A Wake Forest-based restaurants and food truck owner said he may have to close his mobile business because of a lack of customers in the COVID-19 era. | Adobe Stock
A Wake Forest-based restaurants and food truck owner said he may have to close his mobile business because of a lack of customers in the COVID-19 era. | Adobe Stock
The food truck industry underwent significant losses due to the COVID-19 pandemic in part because it lost access to a customer base.
Food trucks, unlike traditional restaurants, generally operate seasonally due to weather concerns. But the health crisis caused the cancellation of several large-scale food truck events this year.
Charlie Hamaty, the owner of Charlie's Kabob on Wheels food trucks and two Charlie's Kabob Grill brick-and-mortar restaurants in Wake Forest, is considering closing his food truck business since it no longer generates the higher income pre-coronavirus.
"We were going to close [the food truck] because it was really bad when the pandemic first hit," Hamaty told ABC 11 for its Oct. 12 report. "We're down about 80% with the trucks, restaurants we're down about 35 to 40%."
Hamaty used to utilize the big crowds in festivals like Wide Open Bluegrass and Brewgaloo to promote his brick-and-mortar locations.
"The truck when it's [in] downtown Raleigh, we're handing out menus for the restaurant," Hamaty told ABC 11. "We're out there marketing the restaurants to help the restaurants too. And this year, we weren't able to do any of this."
Additional costs are also accruing due to adjustments made to comply with the new safety protocols.
As North Carolina continues to reopen and people started to adapt to the precautions needed, his business started to see somewhat of a comeback.
"We're doing what we normally do on a daily basis [like we did] before the pandemic," Hamaty told ABC 11. "But we have to add a lot of extra steps just to have the general public feel more comfortable around the truck and the restaurant."
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