Savvy restaurant owners have learned a valuable lesson from local food carts—going mobile is an effective and affordable marketing tool.
It’s safe to say that there is no end to the food cart trend in Portland. In fact, food carts may have passed the trend stage altogether and are now just a part of our culture. New cart pods form in empty lots every month, and new ways to adapt vehicles for food creation and distribution continue to impress Portlanders as well as our East coast gawkers. Portland food carts could evolve a million different ways—it’s no holds barred in this town.
Indeed, we caught wind of several established brick-and-mortar restaurants that are venturing into mobile territory and have or are in the process of adding a transportable component to their businesses. Violetta’s mobile twin, Etta, for example, has had raving success as a stand alone business but it also serves as an extension (and an ambassador to some degree) of the new Director Park restaurant. Naturally, this got us pondering whether brick-and-mortar restaurants going mobile may be the next big trend. Will a mobile unit be part of every brick-and-mortar restaurant's business plan? If so, how will it impact the food cart industry in Portland?
SuperDog and SuperDogExpress
Ellen Green’s businesses were doing well until the economy tanked and Downtown Portland office buildings started shuttering their windows. Her two SuperDog stores—near PSU at SW Park, and on SW 6th Avenue—cater to lunchtime and early dinner work and student crowds and she’d been able to make a nice living off the businesses for several years. So, rather than wringing her hands, Green looked to the carts for inspiration.
“I saw that the cart businesses were doing really well so I thought it must be a good idea,” she says.
Applying her electrical engineering background, Green devised a tricycle cart with the help of her husband, also an engineer, and the SuperDogExpress was born. Because she had the locations to prepare food in advance, Green’s main goal was to create an efficient way to keep the hot dogs warm as well as store condiments and napkins. A car battery powers a small commercial oven that holds 50-60 hotdogs, and a hand built box attached alongside organizes everything else.
The tricycle also had to be easy to navigate because SuperDogExpress—as the name suggests—doesn’t have a permanent location. Green rides the tricycle cart to events such as Sunday Parkways and Last Thursdays or caters private parties. She says that the exposure has been tremendous for business.
In the past year, sales have increased approximately ten percent with five percent of total sales coming from the cart. Although Green can’t say for sure that the mobile unit is behind the growth, she suspects that it plays a major part. “This is the best marketing idea I’ve seen,” says Green.
Trébol and Trébol Presents Costillas Diablas
Kenny Hill is hoping that he gets a nice return on his investment in the mobile food world. The owner/chef of Trébol on North Albina, is about to launch Trébol Presents Costillas Diablas in Old Town-Chinatown, which will offer a limited menu of four boar dishes. The endeavor has been well thought out but Hill admits that it’s still an experiment. “I know I’m crazy,” he says.
Hill thinks more people will be delving into the food cart business in the future rather than opening a restaurant. “It’s economically feasible,” he says. “The price of a decent cart is the cost of a car.”
Hill’s cart is a custom, self-sustained rig that runs on propane. Renewable materials such as bamboo were integrated into the design. Hill doesn’t know what the total cost of the cart is off the top of his head, but he estimates that if all goes well Trébol Presents Costillas Diablas will pay for itself in the first two months. And, because the food will be prepared at Trébol in the morning as part of daily prep, additional labor costs associated with running the cart will be minimal.
Hill believes the food cart business is still untapped, which is why he decided to make his next venture mobile. It’s also a good way to get Trébol ’s name out to a wider audience. “Basically, it’s free marketing,” says Hill.
In 2007, Hill hired a public relations firm to build name recognition. They got Trébol a lot of national press but that wasn’t what the Northeast Portland restaurant needed to bring in local clientele. Now, Hill uses social media—with some success—but he’s counting on his cart to spread the word.
If he’s not making the sales he believes are possible within the first 30 days, Hill says he’ll move the cart to another site, possibly Belmont Avenue. It’s not the ideal scenario because a move like that requires more paperwork but Hill is willing to pull all the stops to make Trébol Presents Costillas Diablas work for him.
