In Vancouver, the idea of street food seems to be synonymous with “cheap food”, and, as result, many popular food trucks struggle to stay in business. — Rob Newell
Follow Me Foodie: Is Vancouver’s street food overpriced or underappreciated?
Mijune Pak — WE Vancouver
July 14, 2014 03:20 PM
Vancouver is one of North America’s strongest food cart cities, and it takes the lead in Canada with over 100 mobile eateries. But while there is an advantage to being on the West Coast, where weather is moderate, it’s still a struggle to stay open year round, and many can’t afford to do it.
Just like our summer, food carts come and go, and many of the operators I’ve talked to (at least 40) pray to make it another year. Some even work a couple of jobs to sustain their food cart business.
It’s a labour of love and customers don’t always see the “behind the scenes” or have sympathy for it. Well, enough sympathy to want to pay more for it… In fact, price often comes up when discussing Vancouver’s street food scene. Relative to other North American food truck cities, like Portland or Austin, which are casual, Vancouver’s food truck scene is posh – with prices to match. Read the full story.
See my other WE articles:
- Follow Me Foodie: New Year, New Food.
- Follow Me Foodie: lighten up with these low(er)-cal alternatives
- Follow Me Foodie: Do’s and don’ts of Dine Out Vancouver
- Follow Me Foodie: The ‘real deal’ on Dine Out Vancouver menus
- Follow Me Foodie: Symbolic foods to usher in Chinese New Year
- Follow Me Foodie: Mexican Food in Vancouver
- Follow Me Foodie: Valentines for the Vancouver singles
- Follow Me Foodie: How to handle diners’ complaints
- Follow Me Foodie: Vancouver’s first 100% Ocean Wise sushi
- Follow Me Foodie: Should food photography be allowed?
- Follow Me Foodie: New York’s hidden gems & underrated restaurants
- Follow Me Foodie: Main Street’s top Asian offerings
- Follow Me Foodie: All hail the Alaskan King Crab
- Follow Me Foodie: The Downside of Farming Downtown
- Follow Me Foodie: An egg hunt for Easter – Must try egg dishes in Vancouver
- Follow Me Foodie: Tips on Urban Gardening
- Follow Me Foodie: Afternoon Tea VS High Tea
- Follow Me Foodie: Scones VS Biscuits
- Follow Me Foodie: What to eat at the Richmond Night Market?
- Follow Me Foodie: No shame in doggie bags (Is packing up food more shameful than wasting?)
- Follow Me Foodie: Don’t cream dairy industry
- Follow Me Foodie: Your Guide to Great Greek
- Follow Me Foodie: Food festivals worth travelling for
- Follow Me Foodie: A trip though BC’s Napa Valley
Those prices look about the same as they do here in Vermont.
Thank you for this article. It always irks me when people compare the food truck scene in Vancouver to other countries where the trucks deliver dirt cheap food. You do the purveyors of these trucks a great service in pointing out the extremely high costs there are in operating, insuring, hiring, etc…. there are for them. Plus, the demand for fresh quality ingredients. Most of these food trucks support local growers and producers as well so their costs are quite high since they are not just using mass produced low grade ingredients. I honestly enjoy the oppurtunity to sample creative foods without the commitment of having to set aside an hour or more of my time in a restaurant. Plus I can try things on my own without having a have a dining partner…. something I’m less inclined to do if I want to try out a menu at a restaurant.
The big things that stands out to me is “Many food trucks are actually meeting the above criteria (and more or less need to if they want a good chance at getting a permit), but the value isn’t registering with customers.”
The problem isn’t really about consumer understanding then, it’s about being forced to buy something we don’t want because of city/permit mandates (eg. I understand what local ingredients are, but when I want street food I have no interest in paying for it). It would be better if it were not up to the city to determine what “belongs” and just let consumer demand dictate. Then you’d have a better mix of high and low price with more variety.