has been voted on to date.

http://thebusinessjournal.com/news/small-business/5776-carthop-solutions-floated

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) – Food trucks are becoming an even bigger part of the food scene in Fresno. But you may wonder if they are safe places to eat. The county health department does require them to be inspected, just like restaurants.

The last two weeks in March is a time mobile food vendors need to be ready for. That’s when they have to bring their trucks or even bikes and pushcarts in to be looked over by the health department.

Dave Pomaville of the Fresno County Department of Public Health says it’s a big job.

Pomaville explained, “We have about 450 different mobile food vending vehicles of all different shapes and sizes each of them will come through here over the next few days and be inspected by one of the department staff.”

Among things inspectors check are cleanliness, they make sure the water is hot and the refrigerators are cold.

Tony Mullings owns Tako Bak the Valley’s only Korean Barbeque truck. He doesn’t mind the inspection process.

Mullings said, “It’s necessary, we have to be clean and be inspected, let the people know that our truck is clean so they will be comfortable eating off of it.”

Mobile food operators can prepare for this inspection, but Pomaville says surprise inspections are also held.

Pomaville added, “While they are out in the community working we will stop by and do unannounced inspections of these facilities while they are operational to make sure they have the proper food handling practices in place.”

You can check out the inspection records of mobile vendors, or any restaurant by going to the Fresno County Health Department website. Click here http://bit.ly/YFmSEZ.

http://abclocal.go.com/kfsn/story?section=news/local&id=9043590

Fresno’s newest food truck, Benaddiction, is rolling.

The black truck with the fried egg and bacon in the shape of a guitar logo serves breakfast food with a rock ‘n’ roll twist. Instead of French toast with a knife and a fork, there’s the portable, bite-size French toast that’s dipped in batter, then pulverized in Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal before cooking.

It specializes in egg benedict-style sandwiches, such as “the Clapton” with its fried egg, bacon and hollandaise sauce served on a fresh-made English muffin.

Benaddiction serves lunch items, too, including the “fat-bottomed grilled cheese.” And Chef Jason Valencia is passionate about his soups, such as the smoked salmon chowder he served last week.

Benaddiction is the brainchild of James Caples, who is not a musician but gave all the menu items musical names because he really loves music.

http://www.fresnobee.com/2012/11/17/3070497/eating-out-new-fresno-breakfast.html

Denise Morris, center, orders lunch as CartHop visits north Fresno.

 CartHop is bringing its food trucks to two new time slots: Saturday nights at the downtown ice rink and lunchtime on Tuesdays in north Fresno.

The weekly collection of food trucks and music that debuted this summer on Fulton Mall on Thursdays is attracting so many people that its organizer, Creative Fresno, is expanding the event. “We got a lot of requests over the last couple months: ‘When are you going to do dinnertime?’ ” says project coordinator H Steele.

Starting Saturday, at least four trucks, possibly more, will serve from 5 to 9 p.m. at the ice rink on the Fulton Mall near Mariposa Mall. The ice rink is open through Jan. 13.

Dusty Buns will serve its organic sandwiches, Summertime pies will sell its single-serving pies and empanadas, and Tako BBQ will serve Korean barbecue. A pupusa — a Salvadoran dish — seller, breakfast food truck Benaddiction and a dessert vendor are in the works too, Steele says.

Mattie’s Mobile Wood Fired Pizza is testing a brick-and-mortar location near the ice rink and will sell its personal-sized pizzas.

Three local bands will perform: Doc’s Holiday, the EJ Hinohosa Trio and Jimmy O and the Same Old Sorrow.

The first north Fresno CartHop happened this week. Most of the same food trucks are selling from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday in the Applebee’s parking lot at Friant Road and Fresno Street. Customers had also requested the north Fresno location, Steele says.

The CartHop events are expected to add more food trucks that stick to local standards, he says.

Participating vendors must get all of their ingredients from California or 50% of their ingredients within 100 miles of Fresno. They also must pledge not to use genetically modified food and to use recyclable or compostable supplies such as plates.

]]> http://www.mobilefoodnews.com/2012/11/fresno-ca-fresnos-popular-carthop-food-truck-event-grows/feed/ 0 http://www.mobilefoodnews.com/2012/09/fresno-ca-valley-street-vendor-suppliers-see-big-increase-in-sales/ http://www.mobilefoodnews.com/2012/09/fresno-ca-valley-street-vendor-suppliers-see-big-increase-in-sales/#comments Sun, 09 Sep 2012 14:27:16 +0000 MobileFoodNews.com http://www.mobilefoodnews.com/?p=28835

By Bethany Clough | The Fresno Bee

Darrell Jones of Custom Concessions works inside of a trailer at the Fresno business Tuesday, September 4, 2012. Custom Concessions, which manufactures food trailers and portable barbecue pits has seen an uptick in business with the popularity of food trucks around the nation. CRAIG KOHLRUSS/THE FRESNO BEE

Fresno’s flourishing food truck scene is benefiting more than just the people selling lunches and the customers eating them.

