Daily Archives: May 7, 2012

Food trucks: Possibilities and pitfalls to consider

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Rolling out a food truck can offer a foodservice entrepreneur a wide variety of options and, equally, a lot of headaches, attendees at the NRA Show were told Saturday.

Ross Resnick, founder of the food-truck-locating RoamingHunger.com website, offered a variety of tips to succeed in the growing foodservice segment in a panel entitled, “Roll Out the Right Way: Starting a Successful Food Truck Program”

“It’s an industry that is in its infancy,” said Resnick, whose website is one of the most thorough trackers of food truck growth. “It’s a brand-new business.”

Since 2009, the number of trucks listed on the Roaming Hunger website has grown 710 percent, to more than 2,300, Resnick said. And food truck growth is anticipated to grow another 260 percent by 2014, he said.

While pioneering food trucks like Kogi BBQ in Los Angeles succeeded easily a few years ago, the landscape has become much more congested. Food trucks are less unique, Resnick said.

“You can’t be successful on the basis of being a food truck alone,” he said.

The popularity of food trucks has moved beyond the most populous urban centers of Los Angeles, New York and San Francisco to smaller cities. Resnick said his top five cities for food truck growth are: Indianapolis, Ind.; Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minn.; Philadelphia; Raleigh, N.C.; and Tampa, Fla.

Success depends on many factors, he added, but among them are differentiated branding, a reasonably sized menu, a good selection of sales locations, a strong social media presence and patience when it comes to growth.

“These brands are being built very slowly,” Resnick said. Many have found success in teaming with other operators to provide informal food-truck malls and also by joining the growing number of local food truck associations, which can now be found in such cities as Chicago, New York and Philadelphia, and such regions as Southern California and the District of Columbia.

In addition, Resnick said, food trucks need to develop a catering program to expand the meal occasions and revenue-stream stability. With regular catering income, a truck can better survive the rough road of inclement weather and other business drawbacks. “Catering is what’s going to pay your bills,” he said.

Because they already face at least four regulatory hurdles, including health permits, business licensing, parking restrictions and zoning laws, food trucks with alcohol beverage sales have been few and far between.

“If you could figure out the drive-thru daiquiri truck, I think you could do pretty well,” Resnick said with a laugh.

Major Walmart shareholder urges rejection of key board members at annual meeting

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May 3, 2012
NEW YORK — It’s looking like Walmart’s upcoming annual meeting is going to be a bittersweet affair as the company observes its 50th anniversary against the backdrop of an unfolding Mexican bribery scandal and an appeal from a major shareholder this week urging a no vote on five board members.

New York City comptroller John Liu, who oversees five New York City pension funds that hold 5.6 million Walmart shares, is encouraging fellow Walmart shareholders to vote against the re-election of company directors including chairman Rob Walton, president and CEO Mike Duke, former president and CEO Lee Scott, Marriott CEO Arne Sorenson and Christopher Williams, chairman and CEO of the investment bank Williams Capital Group. Liu’s office issued a detailed press release on Tuesday that spells out the rationale for such action, sent a letter to Walmart dated Wednesday, May 2 and then on Thursday Walmart disclosed the letter in a filing  with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

“We are taking this extraordinary step in light of the recently reported cover-up in 2005 and 2006 of alleged widespread bribery in Mexico – which occurred at the same time the audit committee was stonewalling repeated shareowner demands for a comprehensive, independent compliance review – as well as our more general concerns with the board’s independence,” Liu wrote in the letter.

Liu was elected comptroller two years ago and essentially functions as the CFO of the City of New York. In that capacity, he is continuing the work begun by is predecessors to promote improved compliance with regulatory affairs at Walmart. Liu contends the board’s audit committee on which Williams and Sorenson serve has failed shareholders based on the New York Times article from April 22, which detailed an alleged scheme of payments to Mexican officials to accelerate store openings.

“The audit committee’s failure with respect to legal and regulatory compliance is especially troubling given that, in three separate letters between May 2005 and May 2006, then-NYC Comptroller William C. Thompson, Jr., joined by other institutional shareowners, requested that Wal-Mart’s audit committee retain independent counsel to conduct a comprehensive review of Walmart’s legal and regulatory controls and issue a report to shareowners with findings and recommendations,” according to Liu’s letter to Walmart.

While Liu makes some points that appear valid and documents efforts (http://comptroller.nyc.gov/press/walmart.html) by predecessors to improve regulatory compliance at Walmart, the letter reeks of grandstanding on the part of an aspiring politician. Liu surely knows how well it plays with key segments of the New York City electorate to be seen as taking a hard line with Walmart. Liu also knows, as do all shareholders who read Walmart’s proxy statement, that no shareholder initiative has any chance of passing without the support of the Walton family which now controls nearly 50% of the outstanding shares following years of aggressive share repurchase activity. What’s Rob Walton gong to do? Vote against himself.