San Francisco Cart Project

The hearing on Street Food in San Francisco, I think, went as well as could be expected.  There was lots of public comment and Supervisor Dufty, the hearing sponsor, seems open to getting feedback from the vendor community regarding the best ways for the city to manage Street Food.

Some relevant comments from the meeting:
“None of these people out selling street food are getting rich. They are just getting by.” -Chile Lindo
“Why do new vendors need these new expensive carts when there are older (mostly hot dog) carts serving perfectly safe food every day in SF who don’t need to upgrade?” -Smitten Ice Cream
“Is the 1500 foot minimum distance from schools really relevant to the food that modern street food vendors are selling?” -Bevan Dufty
“We should begin looking at a process that allows for vending  at time outside of normal daytime hours.” Regina Dick-Endrizzi

Here’s my key take aways for how best to move this process forward:

1. Don’t kill Street Food with Kindness.
The fact is that most street food businesses are not getting their owners rich (even the most popular ones).  By adding increased regulation and oversight to Street Food, SF risks making the financial burden to start a cart even more challenging and unrealistic for these vendors.

2. Mobility and Proximity.
Right now there isn’t good legal locations to serve from and, if you find one, the law doesn’t allow vendors to move around or congregate together (even if they want to). How about some changes that allow vendors the flexibility to move where they want, and sell with whom they want?

3. Reduce the cost of entry.
Its a simple truth: It shouldn’t cost $20,000 in order to build a legal Street Food cart.  Thats just crazy. It is not unheard of for San Francisco to pick and choose the California Law that it enforces. I suggest that without the SF Health Dept reinterpreting Health Code rules under the spirit of the laws, rather than the letter of them, most vendors simply won’t be able to afford to sell legally.  Specifics for this include: Regulating refrigeration temps by duration of service period rather than mandated mechanical refrigeration,  accepting commissary 3 part sinks as an adequate replacement for a cart 3 part sink, and allowing carts operating outdoors to not have commercial ventilation.

On a final note, congrats to Regina Dick-Endrizzi in the Mayor’s Office of Small Business, Nick Kinsey in the Parks Dept, Inspectors Lee and Reyes in the Health Dept., and Dan Sider in the Planning Dept for moving this process from just a task force to something that could provide meaningful legislative reform.

Its going to be an interesting summer.

On March 8th a sub committee of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors will begin public discussion on the future of Street Food vending in San Francisco.  The sponsoring Supervisor of this issue is Sup. Bevan Dufty of District 8.  Below is an open letter to Supervisor Dufty’s office regarding my hopes for San Francisco’s upcoming Street Food legislation. Please feel free to use this letter yourself to contact Sup. Dufty’s office (or any City Supervisor) to let them know that you support San Francisco Street Food.

_____________________________

Dear Supervisor Dufty:

I am a resident of San Francisco District 8 and a committed supporter of San Francisco’s innovative Street Food culture. I appreciate your offices’ initiative in beginning this public discussion of Street Food on March 8th, and I hope that you’ll work to support the many small businesses and local artisans who are seeking to participate in this industry in a legal and fair way.

Primarily, I hope that you will support the following changes to current San Francisco Street Food regulations:

1. Allow for mobile push cart vending, rather than limiting mobility to Mobile Catering Trucks.

2. Encourage the SF Health Department to review their code requirements to allow for more inexpensive cart designs, while still maintaining the necessary health requirements for protecting public health.

3. Enable vendors to congregate together.

4. Encourage the Police Department to allow evening and night vending in San Francisco.

5. Encourage the planning department to ease the restrictions on private property vending in order for property owners to make their own decisions about the best use of their property.

I thank you for supporting District 8, and San Francisco, entrepreneurs in a way that recognizes the value that this type of innovation brings to our community.

