Page 34 - TBN-2015-5

Nicholas K, Business Development /Operations Manager of Bubu Food Truck
Unlike restaurants, Nicholas said food trucks were tightly focused on their customers, inter- acting closely and intimately with patrons every day, both in person and through the extensive use of social media. “We are able to obtain direct feedback from them, which gives us the instant insights into menu and food preferences. It is with the spread by word of mouth that has helped us to gain popularity amongst the foodies.”
Nicholas said they planned to expand the busi- ness, which currently had 8 employees includ- ing two chefs. For the Klang Valley, Nicholas re- vealed that they were looking to increase by up to 10 trucks. By year end, they would add at least 3 trucks on the road to operate in Penang, Lang- kawi and Melaka respectively.
“We have confidence in the Fuso Canter and we are comfortable working with Hap Seng Star at Puchong Kinrara, where we bought our truck.
They provide us with good after- sales service and a personal touch.”
Nicholas said they wanted to build a strong base here so that they could expand to Cambodia next year. “We have no intention to expand through franchising. Thus, all the food trucks will be owned by Bubu and our aim is to venture into other Asean coun- tries.”
In challenges, Nicholas said many people thought that the food truck business had pretty low overheads as compared to the brick and mor- tar restaurant, which he said was untrue. Nicholas explained that if you worked out the overheads such as truck operating cost, office rental and labour cost, there was not much of a difference.
“At the moment, there is no licence from the local councils to the fea- tures of the food truck business and the majority of food truck operators operate with caution. They would have to drive away if the enforce- ment officers come around. It is clear that we wanted to be licensed. The MSA Sdn Bhd, one of the food truck associations in Malaysia that has 40 members, is currently in the process of finalising the regula- tions before proposing them to the authority. This would include allow- ing food truck operators to operate within 7 to 10 designated zones.”
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我们能够直接从他们那里 取得回馈，了解他们对我 们菜单的看法和他们对食 物的偏好。客户在试过我 们的食物后认为好吃就口 传，我们就这样在食客中 建立起知名度。”
尼古拉斯透露他们有扩充 生意的计划。目前，他们 一共有8名员工，包括两名 厨师。在巴生河谷方面， 尼古拉斯说，他们计划增 加到10辆卡车。今年年 底，他们将添加3辆卡车， 分别在槟城、浮罗交怡及 马六甲运作。
“我们对扶桑Canter有信 心，而且我们与位于蒲种 Kinrara 的Hap Seng Star 合作起来的感觉很舒服。 我们的卡车就是向他们购 买的。他们所提供的售后 服务非常有人情味。”
尼古斯拉表示他们想要 在这里建立起强大的基 础，以便在明年扩展到柬 埔寨。“我们无意通过特 许权经营的方式扩充。因 此，所有的美食卡车都将 是Bubu自己持有的，我们 的目标是拓展到东盟的其 他的国家。”
谈到挑战，尼古拉斯说许 多人以为与实体的餐厅相 比，美食卡车的间接成本 相当低，其实不然。尼古 拉斯解释说，如果你计算 一下当中的间接成本如卡 车营运成本、办公室的租 金及员工成本，你会发现 相差不多。
“目前本地的市议会没有 制定有关美食卡车的营业 执照，大部分本地的美食 卡车营运者因此必须谨慎 地运作。如果执法人员前 来，他们就必须将卡车开 走。我们想要有营业执照 是相当明显的。MSA私人 有限公司是马来西亚美食 卡车营运者的其中一个公 会，目前我们拥有40名会 员，并且正在进行有关美 食卡车法令的最后确定， 以便向执政者提呈建议 书。这包括容许美食卡车 在7至10个指定的区域运 作。”