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I n an industry where client expectations are on the move as quickly as culinary trends, staying relevant can be a full-time job. Enter the food truck: part mobile kitchen, part branding machine, and 100% crowd- pleaser. Once the scrappy cousin of traditional catering, food trucks have evolved into polished, chef-driven powerhouses. Now, they’re not just complementing high-end events—they’re starring in them. “First they were pulling their kids away from the food trucks, and now they’re hiring them for that same kid’s birthday party,” said Roy Choi (Kogi Korean BBQ) during Catersource + The Special Event 2022 (where he delivered the closing keynote). Food trucks are on a roll Food trucks have moved well beyond the street corners and music festivals where they first earned their reputation, now becoming key players in the catered event space. They’re pulling up to weddings, corporate galas, private parties, and even upscale fundraisers. “People want unique experiences,” says Sean Pals (ACT 3 Catering/Twelve Baskets Catering; ACT 3 Catering owns and operates the El Koreano food truck). “While catering can be incredibly creative, there’s nothing quite like a food truck rolling up at the end of the night with hot, late-night snacks. It adds a cool factor that elevates the event.” "When you have a very detailed event with all the bells and whistles, there are expectations,” adds Melissa Nelson (Nelly Belly Woodfired Pizza Food Truck ), “but when you’re dealing with something more casual and they're watching you cook in real-time, there just tends to be less complaints.” Last year, food trucks were a $1.8 billion industry (and is expected to grow to $6.8 by 2028), according to Pals (who delivered a session on food trucks during Catersource + The Special Event 2025; for details about On Demand Content access, send an email to CS-TSERegistration@informa.com). There are currently 35,000 active food trucks within the U.S. “It’s a huge market and there’s a lot of demand,” says Pals. “It might sound like a lot of trucks, but when you spread that out across the entire country, it’s actually not very many.” Caterers can be on the road to success with the addition of food trucks
CATERSOURCE ■ SUMMER 2025
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