Street food and innovation: the food truck phenomenon

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to focus on food truck phenomenon, a particular kind of street food service, identifying two categories of performers: “Traditional Food Truck” (TFT) and “Gourmet Food Truck” (GFT). This paper evaluates and compares the efficiency performance of the main actors. Design/methodology/approach – A sample of 41 food trucks in the Northwest of Italy was identified. A survey was carried out to determine the characteristics of the food truck and evaluate the efficiency performance of an output-oriented data envelopment analysis. Findings – The two kinds of food trucks provide different levels of efficacy: the data showed that 22 per cent of the food trucks operate efficiently with an average efficiency score of 0.80. The results demonstrate that GFT are more efficient than TFT and confirm that innovation is an important key to competitive advantage in this sector. Research limitations/implications – The data collected were related only to the food truckers that operate in the Turin area and the number of variables analysed is limited to certain aspects of production and selling processes. Practical implications – The results provided some managerial indicators to improve the level of corporate efficiency, operating on technical decisions. Originality/value – This is a pioneer study that analyses how a business based on the combination of tradition and innovation can offer a competitive advantage and strengthen a strong connection to its territory, improving corporate performance.