San Diego's Very First Gourmet Food Truck Festival SoCal's Hip Gastronomic Trucks Join Together for a Day at the Del Mar Fairgrounds, Hosted by MFTVA

SAN DIEGO, CA, March 10, 2011

San Diego is kicking off its very first San Diego Food Truck Festival for a daytime event on May 7, 2011 at the Del Mar Fairgrounds, featuring over 50 of Southern California's finest gourmet food trucks. The event, hosted by the Mobile Food Truck Vendors Association (MFTVA), a professional organization for mobile food truck vendors and food truck enthusiasts with its head office in San Diego, will headline with local San Diego trucks and will also feature trucks from Los Angeles and Orange County. MFTVA will donate at least 10% of the profits from the event to a local food-based charity. Saturday, May 7 is also Derby Day at the Del Mar Fairgrounds.
In the past few years, a new wave of food trucks has emerged, making food trucks the latest and hippest niche in the foodie world. These trucks are not the "roach coaches" of days of yore. These are sophisticated gourmet eateries where the food happens to be made in a kitchen that operates inside a truck. Food trucks today stand behind impressive menus with not so average menus, sometimes focusing on a particular cuisine such as Greek or BBQ, or fusion fare such as Korean-Mexican, or a dedication to one entire food category, such as shrimp, or the promise of farm to market organic ingredients. San Diego is home to a handful of food trucks including the Miho Gastrotruck, Joe's on the Nose, Tabe BBQ and the Cohn Restaurant Group's Chop Soo-ey.
The food truck phenomenon began in Los Angeles, and is still growing with 300+ trucks and has spread quickly to New York, Austin, Boston, Chicago, Denver, Washington DC, Portland, San Francisco and Seattle, among others. New York City has a 2+ year waiting list for food truck permits. A recent Food Network reality show, hosted by Tyler Florence, followed 8 food trucks across the US, where the trucks began their challenge in San Diego.
MFTVA's Alissa Walters explains the origin of this mobile food generation, "The food truck is an impressive product of leaner economic times. Well-educated and experienced chefs discovered the largely untapped opportunity of the mobile food vending world, with startup costs that can come at a fraction of the bricks and mortars model." Walters adds, "It makes sense that food trucks are out and about now because they are a natural outcrop of a socially connected world where truck fans can follow their favorite trucks on Twitter to learn the truck's stop that day or when a certain dish has sold out." Fans are known to form block-long lines once the latest spot of a celebrated truck is revealed.
Food trucks are also a result of the current national interest in quality food. Walters reflects, "Foodies are everywhere and we as a nation have an increasing appreciation for sophisticated, novel and innovative food." The Food Network recently launched the Cooking Channel, which airs shows that decidedly cater to food enthusiasts who appreciate the art of cooking and offbeat, local fare. The new food truck community is no exception and truly embraces this appreciation for meaningful food. Walters iterates, "It's not just a meal. It's an experience. The truck comes to your street corner, makes you a hand-crafted, one of a kind snack right in front of you, all with fresh ingredients and a lot of love."

If you'd like more information or to schedule an interview on this topic, please contact Alissa Walters at 858-550-4757 or email her at awalters@mftva.com.