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By Kevin McKenzie of The Commercial Appeal



Erik Proveaux planned a trip to Miami to bring back to Memphis this week a second Fuel Cafe food truck.

Proveaux, the owner and head chef of Fuel Café, catering and food trucks, said he landed the contract to cater the production of the “Million Dollar Quartet” television series in Memphis. He’ll need the second food truck to handle demand with the weather now luring potential customers outdoors.

He and several other food truck owners parked at the Memphis Cook Convention Center for the first Great River Indoor Food Truck Festival last Saturday are savoring the future of the industry in Memphis.

“Well, the future of the food truck industry here in Memphis is that it’s exploding,” said Derrick Clark, chef and entrepreneur at A Square Meal on Wheels food truck and Square Meal Café.

The universe of local food trucks is large: The Health Department currently licenses about 290 in Shelby County, said department spokeswoman Elizabeth Hart.

Keith Paul, president of the Memphis Food Truckers Alliance, said it’s possible that there are that many on file.

“We are seeing more and more food trucks, but at the same time we’re seeing food trucks going out of business,” Paul, who operates his own Cariflavor Caribbean cuisine food truck, said today.

“Too many of the same menus,” Paul said. “You have a lot of barbecue trucks.”

One of the chief factors fueling the industry is that employers consider it a plus to have food trucks available for employees’ lunch, cutting down on the time workers spend away from work, he said.

“And also the food is affordable,” Paul said.

At the convention center, owners said competition will weed out some entrepreneurs attracted to the growing industry.

Clark advised consumers to look for health department inspection scores that should be available, as well as local and state identification numbers that he prominently displays on a front fender of his truck.

“Right now you see a food truck on every corner, but don’t be fooled by the overnight guys that just come up and just say, 'Hey, we’ve got a food truck,' ” Clark said. “You want to just make sure that they are a legitimate food truck.”

Clark said food truck owners share food safety advice, such as “when in doubt, throw it out,” to avoid an incident that could affect the industry.

“The challenges are going to be keeping everything in line, making sure that everybody is keeping their quality up,” said Eric Meyers, chef and owner of Eat at Eric’s Grill and Catering food truck.

“But I think that’s going to be self checking,” Meyers said. “Those who don’t keep up their quality are simply going to find themselves out of business.”

Watch the Business Q&A video to see food truck owners' views of the future for their industry.





Our weekly Business Q&A answers your questions about business and customer service in Memphis. Have a question? Submit it to Kevin.McKenzie@commercialappeal.com.