Food Trucks to the Rescue
by Mike Curtis
on 16/08/2016
Food Trucks have found it very difficult to make their mark in Rio. But despite their struggles with hostile petitions in snobby neighbourhoods, fickle customer demands and unhelpful regulations they were called in to support the official Olympic catering facilities last week to feed the huge number of spectators visiting the games.
The embarrassment for the organisers was caused after a shortfall of official catering facilities on the first few days, which left spectators grumbling about long queues, inflated prices and empty stomachs.
The food trucks, of which there are 150 in Rio with their short, simple menus are more agile and adept at handling peaks of demand. Spectators were waiting hours not minutes for their food, but the arrival of the food trucks helped to alleviate the pressure and they were able to serve up their cheap dishes much faster.
There is hope that this experience will open the eyes of the authorities to the importance of this sector for the city and change people’s views and perceptions about what street food is and the importance of food trucks.
