Food trucks struggle to find foothold, stuck in poor locations and competing with festival fare
Food trucks can't park near restaurants, find themselves '50 metres from success,' one owner says
Montreal's nascent food truck industry is struggling to get off the ground, with owners abandoning boroughs where business is slow and finding themselves frozen out of prime locations because of the city's tight rules.
Annie Clavette, the owner of Das Food, which operates four food trucks, says because the city won't allow food trucks too close to restaurants, many of the prime locations for pedestrian traffic are out of reach.
"Fifty metres from success," is how Clavette describes Das Food's dilemma.
Five years since the launch of the food-truck pilot project in the City of Montreal, the problems the industry is facing are significant enough to warrant a mention in the recent auditor general's report.
"In 2017, six boroughs offered sites for food trucks in their territory," the report said. "For 2018, currently only three boroughs intend to take part. The other boroughs have withdrawn from this activity because the visitor rates at their sites were too low."
This summer, residents of the Southwest borough, Mercier–Hochelaga-Maisonneuve and Verdun will see no food trucks at all on city streets.
Festivals take nearly half of sales
Food trucks operating in downtown Montreal face another hurdle, said Clavette.
Festivals such as Just for Laughs or the Jazz Fest occupy key locations downtown and would appear to be the perfect place for reaching tourists.
However, festivals are also allowed to bring in food trucks which don't follow the same regulations as the ones licensed by the city.
Montreal's food trucks need to have a commercial kitchen and use local produce, but these rules don't apply to trucks at festivals.
"It's very unfair," Clavette said.
Festivals also take a cut of the trucks' profits, which Clavette said drives up menu prices.
She says festivals can ask for 45 per cent of their sales.
Clavette says because of all the limitations, most of her trucks are out at private events, where there is a ready-and-waiting clientele for her fare.
New locations
Gaëlle Cerf, the co-owner of the Grumman 78 taco truck and the co-founder of Quebec's food truck association, agrees with Clavette — the problems come down to "location, location, location."
However, Cerf says, things might be changing for the better.
"With the new administration, we've had a very understanding and helpful ear," Cerf told CBC Montreal's Daybreak.
She said the reason the borough spots disappeared this year is they weren't viable, but the city has come to them to help them find better spots.
"What we're working on with the city is different ways of operating," Cerf said. She says this could mean doing food truck pop-ups or being able to operate on private land, not only in public spaces.
Ville-Marie Coun. Robert Beaudry, who is responsible for economic development on Montreal's executive committee, says he knows the industry is "losing steam."
"The first step was to meet the owners and meet the association to talk with them and see how we can help them to have a better industry in Montreal," Beaudry said on Daybreak.
With files from CBC Montreal's Daybreak