Now that you have established your start up food truck business, the next step you are considering is joining a local food truck association. You think that since you already have all your time dedicated to running the truck, you won’t have time to attend meetings and such. But this is exactly one of the objectives of a food truck organization. It is there to help you and represent you in industry advocacies as well as legal and regulatory compliance issues and concerns. Which I am sure you would need during these times.

According to Wikipedia, “An industry trade group or trade association is basically an organization founded and funded by businesses that operate in a specific industry. An industry trade association participates in public relations activities such as advertising, education, political donations, lobbying and publishing, but its main focus is collaboration between companies, or standardization.”

Food truck associations serve as the face as well as the collective voice of all its members. It does public relations work by promoting and protecting the image of all its members and the industry as a whole. It is there to help educate the public and other stakeholders on the benefits that the industry and its members can bring to the community. These mobile food vending associations can also answer any issues that may concern their members.

It is also there to build a healthy working relationship with other stakeholders in the food industry such as local government officials, other businesses, patrons and peers. It is there to lobby for industry friendly laws, as well as collaborate with regulatory bodies to review existing codes, ordinances, procedures and enforcement to develop rules and regulations that can address industry needs better.

Collaboration among members is also another important benefit since associations are a great resource of first hand experiences in running a similar business.

Standardization is also another concern of associations. The name of the organization assures consumers that a certain degree of quality or level of standard is carried by all its members. This is also the reason why trade groups have rules that members should abide by, since you are also carrying the name and reputation of the association by being a member.

See our list of regional food truck groups as well as the newly formed National Food Truck Association here.