By Anaam Alruwaidhi, Reporter
OMAHA, Neb. – Small businesses have been growing in Omaha in the last years, especially food trucks. According to the Omaha Food Truck Association, there are more than 30 food trucks in the Omaha metro area. However, cold weather and the recent pandemic have been a threat to the industry.
The weather is starting to cool down, which will affect food truck owners and may keep them from growing their businesses. Most of the food trucks have to shut down during winter because the cold weather affects their trucks and the food inside of them.
“The temperature went down, so everything inside the truck exploded. So I had to clean and I had to close the next day. I lost a lot of money because I couldn’t open the truck the next day,” said Ahmed Al-Ramadan, Zaytuna food truck owner.
The weather also affects the number of costumers buying food from food trucks.
“Not too many people will want to stay outside and freeze while waiting for their food,” Al-Ramadan said.
The recent pandemic has also affected the food trucks because some people would rather eat at home.
Dr. Xiaoming Yang, a UNO professor in business and marketing, offered some solutions that could improve food truck business in these situations.
Since people will mostly stay at home, providing a delivery option will make it easier for customers to get their food from a food truck while staying at home.
“Social media marketing will be much more important than just traditional marketing channels. So learning how to market themselves on social media could be a big help,” Yang said.
Yang said prepackaging the food or having food products that last longer will also be helpful in Omaha’s cold weather.
Food trucks will likely continue to grow in the Omaha metro area even though they face these difficulties.
