So, it’s 2012 and what does the blog’s crystal ball predict we will all be eating over the next twelve months? Last year, I reckoned that 2011 would turn out to be the year of the pie but that seems to have been wishful thinking rather than sound analysis.
In 2012, I suspect that we might be seeing more mobile food trucks in operation. Scotland’s weather isn’t quite as food-truck-friendly as that of Los Angeles but if London can stage a Food Truck Festival then there is surely space for an enterprising entrepreneur to start the ball rolling north of the Border?
Some people do very well with food trucks at festivals and, in Edinburgh when all the August festivals are in full swing, there is everything from pots of mussels to pizza on offer in the streets.
][2]North Berwick’s Lobster Shack is heading in the right direction but, as its not mobile, it doesn’t quite fit the picture.
One of the reasons why food trucks might yet take off in Scotland is the continuing bleak economic outlook. An upmarket restaurant can take a large chunk of cash to fit out. A food truck can be up and running for about £60k. Not pocket change by any means but the sort of sum that might just be covered by the redundancy payout of someone keen to be their own boss.
The cash squeeze is also likely to mean a rise in fast casual restaurants. Already a fast growing sector in the States, these are restaurants that have sit in facilities as well as take out but they aren’t fast food outlets.
Instead, the food is prepared to order and, usually, several cuts above the box standard offerings of the big fast food chain. Think along the lines of Pinto or Martha’s in Glasgow.
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