The impact of COVID-19 will result in significant declines in foodservice sales for 2020. While restaurant operators shift focus to exclusively off-premises service to help soften the blow, expect the overall sales decline to be deep and potentially unprecedented.

Lesson Learned: Food trucks can test-drive a concept and build a solid customer base before a brick-and-mortar restaurant opening.

Lesson Learned: Use a combination of food truck and brick-and-mortar business to maximize daypart potential, boost revenues and grow a larger customer base.

These days it's all in — the right way — or bust. A few years after the food truck boom swept the industry and the nation, the segment shows no signs of stalling or slowing, but the competition is a survival of the fittest. Those who planned their concepts, menus, operations and mobile kitchens well from the get-go and adapted along the way now operate in the fast lane. The rest have suffered — or shuttered.

Lessons Learned: Use food trucks to bring more diverse food offerings to customers in underserved areas, and stabilize or boost revenue during periods of renovation.

Whether providing meals for hungry disaster relief workers at remote locations or bringing revenue-building retail outlets to highly trafficked areas, mobile foodservices require specialized equipment packages to serve customers safely.