Kind Regards,

Matthew Cohen
(XXX)XXX-XXXX

On March 8th, the City Operations and Neighborhood Services Committee (which is a sub committee of the Board of Supervisors) has scheduled the first public hearing on how to deal with Street Food from a San Francisco policy angle. While this is the first public meeting on this matter, this is a continuation of a fairly extensive internal city conversation that has been going on for the last 8-10 months on an inter-department level within the city.  Here’s the information that you need to know about why now is the time for you to act on behalf of Street Food in San Francisco:

1) This subcommittee is intended to be the first public sounding board for the variety of feelings on how street food should be regulated within San Francisco. Now is the time to be vocal in support of easing the barriers to entry and mobility of Street Food in SF, and letting the board know that this is more than an issue of small entrepreneurs vs. established brick and mortar restaurants. Many of the Supervisors may not be involved in the online community that has allowed Street Food culture to flourish in the city, but by making our voices heard now, we have the ability to move the goal posts on this issue from “Should Street Food be legal?” to “How do we make Street Food available throughout the city?”  We have the opportunity to show the Board of Supervisors the true extent of support that Street Food has within the San Francisco community.

2) The Parks and Recreation Department has recently begun awarding parks contracts to new vendors in certain spots within San Francisco. This is a good first step, but there needs to be some recognition from the city that the interest in having diverse street food options throughout the entire city exists, is not going away, and that the city has a responsibility to allow this market to grow without hindering it with burdensome costs and confusing regulations.

3) The SF Planning Department and Police Departments are in the process of reviewing their processes for approving Street Food locations, but it is the responsibility of the Street Food community to express to the Board of Supervisors the overwhelming interest in support of allowing vendors to congregate together, in order to attract the broadest customer base possible.

4) The Mayor’s Office has been working with the Police Department and Health department to look at how the existing police code might change, and where the various regulatory responsibilities might shift if moved to another department whose mission was to encourage Street Food entrepreneurship, rather than simply regulate it.

5) There has been some question from the business community about unregulated vending in San Francisco, and how it might harm existing businesses. Because many of these established businesses have a relationship with their supervisor(s) it has been easy for them to share their story.  It is the responsibility of the Street Food community in San Francisco to tell their stories to all the Supervisors. Don’t let this be a one sided argument; Street Food helps activate underutilized space, it provides job opportunities entrepreneurs at all levels of the economic spectrum, and has the ability to provide the city with increased tax revenue (and jobs) at a time when it would clearly be valued.

So here’s what to do:

Attend the March 8th meeting at City Hall of the City Operations and Neighborhood Services Committee. The meeting is going to be in Room 250 and starts at 1030am. Street Food regulation is the 4th item on the agenda.

Reach out to your friends, neighbors and social network to spread the word about this meeting.

Communicate with your local Board Supervisor’s Office (via phone calls or email) your support of Street Food in San Francisco, and your desire to see more of it throughout the city.

The Feb 15th event involving the San Francisco Health and Police Departments has been cancelled. The event will be rescheduled in the future. To be updated regarding all future SFCP events, news and information please used the box below to sign up for our brand new mailing list.

You information will be used only to contact you for SFCP related events and services. It will never be sold to any 3rd party vendors.

Thank you all for a really great Happy Hour event this evening at Rye. In particular, I would like to thank Martha Yanez and Jane Gong from the Office of Small Business, as well as Emelda Reyes and Mahanned Malhi of the San Francisco Health Department for their participation in the event. Over 40 different vendors participated and I hope that everyone found the meeting valuable, informative and entertaining.

As I mentioned at the event, the next SF Cart Project event is tentatively planned for Monday, Feb 15th from 1pm-230pm and will hopefully include participation from both the San Francisco Health and Police departments. This event will be structured as a more formal question and answer workshop, where both departments will be able to detail their individual permit process for San Francisco (both public and private property permitting). If you are interested in attending this event, please click here and fill out your information in the form.

Thank you again for your support!

Help the Cart Project be more responsive to your needs. When is it most helpful to receive the Daily Street Food Locator information? Please vote below.

In the past, Street Food vending’s business model was fairly straightforward: place yourself between the highest number of customers and their destinations, and offer a product that is quick and inexpensive. That business model works, but it is completely passive with no way to build brand identity, no recognition of the quality of food being served, and low levels of customer loyalty. In the old model of mobile vending, one lunch truck is as good as another; and all of them aren’t really that good at all. With the help of social media this passive model of business interaction has changed into an active opportunity for mobile vendors to specialize their food styles, build large followings of actively engaged customers, and use real time updates to inform your how to find you (and how to advocate for you). If you are a new entrepreneur considering a mobile vending business, then an understanding of social media has become a job requirement.

