Sometimes Rosie Garcia finishes work at 11 p.m. Other times at 2 a.m. Sometimes she sits, or maybe she’ll stand. Hours go by. There’s no stopping once she starts making spring rolls for her Filipino food truck.
Every wrapper is rolled out, cut and filled individually inside the truck. Garcia and her crew of three make 1,200 to 1,500 at a time. They do that twice a week. That’s just the rolls. Another two days a week are spent preparing barbeque meals.
“It’s a lot of work but that’s the way it goes,” Garcia said. “It’s a labour of love I guess.”
If you want to sample the spring rolls or other items made from scratch on Garcia’s menu, Mama Rosie’s Food Truck is at the Victoria Street Food Festival today in Centennial Square, from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., with a beer garden starting at 2 p.m. Vic Fest and Tectoria, part of the Victoria Advanced Technology Council, are organizing the festival, which has food trucks and carts converging on the square three times this summer. It joins the numerous food truck festivals staged across North America, including in Vancouver and Surrey, and around the world.
About 8,000 people showed up July 18, the first of the Victoria event’s three consecutive Fridays, said Drew Coleman, one of the organizers. The third and final day is Aug. 1. Each day draws about 20 trucks, dishing out a wide range food. Most are from the capital region but there will be out-of-towners, too.
Choices this week include Cajun, African, Greek and Mexican cuisine, as well as lemonades, exotic popsicles, waffles, BBQ, and perogies. Prices per item are usually $10 or less.
Food trucks are on a growth spurt in the capital. The city of Victoria alone has 50 licensed mobile food vendors, who each pay an annual fee of $100.
That’s a jump of 92 per cent from last year when there were 26 licensed operators, and a growth of 525 per cent from 2009 when there were just eight.
Trucks normally park on private property, but may be found on some public sites, including licensed markets.
Mama Rosie’s, for example, is a regular at the summer Sidney Street Market. Operators make individual arrangements with property owners. The mobility of trucks and carts sees them often moving from one place to another, wherever the revenue is. Fees paid by truck owners to operate at special events vary, but can go up to several hundred dollars per day for a prime happening.
Trucks rely heavily on social media, such as Facebook and Twitter, and their own websites to market themselves and post daily locations.
Festivals are popular with food trucks because high customer numbers boost the bottom line. One truck might be able to generate thousands of dollars of sales in one day. Some truck owners are preparing additional quantities for today’s event because customer demand saw supplies run out last week.
“People like the idea of these food trucks. They know they can come down and get something really creative,” Coleman said. “Victoria has become a niche market for foodies.”
This is the event’s second year and he’s hoping for another in 2015.
Each truck owner finds his or her own way to survive financially. Some are seasonal. For example, in the winter, Mama Rosie’s Food Truck is off duty, but not Garcia. That’s when she works full-time as a care aid and also does some catering. “I work all the time.”
She used to have a restaurant in Sidney but likes the flexibility provided by the truck, which she set up three years ago. Family and friends help out.
A food truck can cost tens of thousands of dollars and must meet standards set by health officials. One truck advertised in B.C. is priced at $55,000, another at close to $35,000.
Some trucks are offshoots of popular enterprises elsewhere, such as Tacofino which was first established in Tofino. Some brick and mortar restaurants run their own trucks. It’s common for operators to supply catering services to augment their income. In our mild climate, some trucks will run pretty much year-round.
That’s Bill Rieger’s plan. Five weeks ago, he and wife Sarah opened A Streetcar Named New Orleans, which is part of the Street Food Festival. The truck is usually parked at 727 Courtney St. Rieger thinks he’ll be open in the winter. “I think our food is warming. A nice brothy, hot soup of gumbo will warm you to your core.”
Raised in New Orleans, he met his Canadian wife at a Mardi Gras ball in that city. They moved to Victoria this year with one-year-old daughter Elouise.
Although Rieger has worked in fine dining restaurants, a food truck appeals because it fits the family’s lifestyle goals. “We love music festivals and being outdoors and being around people. This is just very conducive to those kinds of things.”
Food trucks feed a willingness to try new dishes, he said.
“People are more open to trying a new cuisine. They are more adventurous and really want to give their taste buds something new, and I think that’s what we offer.”
Rieger serves traditional New Orleans dishes, such as red beans and rice (his favourite), with smoked ham shank and sausage, for $8.
Fran Hobbis, chairwoman of the Downtown Victoria Business Association, said downtown festivals are essential to the health of the city’s core. These popular events attract residents from throughout the capital region as well as tourists. Tourism brings $1.8 billion to the local economy, says Tourism Victoria.
Events such as the Street Food Festival “create a sense of vibrancy and activity,” Hobbis said.