One Fresno-based company that makes concession trailers has doubled the number of workers in its shop and had sales jump 30% in the past year as entrepreneurs jump into the trendy food business.

The growth of Quality Custom Concession & BBQ Trailers is an example of the ripple effect that happens when a new industry that is relatively easy to get into becomes popular.

The 11-year-old company started making barbecue grills, then evolved into building trailers that sell everything from shaved ice to gourmet meals. Though they aren’t true food trucks — the mobile kitchens are towed by pickup trucks — that part of their business has picked up significantly in the past four years, said David Martin, who does sales and marketing for the company.

“It got more popular and more popular,” he said. “The more we built, the more we saw a market for it.”

Arnold Barajas of Custom Concessions works on an exhaust fan near the alcove that used to be the stage for the old Marigold Ballroom in Fresno Tuesday, September 4, 2012. Custom Concessions manufactures custom food trailers and portable barbecue pits. CRAIG KOHLRUSS/THE FRESNO BEE

Fresnans might recognize the Summertime Pies and K’s Pasta trailers — both sell their food at the Manchester Center farmers market at lunchtime on Fridays. Quality Custom Concession built both.

They’re part of the burgeoning mobile food scene, a $1.5 billion industry that has grown at an average rate of 8.4% per year over the past four years, according to research firm IBISWorld.

The trend has grown locally as customers seek out fresh and unique foods, and scorn processed foods, said Tim Stearns director of the Lyles Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Fresno State.

“Certainly the uptick in the demand for street vendors is helping a lot of their upstream suppliers,” said Nima Samadi, an IBISWorld senior analyst. “It’s been a boost for a lot of these manufacturing firms that create the carts and equipment that’s used within these trucks and also the industries that supply them with food.”

A custom food trailer is shown in the Custom Concessions warehouse in Fresno Tuesday, September 4, 2012. The company manufactures food trailers and portable barbecue pits and has seen a recent uptick in business because of the rising popularity of food trucks around the nation. CRAIG KOHLRUSS/THE FRESNO BEE

Other local businesses have benefited from the trend, too.

For Fresno-based Carlin Manufacturing, sales of the mobile kitchens — both trucks and trailers — it makes for big-name brands like Taco Bell have grown 15% to 20% over the past two years, said Ralph Goldbeck, one of three partners in the business.

The company closed its Fresno plant in 2003 and moved manufacturing to the Midwest, but it maintains a 10-person design and sales office here. The growth inspired Carlin recently to add two people who design the trucks and trailers to its Fresno office.

And Quality Custom Concession has passed business along to J&E Restaurant Supply, ordering its trailer-size refrigerators, griddles and other equipment from the downtown Fresno business.

The mobile food business is relatively easy to get into, accounting for some of its recent growth, Stearns said.

“It doesn’t cost a lot of capital to … get a barbecue pit trailer,” Stearns said.

Entrepreneurs avoid many of the expenses and pitfalls facing brick-and-mortar restaurants, he said.

As people struggle to find work, many are increasingly turning to the mobile food business as a source of income, he said.

“The appeal is the cost to get into the industry,” said Robert Thomason, a member of the Mobile Food Vendors Association’s board of directors.

Costs range from $895 for a small barbecue trailer to $100,000 for a top-of-the-line food truck.

“A lot of our customers, this is their new dream,” said Mark Cifranic, Quality Custom Concession’s office manager and a sales person.

Many are laid-off workers or people coming out of retirement.

Quality Custom Concession is creating prototypes in the $20,000 to $30,000 range. Not cheap, but within the budget of entrepreneurs who tap their retirement or other savings, Cifranic said.

John and Sherry Liles of Summertime Pies bought a 20-foot trailer in Southern California that originally was built by Quality Custom Concession. They hired the Fresno company to remodel it.

“They completely gutted it,” putting in new sinks, a refrigerator, freezer, two deep fryers, oven and stove and grill, said John Liles.

The couple came out of retirement to run Summertime Pies, saying they needed an additional source of income. Now they visit several locations per week, selling baked and fried pies and empanadas from a window in the trailer.

Quality Custom Concession is increasingly remodeling trucks and trailers, some of which are bought out of state and need work to meet California and county health requirements, Cifranic said.

About half of its business comes from local customers and the rest from outside the area.

Quality Custom Concession’s roots are planted firmly in the Valley, however. The company — located on Hedges Avenue, near Blackstone and Olive avenues — got its start when owner Durbin Breckenridge, who runs a meat-processing plant across the street, got involved in a barbecue-building and catering business.

Its first concession trailer was built for Del Rey farmer and author David Mas Masumoto, who wanted a mobile kitchen to serve food from while entertaining on his farm.

“All of a sudden, we had people calling us,” Breckenridge said. “We picked up from there and the rest is history.”

Read more here: http://www.fresnobee.com/2012/09/08/2984277_p2/valley-street-vendor-suppliers.html#storylink=cpy