Food Truck

5 Food Truck Success Stories [2024]

Pat Walls

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Updated: October 6th, 2024

Food trucks are a highly profitable business that offers customers a variety of meal options out of a mobile truck. This basically operates inside a large vehicle equipped with kitchen and food products. Starting a food truck is a dream for many people, but it's more challenging than it looks. To make it work, you need the ideal location and menu.

To start a food truck business in a particular city, it is mandatory to check what kind of food trucks are already operating, identify a gap, and bring in some new experiences. Then, with the right plan and the right approach, you can be on your way to starting your own food truck empire.

In this list, you'll find real-world food truck success stories and very profitable examples of starting a food truck that makes money.

1. Food Fleet ($18M/year)

After struggling to find locations to operate their own food truck, the founder took over booking for other trucks and realized the need for a turnkey service for corporations. They used their 35 years of food service experience to provide solutions and help the trucks with everything from food safety to insurance. Their unique approach, along with their understanding of the hospitality business, has allowed Food Fleet to secure national contracts with major companies and achieve significant growth.

How much money it makes: $18M/year
How many people on the team: 6

How I Took Food Trucks Corporate And Built A $18M Business

Food Fleet grew over 160% in just one year and managed over 20 million in sales for its clients, securing multiple contracts with the likes of Sodexo, Levy Restaurants and more, due to its understanding of catering client needs and its advanced turnkey and design services.

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2. New York Food Truck Association ($2.4M/year)

Ben Goldberg, founder of the New York Food Truck Association, came up with the idea after realizing that the food truck events market in NYC was untapped. He pivoted his own food truck business to focus on events catering and corporate marketing, leveraging his industry expertise. Within the first year, the business did over $1 million in revenue with consistent 50%+ year-over-year growth.

How much money it makes: $2.4M/year
How much did it cost to start: $25K
How many people on the team: 5

How Starting The New York Food Truck Association Resulted In A $200K/Month Business

How a former food truck owner founded the successful New York Food Truck Association which generated over $1M in its first year of business, providing local vendors with high-margin ancillary revenue streams, and saw consistent growth of 50% YoY.

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3. Portable Chef ($744K/year)

Uri Attia, founder of Portable Chef, came up with the idea for his business out of desperation after losing his banking job in the 2008 financial crisis. With a passion for cooking and understanding the demands of busy New Yorkers, Uri saw the opportunity to provide customizable, healthy meals for his clients. Today, Portable Chef generates an average monthly revenue of $60,000 by making 25,000 custom meals a year.

How much money it makes: $744K/year
How much did it cost to start: $0
How many people on the team: 3

How I Started A $60K/Month Business Cooking And Delivering Custom Meals

New York food business founder goes from broke and desperate to cooking 25,000 custom meals per year with an average monthly revenue of $60,000, focusing on pleasing existing customers and word of mouth for new clientele.

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4. Roll Up Food Truck ($600K/year)

Roll Up Food Truck was founded by an entrepreneur who had a passion for being his own boss. After running various businesses, he decided to venture into the food industry, starting with a $2,700 trailer and selling gourmet egg rolls. The business quickly gained popularity, expanding their menu and growing to a five-person staff, with monthly revenues reaching an impressive $50,000.

How much money it makes: $600K/year
How much did it cost to start: $8K
How many people on the team: 5

How We Started A $50K/Month Food Truck In Colorado

Roll Up Food Truck started as a $2,700 trailer selling gourmet egg rolls in Widefield, Colorado in 2018, and has since expanded with a five-person staff and monthly revenues of $50k, due in part to a customer- and community-centric approach and emphasis on digital marketing and social media.

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5. Tap Truck USA ($360K/year)

Corbin and Taylor, childhood friends, came up with the idea for Tap Truck after combining their passion for craft beer and classic cars. They built their first truck together, named Bae, and launched the business in San Diego. Since then, Tap Truck has experienced significant growth, with annual sales doubling each year and expanding to 45 locations nationwide. They have plans to expand internationally as well.

How much money it makes: $360K/year
How much did it cost to start: $50K
How many people on the team: 8

How Two Friends Started A $30K/Month Business Selling Craft Beer From Vintage Trucks

Tap Truck, a mobile bar service that serves beer, wine, and cider from the side of classic trucks, has grown its family of locations from 3 to 45 in just four years, seeing year-on-year growth of double its San Diego sales, and is set to expand internationally.

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Read by 13,098 founders