Food trucks are becoming a more frequent choice of catering for events large and small. Popular for their ease, flexibility and cost-effectiveness, many event organisers are leaning towards a more casual dining style for their big day. Whether you’re planning a wedding, hosting a corporate dinner, putting on a blowout unique themed party or something else, we’re here to go through the pros and cons of food truck catering for your event, to help you narrow down the options and decide if it’s the right choice for you.
Let’s take a quick look at food truck catering: the pros and cons.
Pros:
- Cost Effective, Pay-As-You-Go Method
- Great For Setting An Informal Tone
- Flexible Catering Model
- Adaptable For Guests & Event Styles
Cons:
Pros Of Food Truck Catering For An Event
Cost Effective, Pay-As-You-Go Method
With traditional sit-down dinners or help-yourself buffets, the total quantity of food has already been prepared (and paid for) ahead of time. Food trucks generally tend to prep their ingredients, but don’t cook individual items until they’re ordered. This minimises food waste and helps ensure you only pay for what’s consumed. Rather than a three-course meal, your guests are eating smaller, lighter bites, which tends to bring down the total cost spent on catering – a great way to save money if you don’t anticipate food being the main event.
Great For Setting An Informal Tone
For some events, a sit-down meal can stifle the atmosphere, and make things feel more formal than you want them to. For example, a work Christmas party or fundraising gala can make people a little uncertain over how much they’re supposed to let loose. Your guests will immediately relax if they see food trucks dotted around, as they symbolise a casual attitude to your style of hosting, which can have an impact beyond the catering itself.
Flexible Catering Model
When you have food trucks around, people can eat as much as they want, whenever they’re hungry. People tend to get peckish later on during evening events, especially at weddings and birthday parties when lots of dancing and socialising is involved. Satisfy their midnight cravings with a fuss-free option that keeps the party going, rather than slowing it down. Food truck meals tend to be quick bites and boxes that can be wolfed down on the spot with a napkin.
Adaptable For Guests & Event Styles
Food trucks come in all shapes and sizes, just like the events we host here at Canvas House. Select cuisines to match your theme or the preferences of your guests. You can easily add more food trucks for larger events without delaying the roll-out, and therefore expand the number of food options offered. You can choose to have entirely vegetarian or vegan food trucks, stick to one cuisine, or create a melange of international foods.
Cons Of Food Truck Catering For An Event
Allergen Risks
You don’t have the same level of control when it comes to food preparation and allergen exposure in small food truck spaces as you do in a commercial kitchen space, such as you’ll find in our beautiful Melbourne venue. However, licensed food trucks should display their food safety and hygiene certifications so you can feel confident that none of your guests will be adversely affected. Alternatively, you can opt for food trucks which don’t use specific ingredients to guarantee you won’t have to worry about specific high-risk allergies, although this might limit your menu variety.
No Seating Options
One of the downsides of food truck catering is that they don’t automatically come with seating options. Whether it’s stools, benches or outdoor picnic tables and chairs, it can be handy to have a place to perch while dealing with your food truck fare. Seating can easily be arranged with your venue or sorted through an external supplier, but it’s another cost you’ll have to factor in when assessing the price of hiring a food truck for your event.
Restricted Menu
Food trucks tend to have limited menus due to the small amount of food preparation space they’re working with. If guests don’t like the cuisines or ingredients they’re supplying, some might be left hungry at the end of the night! Of course, you run this risk if you’re hosting an event with pre-set menus too, but keep in mind that you want to ensure there’s something most people would be happy to eat.
Lack Of Staffing
Typically when opting for food truck catering, you’ll be hiring the chefs and vendors that operate from within the truck. This could range from a team of one to a small handful. In peak periods where everyone decides to eat at the same time, you might end up with long queues and wait times. Something else to consider is the lack of wait staff roaming the venue. For some events, such as milestone birthday parties, this might not be of such importance. But for more formal situations, you might want to hire a couple of roaming waiters or bartenders to clear empty plates and glasses and keep stocking items like napkins, cutlery and ice.
Catering Food Trucks For Events?
Catering can eat up a huge portion of any event budget, so if you’re looking to secure an economical solution for feeding your hungry guests without sacrificing quality, food trucks can be a great, trendy alternative. However, if your heart is more set on a formal event (or the setting calls for it), food trucks can change the atmosphere of your event space into an environment you’re not so keen on.
For more tips on catering for weddings and other events, or to enquire about hosting your next function at Canvas House, contact us today. We can put you in touch with some of Melbourne’s finest local suppliers and catering teams, or work with your favourite chefs and food truck owners to organise a seamless set-up. Our large double doors can fit small vans and food trucks right into the centre of our indoor space or courtyard, providing a casual dining set-up to add a delicious flavour to your event.
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