Food Truck Economics Article Assignment 1
After reading Food Truck Economics, an article from Priceonomics, I answered nine questions in relation to Food trucks and the economy. In the following article I discuss topics regarding the effects of food trucks on product possibility and supply and demand curves. The recession and the influence of social media on food trucks are also a topic of discussion.
Question 1
With the popularity of food trucks on the rise, we found that they are disrupting the production possibility curve for the restaurant and meal industry. Food trucks are now offering great meal options which cost less than the same meal at a sit down establishment. They are admitting to using organic ingredients with a result of lower
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Food truck services are indebted to prep their meals in a certified kitchen. The article states “Commissaries, kitchens that rent out space to food entrepreneurs, have begun catering to food trucks, offering places to park and re-charge the trucks in addition to cooking facilities” (Priceonomics, 2013). Food truck meals and commissary space and services are complements to each other. This is due to the fact that an increase in food truck demand results in an increase in demand for kitchen space for said food trucks. If demand increases and supply remains constant we can expect to see a higher value on the quantity and price axes. Therefore, an increase in demand results in an increase in the equilibrium price and quantity. This can be viewed in the above …show more content…
The article tells us that bad weather for a food truck can cut sales from fifty to seventy-five percent of total sales. A solution to beating unpredictable weather is offering more services like catering. This does not always require good weather, but a good selection of food for the party being catered.
Question 7 Food trucks offer a wide variety of meal selections at a lower cost compared to restaurants. This is one reason for an increase in demand in dense rural areas. A larger populated area is also an explanation for a higher demand. However, the government was tormented by the cries of restaurant owners suffering due to the competition of food trucks. They made it nearly impossible to acquire a food truck permit. It would take eight years to receive the permit after applying for it while the cost has also increased substantially to make this investment seam undesirable.
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