Fort Collins Food Truck Rally: A Q&A with the Organizer and Creator
Fort Collins Food Truck Scene features a variety of quality food on the go from a growing community of local owners and operators. Food Truck Culture is a growing passion and industry to many food lovers and creators that want to share their food passion anywhere. Sarah Ladley, owner of Ba-Nom-A-Nom food truck and Fort Collins Food Truck Rally organizer shows the difficulties and rewards of this event. I’ve got the chance to speak to her over the phone and email as she shares her experience of executing this event meanwhile, describing the food truck industry as a whole.
Q: State your name and what your business (Ba-Nom-a-Nom) is? Also, what do you do?
A: My name is Sarah Ladley, Ba-Nom-a-Nom and I also organize and execute the Foco Food Truck Rally. I am the owner of both of these companies, so I do a lot of things. I can elaborate if you want? I founded Ba-Nom-a-Nom in 2012, so this was my 10th year in business. The Foco Food Truck Rally has a long history, going back to 2012, but I made the event what it currently is now in 2015 and it has been evolving ever since.
Q: What is the Fort Collins Food Truck Rally?
A: It is a weekly event with 15–20 food trucks and live music, free to the attendees. This event is paid for by the trucks/vendors who participate in the event, making it free for the community. It is not a city-sponsored event, some people are confused and think the City of Fort Collins runs the event, it is organized and ran by me, and I am grateful to have so many awesome vendors on board to participate and make the event possible/a reality.
Q: How was the Fort Collins Food Truck Rally this year? Were there any unique moments within your food truck experience?
A: The food truck rally was great, we had record attendance. It was a miracle it ended up getting put together, as, with all of the Covid shutdowns, it did not seem like the event was going to be able to happen for the second year in a row. I worked tirelessly in May to make sure it did happen and was able to pull it off. It normally takes me MONTHS to plan the event (I am starting NOW-October to plan for 2022), so if you can imagine pulling it all together in a matter of a few weeks, in addition to having to pay attention to new Covid protocols was a daunting task. It was well worth the effort and sacrificed sleep because the event was a huge success this year. I am not sure if your question about unique moments is to do with being at the food truck rally specifically or just in general about owning a food truck business. I have a lot of stories so do not want to digress too much.
Q: What makes a Food Truck unique compared to a sit-down restaurant’s option?
A: We are able to go to large events (like concerts and festivals) and do catering for companies wanting to do something special for their employees. It is a different feeling than getting catering delivered, or taking everyone out to eat. Food trucks are a perfect hybrid and have a very specific use/purpose. If you order food for 300 people and have it delivered, it is going to be a different experience than those 300 people being able to walk up to the truck and order a fresh meal. There are pros/cons to the food truck, and there are pros/cons to a brick and mortar (sit-down restaurant). Generally, I would assume restaurants are somewhat dependent on their catering side of the business for revenue, it is the same for food trucks, the experience is just very different for the customer depending on what they are trying to achieve.
Q: How is the Food Truck Industry overall? Can you explain your experience and decision in this industry?
A: It is a rapidly evolving industry. When I started in 2012, there were only 4 food trucks in Fort Collins. And we were kind of…. “illegal”. There was nowhere for us to go other than breweries. Different municipalities throughout Colorado have realized that food trucks are not direct competition to brick and mortar restaurants, and have embraced the new industry and helped food trucks be able to get licensed and able to vend in their city. It’s really a crazy life though, summer is SO busy, I am working 80+ hours a week, and then the winter is slow. Since my product is ice cream, we close in the fall and open again in the spring. Some trucks stay open year-round to keep their spots at breweries/regular spots. I started my business because I am passionate about healthy eating, and my product is a healthy alternative to ice cream and frozen yogurt. I started as a food truck because it was less overhead/upfront capital needed (I was 23 so, getting a huge loan for a brick and mortar was not even really an option…!). Now I am so deep into the industry that I am not sure I would even want a store due to the overhead costs. There are a lot of things that make it difficult to expand in this industry, but overall it has been a fun experience. Definitely not for the faint of heart. Food truckers are some of the hardest working and passionate people I have ever met in my entire life.
Q: Are most Food Trucks in Colorado Based that come to these events? How about yours?
A: Yes, you pretty much need to be CO-based to have the correct licensing to participate in CO events. My business is CO-based.
Q: Anything else you would like to share or promote?
A: Happy to answer any other questions. I have been doing this for 10 years and have also sat on some boards to have food truck policies be changed (fire licensing mainly). I really have much more I could talk about but I do not want to digress from your report.
