Mobile catering is the business of selling prepared food from some sort of

vehicle A vehicle (from la, vehiculum) is a machine that transports people or cargo. Vehicles include wagons, bicycles, motor vehicles ( motorcycles, cars, trucks, buses, mobility scooters for disabled people), railed vehicles ( trains, trams ...

. It is a feature of

urban culture Urban culture is the culture of towns and cities. The defining theme is the presence of a great number of very different people in a very limited space - most of them are strangers to each other but still try to be polite to each other more times ...

in many countries. Mobile catering can be performed using

food truck A food truck is a large motorized vehicle (such as a van) or trailer, equipped to cook, prepare, serve, and/or sell food. Some, including ice cream trucks, sell frozen or prepackaged food; others have on-board kitchens and prepare food from scrat ...

s, trailers, carts and food stands. Many types of foods may be prepared. Mobile catering is also used to provide food to people during times of emergency.

Variants

A food cart is a motorless trailer that can be hauled by

automobile A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people instead of goods. The year 1886 is regarded ...

, bicycle, or hand to the

point of sale The point of sale (POS) or point of purchase (POP) is the time and place at which a retail transaction is completed. At the point of sale, the merchant calculates the amount owed by the customer, indicates that amount, may prepare an invoice f ...

, often a public

sidewalk A sidewalk (North American English), pavement (British English), footpath in Australia, India, New Zealand and Ireland, or footway, is a path along the side of a street, highway, terminals. Usually constructed of concrete, pavers, brick, stone ...

or park. Carts typically have an onboard

heating A central heating system provides warmth to a number of spaces within a building from one main source of heat. It is a component of heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (short: HVAC) systems, which can both cool and warm interior spaces. ...

and/or

refrigeration The term refrigeration refers to the process of removing heat from an enclosed space or substance for the purpose of lowering the temperature.International Dictionary of Refrigeration, http://dictionary.iifiir.org/search.phpASHRAE Terminology, ht ...

system to keep the food ready for consumption. Foods and beverages often served from carts include *

Hot dog A hot dog (uncommonly spelled hotdog) is a food consisting of a grilled or steamed sausage served in the slit of a partially sliced bun. The term hot dog can refer to the sausage itself. The sausage used is a wiener ( Vienna sausage) or a f ...

s and other

sausage A sausage is a type of meat product usually made from ground meat—often pork, beef, or poultry—along with salt, spices and other flavourings. Other ingredients, such as grains or breadcrumbs may be included as fillers or extenders. ...

s in the United States (see

hot dog stand A hot dog stand is a business that sells hot dogs, usually from an external counter. Hot dog stands can be located on a public thoroughfare, near a sports stadium, in a shopping mall, or at a fair. They are often found on the streets of major ...

) *

Taco A taco (, , ) is a traditional Mexican food consisting of a small hand-sized corn- or wheat-based tortilla topped with a filling. The tortilla is then folded around the filling and eaten by hand. A taco can be made with a variety of filli ...

burrito A burrito (, ) is a dish in Mexican and Tex-Mex cuisine that took form in Ciudad Juárez, consisting of a flour tortilla wrapped into a sealed cylindrical shape around various ingredients. The tortilla is sometimes lightly grilled or stea ...

s and other Mexican-style food that can be held in the hand, thus lending the name ''taco truck'' or, in Spanish, ''"lonchera"'' *

Halal ''Halal'' (; ar, حلال, ) is an Arabic word that translates to "permissible" in English. In the Quran, the word ''halal'' is contrasted with '' haram'' (forbidden). This binary opposition was elaborated into a more complex classification k ...

food such as lamb or chicken over rice, or in a gyro *

Ice cream Ice cream is a sweetened frozen food typically eaten as a snack or dessert. It may be made from milk or cream and is flavoured with a sweetener, either sugar or an alternative, and a spice, such as cocoa or vanilla, or with fruit such as ...

and other frozen treats *

Coffee Coffee is a drink prepared from roasted coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content. It is the most popular hot drink in the world. Seeds of ...

bagel A bagel ( yi, בײגל, translit=beygl; pl, bajgiel; also spelled beigel) is a bread roll originating in the History of Jews in Poland, Jewish communities of Poland. It is traditionally shaped by hand into a roughly hand-sized ring from yeaste ...

