SAUDI ARABIA

Restaurant on wheels

More and more young Saudis entering food truck business

July 22, 2017

Saudi Gazette report

IT is a growing trend among young Saudi men and women today to set up their own small retail businesses on colorful trucks, selling food and beverages, rather than waiting around to be given a job.

Food trucks run by young Saudis can be seen in many areas of all major cities and the social stigma associated with this kind of work no longer exists, Al-Riyadh daily reports.

The people who run the trucks offer a variety of food and drinks they prepare themselves, such as shawarma, burgers, sweets, various juices, tea and coffee.

Muwayed Al-Salih, who graduated from the College of Tourism and Archeology, has been running a food truck for eight months.

“I discovered that it is a lucrative business. Saudi young men and women who did not luck into finding a suitable job should start a similar business selling food on streets. There is nothing disgraceful about that. On the contrary, they will discover that it is a profitable business,” he said.

Maram Muhammad, who runs a food truck, makes chicken and beef burger meals.

“Daily profits can reach SR500 and sometimes more. I am glad my family encouraged me to take a chance and start my own business, which I like very much and plan to grow. I do not see anything wrong selling food on the streets and am not ashamed. I go to college in the morning and sell food off this truck in the evening,” she said.

A Saudi medical student and his brothers made headlines earlier this year when they started selling waffles and crepes from a trolley on the streets of Jeddah to fill their free time and raise some extra cash.

Mustapha Jouhari, a student at King Abdulaziz University in Jeddah, said the waffles and crepes cart was actually his father’s idea.

“Our father is like our friend. He suggested we try this project and it has been successful considering the idea is new in our society,” Jouhari told Al-Arabiya.

Jouhari said he and his brothers were not ashamed of working on a cart, and he said their friends had even voiced their support for what they were doing.

The brothers share the workload by splitting the day between them, so each works a separate shift.

Jouhari and his brother Mohammed, also a medical student, work on the cart after their university lectures. They work around five hours a day and more hours during their vacations and days off.

Mona Al-Samreen, who graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Islamic Studies, runs a food truck in the Al-Sahafa neighborhood of Riyadh. Her daughters help her run the business by making tea and coffee for customers.

“It is a profitable business. Everyone who tries our food likes it and comes again. This makes us happy. We are very strict about hygiene and ensure that we put on gloves when making food and drinks,” said Al-Samreen.

Hissa Abdulmannan, a high school graduate, runs a food truck together with her parents and two of her brothers. The menu includes a variety of sandwiches, juices, drinks and burger meals.

“I prefer to make and sell food than sitting at home doing nothing. One should not give up if they cannot find a job. Do not listen to people who try to discourage you from running a small business like a food truck because if you listen to them you will never achieve anything in your life,” she said.

Abdullah Al-Yahya, who earned a diploma in English after high schools, agrees. He said running a food truck could generate a decent income," said Al-Yahya.

“I run a small food truck and make a lot of money. I am really happy about it. Most of my customers are young men and women. If anyone asks me about this business, I encourage them to follow suit and start a similar one,” he said.

Riyadh Municipality has regulated food truck business based on the number of license applications submitted by Saudis who wanted to run a food truck.

“The municipality issued food truck licenses to 160 applicants and assigned them areas in the city. The municipality runs regular inspection visits to ensure that everyone complies with hygiene requirements,” said Dr. Falah Al-Dawsari, director of environmental health in the municipality.

Economic researcher Saud Al-Shaherni said the stigma associated with working in certain fields no longer a problem in Saudi society.

Shaherni said even though such embarrassment still existed in some circles, it was no longer a major problem like it was in the past when it prevented many young men from performing certain jobs.

He said a decrease in the number of work opportunities was leaving young men to become more self-reliant to make money by developing new projects.

He added that this was a healthy phenomenon. Shaherni also expressed the hope that these efforts would receive support from government and economic institutions through providing funding and low cost loans.


July 22, 2017
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