Why the food truck boom could be over

Fred Stern's worst day of trading for his food truck was at a market in Coburg last year.

"There were about seven food trucks and for the entire day maybe 100 people came through in eight or nine hours of trading," he says. "There was a $140 fee to be there and I know some of the vendors took as little as $20 for the day, we took $200 but then we had staffing costs and the cost of food."

End of the boom

Stern and many other food truck owners believe the food truck boom is over.

A few years ago food trucks were in hot demand with customers tracking them on apps and social media to find out where the trucks would turn up.

But the popularity of food trucks has led to a surge in the number of people running food truck businesses with the Australian Mobile Food Vendors Group estimating there are 3,000 food trucks in Victoria, up from 1,500 two years ago.

This has resulted in increased competition and decreased returns for food truck owners.

As well as his own food truck, The Little Spring Roll Company, Stern also runs a mobile food industry training course and he says times are tough.

"Food truck vendors are reporting drops of up to 50 to 80 per cent of income they made just a year ago," Stern says. Read more