Zach Ware, Owner of The Crave Truck

Zach Ware was a high school kid trying to find a minimum wage job in a bad economy when he hit on a business idea that was one of the hottest trends in the food industry — gourmet food trucks.

Ware and his mother, Marisa Anstey, of Mahomet, got the idea while watching a Food Network show featuring a waffle truck. They started the Crave Truck, selling street waffles around Champaign-Urbana from their mobile kitchen.

“It is very trendy and very popular,” said Rob Kowalski, assistant planning director for the city of Champaign. “Foodies love them, because it’s no longer the roach coach selling hot dogs. These trucks are very sophisticated. You can really prepare and serve some gourmet food out of them.

“They really bring a heightened sense of vibrancy to downtown,” he continued. “Some of the trucks are very creative, the design of the trucks. It adds interest to downtown and supports the artistic flair a community can have.”

The National Restaurant Association’s 2011 Restaurant Industry Forecast mentioned food trucks among the major trends for the year. And chefs surveyed by the organization predicted food trucks would be the year’s hottest operational trend.

Food trucks are popular in cities, and not just among entrepreneurs. Established chefs and restaurant owners are joining the food truck trend as well, in some cases to make up for lost revenue at their restaurants, according to the Small Business Development Center Network.

Part of the appeal for those starting a business is the low startup cost compared with a brick-and-mortar restaurant. And social media, such as Twitter, Facebook and cellphone alerts, make it easy for potential customers to find a mobile food truck.

Marisa Anstey urged Ware to use social networking to develop a customer base.

“I wasn’t exactly Twitter-savvy when we started,” Ware said. “But with social networking, we can bring people to us, rather than going out and trying to find the most amount of people.

“It’s not even about the business so much,” he continued. “I love connecting with people I’m serving. I get to know my customer base more, and that’s really cool.”

Cities have different regulations governing where food trucks can operate. Ware likes to stay in a location for a couple of hours, so he can get out his ingredients and cook his waffles.

But a Champaign city ordinance required mobile food vendors to move as soon as they had served an existing line of customers. In Urbana, food truck operators can feed a meter or pay a fee to have it bagged.

The Crave Truck is now part of a pilot program in Champaign establishing zones downtown and on campus where food trucks can operate for up to two hours at a time.

Kowalski said the locations were chosen to minimize conflicts with existing restaurants and disruption of traffic flow, but to also allow the trucks to operate at places with good visibility. There are also restrictions on setting up tables.

At the end of the pilot program, city officials will evaluate how the program worked for food truck vendors, how it affected brick-and-mortar businesses and how residents liked them.

While the Crave Truck is the only mobile food truck so far participating in the pilot program, Kowalski said there has been interest from others, including two University of Illinois students who plan to open a food truck called Cracked to serve breakfast on campus; a local couple considering a cupcake truck; and Derald’s, which already serves food on campus in Urbana.

Ware appreciates that city officials welcomed the idea of working with food trucks.

In addition to sorting out the local ordinances governing the trucks, Ware said he has faced the same challenges as any other small business — refining his product, building a customer base and dealing with unexpected costs when the truck has had mechanical problems.

He’s received business advice from both local chefs and food truck operators around the country — and, most importantly, from his mom. Anstey previously ran a cafe in Mahomet, and she tested variations of a Belgian Liege waffle until she and Ware settled on the recipe they would use.

Ware believes the appeal of food trucks lies in the specialized products they sell and interesting atmosphere they provide.

“It’s not quite like a restaurant,” he said. “It’s on the go.”

http://www.centralillinoisbusiness.com/

Zack Ware, Owner of The Crave Truck (L)

CHAMPAIGN — The city council could decide this week if it wants to give more public access to food trucks looking to sell treats on the streets.

Officials launched a pilot program this summer that allows registered trucks to operate on public property for longer periods of time than city laws would normally allow.

Although city officials have yet to say specifically what the changes might be, council members could give administrators the green light to start drafting a new law that is more accommodating to mobile restaurants when they meet at 7 p.m. Tuesday in the Champaign City Building, 102 N. Neil St.

“I’m happy that food trucks can work with the city and that they’re starting to work with food trucks,” said Zach Ware, owner of the Crave Truck, a mobile “street waffle” vendor.

The existing city ordinance treats food trucks as peddlers — meaning if they want to operate on public property, they have to move to a different location every five minutes or so.

Several food trucks already operate in the Champaign-Urbana area, including Hawaiian Ice and Mas Amigos, which operates primarily on private property zoned for commercial purposes where the trucks do not have to move every few minutes.

And then there’s Derald’s, which operates at parking meters in Urbana on the University of Illinois campus. That city has an ordinance similar to Champaign’s, but without the five-minute restriction.

But of all the mobile restaurants in Champaign-Urbana, Ware’s Crave Truck may have taken the most advantage of Champaign’s pilot program.

Ware said he thinks the accommodations the city has arranged are great, and he hopes they stick around.

However, according to a memo to the city council, food trucks can sometimes conflict with “brick-and-mortar” restaurants.

The two businesses often work in direct competition with each other, and “mobile food trucks do not pay real estate taxes, and their use of city streets and public parking lots might be considered a ‘public subsidy,’” according to the memo.

Sometimes food trucks are noisy, and they can occupy needed parking spots, it said.

The memo also lists benefits, and city officials have said food trucks can add another layer to the downtown and Campustown areas.