A Brief Primer on Twitter and Social Media:
Social media is information that is intended to be quickly and easily distributed to a variety of places (customers, friends, publications) on a variety of platforms (Twitter, Facebook, Yelp, LinkedIn, or Flickr) from a variety of access points (phones, email, websites, text messages). This can happen in a number of ways, but for the mobile vendor the first step starts with Twitter. Twitter is a short message system (140 characters or less) that allows users to send and receive information in real time from a very select group of people who share common interests. In the case of Mobile Vending, Twitter is extremely effective at allowing vendors to send basic information regarding their service hours, specials, weather complications, new locations, and promotions directly to your customers. In addition, you can use Twitter to communicate with your peers to solve problems, gain crossover customers through their networks and promote each other. Think of Twitter as you PR billboard to the world that only your customers can selectively see; it bothers nobody and turns your customers into committed evangelical users for your product or service. For the rest of this article, I will use Twitter (for more on how twitter works click here) as a basic social media example, although your own website, Facebook, LinkedIn, Yelp, YouTube and Flickr are all examples of additional social media services that could be part of your social media strategy.

7+ Essentials For integrating Social Media into Your Mobile Business:

1) Treat it with Respect
There has been an inclination within large organizations (struggling to find a way to use Twitter) to relegate responsibility for its Tweets to relatively low level employees within an organization; its far more likely for an intern to tweet than owners or “C” level company officers of large businesses. The resulting Twitter streams were not compelling and tended to be bland and uninformative. It has therefore been rather interesting to have a broad variety of publications take note of the way that mobile vendors use social media to grow their customer base and expand their brands. One of the key distinctions that separates an effective mobile vending business’ tweeter feed and their less effective corporate peer is that mobile businesses are generally small operations where the individuals who are sending out information live and breathe their products because they own it and sell their core message to their customers everyday. You can feel and recognize their understanding of their products and business information that they send out into the world. And, its that same tone that resonates with customers when they reach that business and make a purchase. Twitter (and effective social media usage) facilitates authentic communication between businesses owners and customers; an experience that makes customers loyal and vocal in their support.

2) Define your Voice
Within every worthwhile business plan should be some type of statement of values that should serve to define the services and products offered at a business, and the style and priorities associated with the growth of that business in the future. These values should reasonably extend into your marketing plan where you detail what type of relationship that you want to have with your customers, and the way that you want your customers to perceive their experience while engaging in their purchase. Are you clean, sterile and detailed like you’d want at a doctor’s office? Or are you warm, welcoming and outgoing like you’d want at your favorite local watering hole. Are you cheeky and fun? These are active choices that you should make, rather than not thinking about them at all. More often than not, street food vendors are passionate about their food, their products and the values around what they do. That passion comes through online, and it comes through the voice of the people in the organization. Make sure that what you are saying online is consistent with the core values of your organization as a whole and remember that the information that you post reflects your business, not you, and some things are better left unsaid.

3. Post Regularly, Stay Consistent and Don’t Forget the Basics
Once you have decided on an approach for how you will interact with the world through social media its important to stick with a schedule that is realistic and consistent. It may be great to start off posting 30 times a day with lots of information, but if you stop posting after a month that effort will have been wasted, and you’ll have established unreasonable expectations for your customers. Basic information is essential: Service times, street addresses and city names, daily menu options, specials, vehicle problems and weather updates. Learn how to post from a cell phone (you don’t need a 300$ smart phone to do this) and make sure that the information you post is accurate. If you leave a location early because its slow, don’t just assume that no one is on their way, post the information so that you don’t lose a customer who makes the effort to get to you.

