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WEDNESDAY EDITION
❘ JULY 12, 2017 ❘
SECTION B
Siuslaw News
Community Voices
F o od T ru ck Fa n c y
Florence-area food trucks
look to a flavor-filled future
B Y J ARED A NDERSON
Siuslaw News
“T
he ‘Big Bad Brian’ is layers of slow smoked,
juicy, mouth-watering beef brisket with just
a little bit of the fat still left on it so you get
that nice, luscious bite,” said Sammi Lewis of Craig’s
BBQ’s signature sandwich. “And the smoked bacon that's
crispy, but not too crispy, so that it crackles in your mouth.
And then the pulled pork. Oh my goodness...”
Lewis is also a fantasy writer, so
that passionate description went on for
another five minutes.
She knows how to sell a sandwich
through words, but she also wants to
sell Florence on the idea of food
trucks.
On Saturday, July 8, the “Food
Trucks for a Cure” event was held in
the Three Rivers Casino Resort park-
ing lot where Lewis, along with her
business partner Craig Hogan, served
the “Big Bad” from their food truck.
The event was envisioned as a food
truck festival, showing off eight to 10
food trucks from Florence and the sur-
rounding areas, all in support of Relay
for Life, coming July 22 to the
Florence Events Center.
That was the vision, at least.
“We brought in four food vendors,”
said Three Rivers Promotions
Coordinator Andy Tidball.
They were expecting more.
The reasons for the small turnout
were varied. Some out of town ven-
dors had plumbing troubles; others
had just entered the Great Umpqua
Food Truck Competition the week ear-
lier; and there was the Oregon Country
Fair occurring at the same time just 45
minutes away in Veneta, which fea-
tured a multitude of food trucks.
“This was a really bad date,”
Tidball admitted.
But hope was not lost.
Tidball figured 500 people showed
up to the event, an encouraging num-
ber, considering all the factors.
And the money raised for Relay for
Life was significant.
Ten percent of proceeds went to the
organization, and the casino matched
all donations that the vendors gave.
All told, the event raised $1,040.
“We will be doing this again next
year. Everyone had a great time and
we raised over $1,000. We are really
pleased about that. Now, we are look-
ing forward to next year and making it
bigger and bigger,” said Rich Colton,
director of consumer marketing at the
casino.
For the vendors who participated in
the event, they felt it proved some-
thing they had known for a long time:
Florence needs food trucks.
Hogan envisions a future where
food trucks become a driving force in
Florence’s economy.
“In Portland, and even now in
Eugene, they’re a draw for people,” he
said. “It’s a destination to bring people
into town.”
Lewis agreed.
“Florence is more than just C&M
Stables, Old Town, Sand Master Park
and the antiques district,” she said.
“There’s lots of stuff in Florence and
we need people to stay a little longer.”
The hope is to get a place in
Florence where multiple food trucks
would permanently gather, or a “pod”
— six to 10 trucks that would serve a
cornucopia of various culinary tastes,
ranging from gourmet burgers and
bold bbq sauces to exotic foods from
across the world.
And unlike brick and mortar restau-
rants, vendor competition in this set-
ting would be a benefit.
“I think having multiple trucks all
together would be more collaborative
than competitive,” said Stephanie
Crosthwaite, co-owner of Oregon
BoxLunch, a food truck that sits out-
side City Lights Cinemas on Highway
101. “We would all work together and
have menus that complimented each
other, instead of a bunch that had burg-
ers.”
The food truck craze began a num-
ber of years ago with TV shows like
Food Truck Face Off and The Great
Food Truck Race. What began as a fad
has turned into a viable opportunity
for chefs to show off their culinary
mastery with less risk.
An oft-stated myth says that 90 per-
cent of restaurants fail within the first
year. However, according to a 2014
analysis of 81,000 eateries over a 20-
year period, only 17 percent of the
standard brick and mortar establish-
ments failed within its first year. The
actual median lifespan is 4.5 years.
These high survival rates are for
larger businesses like a Red Lobster,
however. Smaller, independent com-
panies last an average of 3.75 years.
Cost is usually the biggest factor in
restaurant failure. The average startup
cost is $275,000, and that is just
upfront. With razor thin profit mar-
gins, insurance and salary concerns,
survival is difficult.
Food trucks, on the other hand, cost
half that to begin, according to Food
Truck Empire. Instead of an entire
staff of waiters, front of house man-
agers, dishwashers and cooks, a food
truck only needs a few dedicated peo-
ple.
So chefs are ditching the stores and
hitting the road.
Craig’s BBQ knows this first hand.