“Mobile food trucks often add to the vibrancy and street life of an area (especially an entertainment district like a downtown),” according to the memo, “and provide a festive feel for visitors to the area.”

http://www.news-gazette.com/news/arts-and-entertainment/food/2012-06-25/champaign-council-consider-accommodations-food-trucks.ht

The City of Champaign is launching a pilot project for the summer months that would allow mobile food trucks in Downtown and Campustown at specified times and locations throughout the months of June, July and August.  The goal of the Mobile Food Truck Pilot Project is to provide an opportunity for mobile food truck vending and to also observe their impacts as the Champaign City Council considers the existing regulations for their operation.

 A Mobile Food Truck is defined as a “self-contained food service operation, located in a readily movable motorized wheeled or towed vehicle, used to store, prepare, display or serve food intended for individual portion service.”  Mobile Food Trucks can provide pedestrians with a broad range of food menu items in a “walk-up and take away” format.  They typically operate for a short duration during peak times with some operating late night.

Vendor would be able to operate within seven designated areas – four in the Downtown and three in Campustown.  Vendors would be able to operate a maximum of two hours at a time per location and most locations will be available for vending from 7:00 am to 11:00 pm daily.  Some locations will be limited to evening hours only.

Details for the Pilot Project, along with maps of the seven permitted locations, is available at the Champaign City Clerk’s Office, 102 North Neil Street, Champaign or at www.ci.champaign.il.us.   To participate, mobile food truck vendors need to apply for a license from the City of Champaign through the City Clerk’s Office.  For this pilot project, a discounted license fee of $50, plus a $25 application fee, is available. To participate, mobile food truck vendors will also have to obtain a license from the Champaign –Urbana Public Health District.

Click here to download the application packet!

The Champaign City Council will hold a Study Session on the topic of mobile food trucks at the Tuesday, June 26, 2012 meeting.  At this meeting City Staff will provide an update on the Pilot Project and will present options for considering the existing regulations of mobile food trucks.  The City of Champaign will work closely with the Champaign Center Partnership to solicit input from interested mobile food truck vendors as well existing Downtown and Campustown businesses.  Questions about the Mobile Food Truck Pilot Project can be directed to Assistant Planning Director, Rob Kowalski at rob.kowalski@ci.champaign.il.us or 217-403-8800.

A new interpretation of a food peddler’s law could be driving one food truck out of the city.  It’s making it harder for trucks to do business.

The owner of the Crave Truck, Zach Ware learned about it when he went to renew his license.

He was told he could no longer park on public streets or at meters.

The cost of his license also went up from $250 to $250 per employee.  He works with six people.

“We can’t support food trucks.  If these are the laws now, then there’s really not room for food trucks here and that’s definitely disappointing,” Crave truck owner Zach Ware said.

Click to WATCH INTERVIEW

Some city council member said they are considering holding a study session to clarify rules for food trucks.

http://illinoishomepage.net/fulltext?nxd_id=371252

]]> http://www.mobilefoodnews.com/2012/05/champaign-urbana-il-new-interpretation-of-law-could-drive-food-truck-out/feed/ 0 http://www.mobilefoodnews.com/2012/04/17-year-old-owneroperator-zach-ware-the-crave-truck-video-portrait/ http://www.mobilefoodnews.com/2012/04/17-year-old-owneroperator-zach-ware-the-crave-truck-video-portrait/#comments Thu, 05 Apr 2012 12:58:52 +0000 MobileFoodNews.com http://www.mobilefoodnews.com/?p=25336

Zach Ware – The Crave Truck – Video Portrait from Chad Garland on Vimeo.

By Chad Garland | The Crave Truck

This is a video portrait of Zach Ware, proprietor of The Crave Truck in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois. This video was created for JOUR 410 Spring 2012 at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Interview and additional footage were recorded in March 2012.

This is the first video I’ve ever made — not counting my abandoned attempt at stop-motion animation using a VHS camcorder and Lego toys in 1992.

The beans are lightly roasted, chocolate syrups single-sourced, sweets locally made and the truck’s equipment powered by solar panels.

And the coffee’s hot.

Late last week the gourmet coffee truck Candide Roasteries debuted in Champaign-Urbana.

Owned and operated by recent University of Illinois graduate Seth Kelter, Candide (named after Voltaire’s book) has staked out a spot on Mathews Street by the University of Illinois Quad, near the Foreign Languages Building.

An English major who had friends studying computer science, Kelter said, “the joke was since I was a liberal arts major I’d end up working in a coffee shop after I graduated (in fall 2010).”

He loved coffee, roasted his own (in his Urbana garage), so, why not?

He shopped around a 40-page business plan and eventually received a Small Business Administration loan through Busey Bank.

Kelter serves up coffee and espresso drinks, smoothies, pastries and baked goods from Sweet Indulgence Bakery and Great Harvest Bread Co.

Until he can buy his own commercial roaster, Kelter said he is buying beans from Hubbard & Cravens in Indianapolis.

“Their roasting style fits mine. It’s significantly lighter. … Many people are familiar with the classic Seattle-type roast, which is dark. But this is light-roasted, and that’s what I’m big into,” he said.

The chocolate syrups that will flavor some drinks are from Holy Kakow chocolatiers in Portland, Ore.

They’re single-sourced, meaning rather than combining beans from several different places, they’re from either Ghana or Ethiopia, Kelter said. They’re also vegan.

“We’re trying to be earthy-friendly and as low-impact as we can be,” he said.

The food truck’s solar panels hook into a 3,000-watt battery that powers the many appliances in the truck.

You can find Candide on Mathews from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and catering special events on other days. Kelter will be tweeting locations on Twitter, and you can follow him at @CandideCoffee. More information also is available at http://www.candidecoffee.com.

http://www.news-gazette.com/news/business/features/its-your-business/2011-09-18/its-your-business-gourmet-coffee-truck-debuts.ht