Today we’d like to introduce you to Moon Mehmood.
Moon, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
While on a trip to a few countries in Asia, I saw how street food was embedded in the fabric of their cultures. Street Food was always within walking distance or it would simply come to you in the form or a cart or a truck. It was informal, delicious, and above all, convenient. I wanted to bring that to the streets of one of the most diverse cities in the US, Houston, TX.
This journey began with opening a small food truck park called Food Street, in the heart of Midtown, Houston. Unlike our sister city Austin, Food Trucks were still a novelty in the Houston area when we first opened. It was rewarding to see how food united people. No matter what color, race, religion, or political affiliation someone identified as they would always enjoy trying foods originating from all across the globe.
One day while randomly surfing the internet, I came across an article that addressed School Lunch Debt and how students who owed school lunch debt were having to eat only peanut butter Jelly Sandwiches until their debt was paid. That really got to me. I thought to myself there has to be a way to help this situation. So I came up with the idea to service schools while giving them a percentage back to put towards paying school lunch debt. We approached several districts throughout the Houston area and almost immediately got a great response back. From there, I began building upon my relationships from the Food Truck Park to other Food Truck Owners and operators, and The Mobile Food Co. was born. From serving schools to offices and luxury apartment complexes, we began to diversify our portfolio.
When Covid hit, while many businesses in the food sector were struggling, our business model really was a perfect match. We pivoted our focus from schools and offices to apartment complexes since almost everyone was bound to doing everything from home. Around March of this year, some of our partnering companies informed us that all events and services were to be canceled until further notice. They, however, quickly reversed their decision when they realized that this was an ideal way for their residents to get restaurant-quality food right from their doorsteps without added fees of other food delivery services. It was a win-win-win situation for everyone involved. While following safety precautions, we brought gourmet street eats, bars, and even grocery trucks to apartment complexes all across this great city.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Being an entrepreneur and having gone through starting up several businesses, the one thing I’ve learned is that the key to success in any space is going to be relationships. People work with people, who they like, they know, and whom they can trust. If you’re transparent in what your companies goals are and what you intend to do to achieve them, getting others to believe in you and work with you in that journey becomes a whole lot easier.
With that being said, I don’t think any business comes without challenges. The biggest challenge we have to overcome daily in the world of scheduling food trucks is time. You know the saying, “Time is Money” could not be more true in our space. Time is key in every aspect our business, including but not limited to ensuring trucks that go out for service arrive on time, our communication between the trucks and our clients is sent out in a timely fashion, facilitating our clients with our food trucking schedules for their property with enough time to market and promote them for a successful turnout, and last but not the least replacing trucks in record time sometimes when breakdown issues or scheduling conflicts occur. Time management is of paramount importance to secure the success of every shift served!
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about The Mobile Food – what should we know?
My company, The Mobile Food Co. is a food truck scheduling service. We pair gourmet food trucks with premier properties within the greater Houston area. Although we started out as only working with Mobile Food Units, we’re now expanding our fleet to all types of Mobile Services. Everything from mobile pet grooming services to car detailing to groceries. If it’s Mobile, we can bring it to your doorsteps.
What sets our company apart from others is that we focus on luxury! We cater to luxury and strive to bring the best there is out in our marketplace. Gone are the days when Food Trucks were known as “roach coaches!” Our food trucks serve a wide array of cuisines with a gourmet level of execution. Just ask our illustrious list of clients as well the chefs that run these restaurants on wheels.
As a company, we’re most proud of the recognition factor that we’ve brought into this industry. Although we aren’t the first in this space, we most definitely were the first to recognize food trucking partners for excellence across service metrics. Every month, we award one food truck as our Food Truck of the Month. No one had ever done that before. It’s a small gesture of appreciation and recognition, which is more than well deserved. We select our Food Truck of the Month, based on many KPI’s, including but not limited to customer service, client feedback, time management, sales reporting, communication, etc. This gesture not only recognizes those that strive for excellence with their Food Truck business but also solidifies our relationship with them.
Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
The one person that definitely helped me when I first got started in this business was Sean Jaehne of Food Truck Spaces. I had met him back when I first opened my Food Truck Park, Food Street, in Midtown. He was already doing scheduling for food trucks as well as Pop-Ups at local Farmer’s Markets back then. When I first reached out to him and let him know that I was coming into this space, he offered to help in more ways than one. He helped to connect me with food truck owners and operators, included me in his network without hesitation, for that I will always be grateful to him. Not many people who know you’ll eventually be a competitor will willingly help you out.
Another was Zack Elbay of Texas Cart Builder. Zack in the inner circles of the Food Truck Industry here in Houston and beyond, was introduced to me as the “Godfather” of Food Trucks. I quickly realized why he’d earned that title. His company had a solid reputation for doing quality work when it came to the building, fixing, customizing, and really anything food trucks. When I first met with him, he was so incredibly nice and welcoming and gave me support whenever I needed it.
We also got immense support from Camden Properties when we first started. The very first property that we ever signed on as a client was Camden Post Oak. From there, we grew our portfolio and got so many referrals from sister properties that within a few short months, we were servicing about 75% of all Camden Properties located in the Greater Houston Area. We got most of them as clients via word of mouth referrals, which in itself is always a great compliment for any company.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.TheMobileFoodCo.com
- Phone: 7133960881
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/themobilefoodco/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theMobileFoodCo/
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/the-mobile-food-houston
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Image Credit:
Manny Dhaliwal and Shahbazz Anwerr
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