It originally started as a food truck
business. Hogan had a friend random-
ly gave him a smoker, which he used
as an opportunity to try out some fun
PHOTOS BY JARED ANDERSON/SIUSLAW NEWS
(Right) Craig Hogan, of Craig’s
BBQ food truck, smokes ingredi-
ents for his signature “Big Bad
Brian” sandwich at Three Rivers
Casino Resort’s “Food Trucks for
a Cure” July 8. Local food trucks
gathered to provide a taste of
the future while raising money
for Florence Relay for Life.
recipes. Soon, he was winning compe-
titions, and the accolades led to a fol-
lowing. His food truck was born.
It seemed only logical that they get
a permanent business, so he opened
Craig’s BBQ on Highway 101. But the
profits were narrow and, in his mind, it
just felt like work.
“We were always in the kitchen, we
didn’t talk to anyone,” Lewis said.
When the lease on the building ran
out and the original owners wanted to
reopen their own business, getting
back on the road was an easy decision
for Craig’s BBQ.
“We get to talk to people face to
face, which makes it so nice,” Lewis
said.
It’s that personal touch that the
Crosthwaites really enjoy.
“We also have the face to face with
customers,” Wayne said. “There’s
stuff lost in translation when you’re
dealing with a server. Here, we find
out exactly what you want and like.
There’s definitely more of a personal
attachment to the customers.”
Stephanie, Wayne’s wife and cook-
ing partner, agreed.
“We have customers that, when we
see people pull up, we know exactly
what they want and exactly how they
like it. I like that. Seeing the cus-
tomers, we become friends with them
over time,” she said.
Chefs generally don’t get to interact
with their customers, hidden in the
back of the house in sweltering
kitchens.
One of the reasons the Crosthwaites
love cooking is seeing people’s faces
when they try their food: the smiles,
and the camaraderie that a well-made
meal can create.
For them, food isn’t just suste-
nance. It’s a connection with those
around them — a sense of communi-
ty.
That
immediate
connection
between cook and culinary connois-
seur is what the food truck owners
want to make an experience in
Florence.
While these establishments have a
good connection with local cus-
tomers, getting the word out to
tourists can be challenging. Scattered
about in disparate parking lots hidden
from view, a pod wouldn’t just be a
tourist destination, but would help in
the food trucks’ survival.
So the Florence trucks are begin-
ning to organize.
“I know there’s a Las Vegas com-
pany that bought the property in front
of the Old School Furniture where I
originally had my food truck,” said
Hogan. “We’re trying to talk with
them to see if they would be interest-
ed to have us park there. They could
put power in so there isn’t the noise
of all the generators. Easy parking,
easy in and out. And that would draw
more businesses up the highway.”
Currently, A Taste of Hawaii is the
only truck residing in the parking lot.
Owned by chef Christian Jakobsen
and his wife Natasha, the truck offers
authentic Hawaiian-Asian fusion del-
icacies, including Spam Musubi.
COURTESY PHOTOS
JARED ANDERSON/
SIUSLAW NEWS
(Left) Wayne Crosthwaite with
Oregon BoxLunch enjoys the
personal interaction he gets
with customers while operat-
ing the food truck near City Lights Cinemas. (Above) From
sandwiches to sushi, food trucks feature a variety of locally-
made dishes and fresh ingredients. (Right) Three Rivers Casino
Resort’s “Food Trucks for a Cure” raises $1,000 for the upcom-
ing Florence Relay for Life on July 22.
Tidball sees the casino getting into
the game as well. He said he hopes
that the casino could have a yearly
food truck festival — on a better date
of course.
“In a perfect world, next year I
would have 15 food trucks and 1,000
people. I think we can pull that off,”
he said.
Hogan would like to see this turn
into a full-blown head to head com-
petition with the trucks.
“I told them we should do a
‘Chopped’ competition,” he said.
“They bring out ingredients and (the
different food trucks) have to make
something out of it.”
And the competitors? A gaggle of
Florence food trucks taking a small
break from their successful commu-
nity pod, going head to head with
Oregon’s most acclaimed food trucks.
Until that happens, Lewis contin-
ued her description of the “Big Bad
Brian.”
“And then its all topped with a
toasted bun. Oh my goodness, you
get the crunch, you get the sweetness
and you get the spicy. You get all
those luscious flavors together. It’s
like heaven on a bun,” she said.
Craig’s BBQ is located at the cor-
ner of Highway 101 and Maple Street
in front of Pro-Lumber.
BoxLunch is located at 1930
Highway 101 in front of City Lights
Cinemas.
A Taste of Hawaii is located at
1499 Rhododendron Drive in front of
Old School Furniture.