Summer food trucks are approaching their busy season, and owners are feeling the pinch of increased costs of supplies and ingredients while also scrambling for fuel to keep the fryers going.
With the average price of gasoline sitting at $4.52 and diesel at $5.53 a gallon, respectively, many food truck operators have to pay over $100 at a time to fill their 20 gallon tanks.
While food truck businesses have traditionally been a cheaper alternative to brick-and-mortar restaurants, the National Food Truck Association tells FOX Business that could change if food and fuel prices continue to be high.
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“It’s not just the cost of the food,” Matthew Gellar, Founding President of the National Food Truck Association told FOX Business. “The cost of running that truck, which is sometimes a lot more expensive, than just running a small quick-serve restaurant,”
One food truck operator, serving Mediterranean on 51st and Park Ave., eats. for 50 years now, over $1,000 a month for fuel alone, more than double the cost of gas last year. The electricity bill is also doubled.
“It literally hurts every time I go to the gas pump,” Uncle Gussy’s food truck president Nicko Karagiorgos told FOX Business. “We’re paying twice the price of gas for what we were paying. It’s crazy.”
Even though the prices of gas, supplies and ingredients continue to rise, Uncle Gussy’s has yet to raise prices on their menu and instead has lost profit.
As US inflation reached a four-decade high of 9.1%, food prices have risen even faster. Food costs jumped 10.4% in June compared to last year, according to data from the Labor Department. Some categories saw big gains, including staple ingredients for Uncle Gussy’s traditional Greek offerings like gyros and souvlaki. The price of chicken surged 19% in the past year, the largest increase ever.
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However, not all food trucks are able to absorb the costs.
Meatoss, a Brazilian food truck specializing in fusion barbecue, is paying 40% more for gas since a year ago, up from $45 to around $115 or more per day.
Exploding fuel costs are pumping the brakes on event attendance. Meatoss owner and chef Daniel Shkmorv tells FOX Business that he has to turn down 30-40% of the events they are asked to do.
“We literally say we can’t do it,” Shkmorv said. “If my price was 100 people, 1200 dollars we will be there, we will serve them. Today, it must be 15, 16 or 17000 and either I cancel or they just, you know. Go ahead. As so, this is a big problem.”
Shkmorv is also paying more for propane to generate power for the four or five refrigerators.
“The days like the $2 tacos and the $3 sandwiches are gone for food trucks,” Gellar said.
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