4. Engage your audience (and encourage them to advocate for you).
How will you know if you’re connecting with your customers and your social media strategy is working? Ask them. The beauty of social media is that it places you in direct contact with your actual customers. By asking them what they find useful, what they’d appreciate done differently, and how you can improve you’ll not only become more relevant, but you’ll also build customer loyalty. An important part of social media is to acknowledge that you aren’t shouting into nothing, you are speaking to the people who keep you in business and have (increasingly) more and more power to voice their opinions in forums where other people will take them seriously. Through being responsive to your audience you’ll be able to demonstrate your command of your business area, as well as influence the far larger number people who are passive consumers of information who pay attention to the subjects that they care about. That is the way that you grow your audience and find true value with social media.

5. Time Shift
The fact is that you are busy, especially if you run a one or two person operation. You may say to yourself that you simply don’t have the time or energy to do this “social media” thing. But here’s a secret: You don’t need to be online all day long to use these tools. There some very easy methods of time shifting your posts so that you can write non time relevant information one time a day, or a week (such as menu, industry, or cuisine information) so you don’t have to worry about it when you are in the middle of prep or service. By combining this type of posting with real time updates for when you move to different locations, or want to encourage people to come out, you can shift the time burden of social media to something very manageable.

6. Integrate with Different Types of Media Sources
Your time is valuable and you want to make the most of it. One of the most valuable aspects of social media is its ability to update other platforms that can also build an audience and encourage customer participation in your brand. If you link your Tweets to your Facebook Fan Page, your fans can ask you questions and engage in dialogue with each other. There are many variations of how you can take advantage of this, but the important part is that the more platforms where your business is represented the more that you can let the service work for you. More and more search results from Google and other companies are incorporating social media into their top search results. In addition, most of the major social media companies pay a great deal of money to smart computer engineers so that their websites appear high in search results. By taking advantage of multiple platforms, not only are you better able to leverage this for your company, but you also cast the widest net possible for customers looking for your products and services. The key is having accurate and clear information where ever your customers go about how to find you, and what you serve.

7. Reflect
If you’ve given social media a shot and its not working for you, don’t be afraid to reevaluate what you are doing for better ways to achieve results from your efforts. Ask yourself for concrete details associated with practical results from your social media strategy and write them down. Set goals, and timelines for reviewing those goals with people who will hold your accountable to your results. Its important to look at social media as being a Swiss Army Knife of many different tools, where a one size fits all approach rarely works. Geographic needs, local preferences, and established habits will all affect how you and your customers take advantage of social media. Stay realistic about your expectations and understand that 500 committed customer/followers are far more valuable to your business than 5000 casual webpage visits. By keeping your goals realistic, you’ll be able to chart your own path to meaningful value with these tools.

A Last Thought: Be Patient
When starting to use social media to reach your audience it’s about adding long term value to your company. Using social media takes resolve and consistent use that will take time to establish. Remember, there are millions of people out there all talking about something. The more refined, clear and consistent your message is, the more easily your target audience will be able to locate you.

Due to the overwhelming interest in the event, and also in an effort to accommodate as many city agencies as possible, the first San Francisco Mobile Catering Entrepreneur Happy Hour has been rescheduled to Tuesday, January 19th from 530-700pm at Rye Bar in San Francisco. I regret any confusion that this late change might cause, and appreciate your understanding. Please find event details and a form to RSVP below. Thank you and looking forward to seeing you on the 19th!

There is a thought (a widely considered one) that mobile vending constitutes unfair competition to their Brick and Mortar (B&M) peers. There are many reasons used to support this “unfair competition” claim, but they roughly break down into three categories: Cheaper Market to Enter, Lower Maintenance Overhead to Sustain and Unlimited Geographic Flexibility. And while each of these areas does constitute a substantial difference from B&M restaurants, it is important to define what specific practical effects each of these areas might have on both mobile vendors and B&M restaurants.

It is a fact that it is cheaper to enter the mobile vending business than open a B&M restaurant. As a consequence the resulting cost savings can (and should) be reflected in lower (relative to the quality of the food produced) cost food served by Street Food vendors. The logical next question to ask is: Do restaurants receive nothing in return for the capital investments associated with opening, and running, a B&M restaurant? Of course, they absolutely get something. B&M restaurants have an ability to scale on a level that mobile vendors can never compete with. They have the ability to create more sophisticated complex foods that are simply impractical for street vendors to make. And, they have amenities (bathrooms, seating, climate control) that significantly fragment the type of customer who would choose to frequent a street vendor from one who is going to choose a sit down meal. B&M restaurants who bank on the relative value that their increased investment offers their customers may find it helpful to ask: Would those street food customers have come to your restaurant at all? In many cases, the answer is no.