donut A doughnut or donut () is a type of food made from leavened fried dough. It is popular in many countries and is prepared in various forms as a sweet snack that can be homemade or purchased in bakeries, supermarkets, food stalls, and fran ...

s, egg sandwiches, ''e.g.'', bacon, egg, and cheese, and other breakfast items *

Pig roast A pig roast or hog roast is an event or gathering which involves the barbecue, barbecuing of a whole pig. Pig roasts, under a variety of names, are a common traditional celebration event in many places including the Philippines, Puerto Rico ...

often served in a bread bun or baguette with apple sauce or sage & onion stuffing. * BBQ popular food items include burgers, sausages and chicken. Mobile catering for Indian railways

A catering truck enables a vendor to sell a larger volume than a cart and to reach a larger market. The service is similar; the truck carries a stock of prepared foods that customers can buy.

Ice cream van An ice cream van ( British) or ice cream truck (North American) is a commercial vehicle that serves as a mobile retail outlet for ice cream, usually during the spring and summer. Ice cream vans are often seen parked at public events, or nea ...

s are a familiar example of a catering truck in Canada, the United States and

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. A

or mobile kitchen is a modified

van A van is a type of road vehicle used for transporting goods or people. Depending on the type of van, it can be bigger or smaller than a pickup truck and SUV, and bigger than a common car. There is some varying in the scope of the word across t ...

with a built-in

barbecue grill A barbecue grill or barbeque grill (known as a barbecue or barbie in Australia and New Zealand) is a device that cooks food by applying heat from below. There are several varieties of grills, with most falling into one of three categories: gas-fu ...

deep fryer A deep fryer (also referred to as a deep fat fryer), is a kitchen appliance used for deep frying. Deep frying is a method of cooking by submerging food into oil at high heat, typically between temperatures of . While commonly used in commercial ...

, or other cooking equipment. It offers more flexibility in the menu since the vendor can prepare food to order as well as fresh foods in advance. A vendor can choose to park the van in one place, as with a cart, or to broaden the business's reach by driving the van to several customer locations. Examples of mobile kitchens include taco trucks on the

west coast of the United States The West Coast of the United States, also known as the Pacific Coast, Pacific states, and the western seaboard, is the coastline along which the Western United States meets the North Pacific Ocean. The term typically refers to the contiguous ...

, especially

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most populous urban ...

, and

fish and chips Fish and chips is a popular hot dish consisting of fried fish in crispy batter, served with chips. The dish originated in England, where these two components had been introduced from separate immigrant cultures; it is not known who created ...

vans in the

. These vehicles are sometimes dysphemistically called " roach coaches" or "ptomaine wagons". A concession trailer has preparation equipment like a mobile kitchen, but it cannot move on its own. As such it is suited for events lasting several days, such as

travelling funfair A traveling carnival (US English), usually simply called a carnival, or travelling funfair (UK English), is an amusement show that may be made up of amusement rides, food vendors, merchandise vendors, games of chance and skill, thrill acts, ...

Uses

FEMA - 23703 - Photograph by Patsy Lynch taken on 04-13-2006 in Missouri

In addition to being operated as private businesses, mobile catering vehicles are also used after natural disasters to feed people in areas with damaged infrastructure. The

Salvation Army Salvation (from Latin: ''salvatio'', from ''salva'', 'safe, saved') is the state of being saved or protected from harm or a dire situation. In religion and theology, ''salvation'' generally refers to the deliverance of the soul from sin and its ...

has several mobile kitchens that it uses for this purpose. Mobile catering vehicles have also provided a niche for advertisers to target the working population and general audience. With a wide variety of display options, lunch truck advertising has exploded into a successful marketing venture for many companies, including Outdoor Ad Systems, LLC and

Roaming Hunger Roaming Hunger is a food truck booking service that allows people to find food trucks in real time, book trucks for upcoming events, and engage food trucks for advertising and promotional purposes. It was founded in 2009 by Ross Resnick. History ...

. Mobile catering is popular throughout

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

, though sometimes can be unprofitable.

References

{{Street food Catering Restaurants by type Street culture Food trucks

Variants

Uses

See also

References