Restaurants Go Mobile With Creative Partnerships
Voodoo Doughnuts and Urban Opportunities
Within this evolving food cart paradigm still another emerging trend sees established businesses going mobile—as a wholesaler, of sorts. One of the best-known examples can be found at many city events and it’s hard to miss the pink truck and Voodoo Doughnut logo. That’s why Polly Bangs approached Voodoo in the first place. “I knew I wouldn’t have to do any marketing. Everyone knows Voodoo Doughnut,” says Bangs, the founder and director of Urban Opportunities, a nonprofit program that helps kids at risk learn job skills and find jobs.
Bangs purchases the donuts well below wholesale prices and the profits she earns off sales at street fairs and private events go toward her programs. It’s a win-win situation for Bangs and for Voodoo Doughnut.
“This is the simplest thing I could do without marketing,” says Bangs. “The exposure we get through mobility and Voodoo Doughnut is amazing.”
Black Sheep Bakery, Townshend's Tea Company and Biscuit Bike
Biscuit Bike owner Kevin Clover is hoping that name recognition will help his business grow, although it may not be his name that (initially) attracts customers. Clover is selling biscuits and gravy made by Black Sheep Bakery and pouring kombucha from Townshend’s Tea Company—both established and adored businesses in Portland.
“I have been using their [Black Sheep and Townshend's] names to help promote the cart while establishing my own brand,” says Clover. “I feature their logos in a couple spots on the cart. The Townshend's tap handles are definitely a key feature and they're both listed prominently on my Web site and I’ve mentioned them both in Facebook and Twitter posts….these established and well-recognized local brands are definitely helping to bring more attention to the cart.”
Clover came up with the idea for the Biscuit Bike just two months ago but he’s already spent a couple weekends on Hawthorne with his newly built and customized red bike. At the Belmont Street Fair, which was his maiden voyage, he sold out of everything.
Matt Thomas of Townshend’s Tea Company says Clover’s bike is an opportunity to get his product in front of the public. “I absolutely view my relationship with Biscuit Bike as a marketing tool. The unique way Kevin is presenting it is very cool. It makes you smile,” he adds.
Townshend’s Tea Company is planning to join the mobile movement in the future with a retrofitted VW bus. Thomas says they’ll take the “Kombucha-mobile” to festivals and street fairs.
Black Sheep Bakery Owner, Amanda Felt says she didn’t have to think too hard about it when Clover approached her with the idea for his Biscuit Bike. “It’s a great way to spread the word.” Indeed, the mobility of the Biscuit Bike couldn’t be a better billboard for Felt’s bakery and Townshend’s Tea, and it comes with no marketing costs attached. At the same time, Clover benefits from being associated with their established and adored products—all without the risks associated with a brick and mortar establishment. “Everyone wins,” says Felt.
It's Just Business...Right?
But, does everyone really win? There is a growing contingent of restaurant owners and spectators who consider the carts a threat to storefront establishments. In a recent Enzyme PDX story, writer Matthew Singer laid out some of the controversies that surround food cart competition. Singer quoted Jennifer Ray whose storefront business, Morning Star Café, is located across the street from more than 20 food carts. “How are we supposed to compete when our costs are ten-fold what theirs are?”
"I don't believe carts are hurting business," says Brett Burmeister of Food Carts Portland. "If restaurants are hurting, I believe it is because of the economy. The clientele and business models are different. Hubers, across from Southwest 3rd and Washington pod is still very busy for lunch. So are the delis and Taco Del Mar across from the PSU pods."
Photos: Machaela Morrissey
Perhaps, with more brick and mortar businesses adding a mobile component, existing cart and mobile unit owners will be asking a similar question. How can they compete with a well-recognized local brand?
While speaking with Felt about her baked goods going mobile on Biscuit Bike, she wondered if it was fair for known brands like hers to compete with burgeoning cart owners. After all, food carts can be incubators for creativity.
They can also serve as marketing tools, as this latest trend suggests. And if it does add another element of competition among restaurants, carts and mobile units it won’t be the public complaining. Good food is good food, whether it comes from a cart, a tricycle or a brick-and-mortar building.
The mobile movement continues: Stumptown Coffee Roasters debuted its first mobile cart on September 7 (photo here). We also heard that E-San Thai has a cart, too.