Another reality of Mobile vending is that most legal street food vendors do not have the traditional overhead associated with owning a B&M restaurant. However, it is not true that they have no mandated overhead costs at all; Street Food vendors are required to pay the same benefits to their workers as any other restaurant, and pay the same sales tax as their B&M peers. In addition, in California Street Food vendors are required to operate out of a commissary (for food prep as well as cart maintenance and storage) which can add up to $50-$100 a day (depending on the amount of prep work they do), pay for annual sales permits (in addition to their seller’s permit) and are responsible for reporting sales tax for each municipality that the work in. That’s no small percentage of revenue for a business whose total daily revenue may not exceed 80-100 customers and $300 to $400. In addition, restaurants afford their owners with the opportunity to grow past a one or two man operation, an option that is not easily achieved on a mobile catering scale. So, while the added expense of the labor required to run a restaurant might seem burdensome compared to that of a street food vendor, restaurant owners can be appreciative of the fact that if they get sick, have an emergency, or have a major a mechanical issue that their primary source of income isn’t going to be shuttered.

The appeal of moving between areas of peak demand (at will) is the dream of all mobile vendors. But, more often than not, its just that: a dream. Mobile catering vehicles deal with complex permitting issues that prevent them from selling food at specific locations, specific times of day, or specific distances from their competitors. In reality, while the idea of mobility might seem a no-brainer, it has not been until recently (with the use of social media) that customers have been easily able to track the locations of their favorite mobile vendors. And while social media plays an increasingly important role in allowing people to have mobile foods as a predictable food option, getting quality locations to sell from can be just as challenging as nailing down that perfect B&M location (except the B&M vendors don’t need to worry about losing the spot the next day). As a result, that dream of mobility is in fact a necessity that allows vendors to move in order to produce stable sales.

So what threat does mobile catering actually represent to B&M restaurants? First, the average customer that stops at a mobile food vendor is not one who is likely to choose a sit down restaurant (either because of speed of service or cost). Second, the average daily sales volume that a mobile vendor can achieve is only a fraction of what a B&M restaurant can scale to. And, because of this, mobile vendors generally limit their offerings to a handful of specialties; a decision that B&M vendors do not have to make. Third, while the idea of limitless mobility is wonderful, the reality of seasonal weather, mechanical failure, local government restrictions, and competition (both from other vendors and B&M vendors) makes mobility a complex necessity, rather than a luxury. Mobile vending can directly affect two primary restaurant types: high volume take out operations and lower end quick service eateries. However, most local muncipal regulations make it highly unlikely that these businesses would face direct product competition from mobile vendors. And, while mobile vending may represent a challenge to these businesses, it is important to remember that these businesses are not without tools of their own for attracting and retaining customers. Their facilities can allow them to produce a higher volume of food, for longer hours, with amenities that mobile vendors simply cannot duplicate. It is just those B&M vendors who understand where their strengths lie who will produce stronger, cheaper and more focused food that will attract customers regardless of what competition they face.

Rather than see mobile vending as a threat, both B&M vendors and communities would do well to consider that mobile vending’s very ability to move also allows it contribute positively to communities. Mobile vending can activate spaces with few food options in locations that may not justify (or be too risky) for the type of capital investment associated with permanent B&M restaurants. So are mobile vendors a threat to Brick and Mortar restaurants? Yes, but probably less so than the ever present threat of direct competition from another B&M establishment changing format or opening close enough to compete directly with an established business. B&M businesses would therefore do well to remember rather than worrying about the vendor selling food on the street corner.

There are quite a few lists going around with Street Food as one of the top trends of 2009, which is great but also makes street food a target for much “jump the shark” talk in 2010. Street Food is less a trend than the a leading edge of a change in our relationship with the food. Street Food is simply at the front of this change because of a confluence of technology, the high cost of starting a restaurant, and a poor economy. A similar change once happened when the home cooked meals turned into restaurant cooked staples. Street food is not about carts, trucks, take-out windows, mobile restaurants or one-time supper clubs; Street Food is about giving people adventure, immediacy, intimacy with the food that they eat (and the people who cook that food), and a diversity of flavors that you can’t easily find in one restaurant. That trend isn’t going anywhere and, while the costs stay reasonable, neither is street food.

With that in mind here are some themes that might variously (and wrongly) be called “the death of the street food trend” in 2010.

1) Restaurateurs getting into the game:
Right now it costs between $8,000 and $110,000 dollars to start a mobile food business in California (you can get into it for less in other states). Even at the top end, a would be restaurateur would be hard pressed to get into a finished brick and mortar location for less than double that $100,000. Because of that, it makes sense that established industry folks would be interested in Street Food. So, why no big push?

The economics of Street Food work extremely well for supporting an owner operated cart (or truck). You can make a decent living if you serve good food and know how to take advantage of emerging tastes and trends. But scaling street food to multiple trucks, or multiple styles, is unproven because of labor costs, high capital requirements for kitchens and equipment and high variation in city and state laws governing this area. So, if a major restaurateur gets into street food, people may say that the trend is dead, but I say that will be when the area is going to get really exciting. Once someone figures out home to make real money through scaling mobile cuisine is when a lot of professional chefs that have been on the fence will know that they can have a road map to success that doesn’t include them working on the grill every day for the rest of their lives.

2) The Rise of Brick and Mortar Solidarity:
There is no doubt that friction is going to happen. There is already friction when a new restaurant opens on a street with an existing restaurant there. Competition in the food business is fierce, and it is true that carts operate with less overhead than their fixed fixed location peers. Restaurants are already an existing tax base, and it is easy to legislate away legal mobile food businesses, so why would the rise of trade groups be a boon for Street Food? Two Reasons: 1) It will force brick and mortar restaurants to focus on what separates them from their street food cousins; more complex cooking techniques, relaxed atmospheres, accessible bathrooms, and ability to compliment a meal with alcohol are just a few. Will there be some pressure for restaurants in the middle? Sure. But isn’t there already? 2) Trade groups would be wise to see that Street Food vendors are their future customers and members. It is to their benefit to learn how to work with these entrepreneurs, and failure to do so is at their peril.

3) Health Code Enforcement:
Renegade street food exists because it is so expensive to open a legal business. Some might see increased Health Code enforcement as the end of proper street food, but the reality is that stepped up enforcement can only happen with increased flexibility in regard to cart standards and construction costs. If that happens it will facilitate a streamlined process that will allow for significant expansion of the mobile catering market. If it doesn’t, the enforcement will cause a wide variety of interests to coalesce around a political solution to righting enforcement wrongs. And, when political blow back is involved, I pity the incumbents that stand in the way of progress. Either way, stepped up enforcement means a better, safer, more professional long term street food movement.

4) A Better Economy:
It might have been a poor economy that contributed to foodies discovering and starting unique street food in 2009, but those same pressures don’t simply go away when there’s more money in your pocket. Street Food serves a need for low priced, close proximity food. Those market forces won’t change, and neither will the start-up costs required to open a brick and mortar restaurant. If anything, a better economy might free up capital enough to allow professional chefs to more easily go it alone without significant investment from outside sources and open their own street food business. A better economy might mean that expensive wine starts moving again, but it doesn’t mean that the world is going to slow down. Thats street foods’ true niche.

5) Old School vs. New School Street Food Friction:
One of the lost stories of this year’s street food boom has been the large amount of street food vendors who have long been quietly working in this industry. Some produce great food, others produce less consistent food, but they do represent a group of people who have very few resources and work very hard to earn (barely) a living wage. As the barriers of out of date municipal regulations are removed around the country, there is going to be friction as strong vendors are separated by the quality of the goods that they sell rather than arbitrary limits on proximity between vendors. This friction doesn’t mean the end of the old school street food, but it could spell the end of the old way of operating; which is a win for customers who want quality and diversity of choices.

So cheers Street Food Vendors to a successful 2009. 2010 is going to be even better and don’t let anyone tell you any different.