At the start of last week, Erik Oostdam from foodtruck De Lekkerik received an email from Facility Services informing him that TU/e has reconsidered its policy on foodtrucks, and that he would no longer be welcome on the terrain as of this week. Oostdam, who ran  the food counter Local Heroes in Atlas together with fellow foodtruck proprietor Paul van Schaik until the end of May, was surprised by the decision and by the short deadline he had for discontinuing his activities. Monique Kuyck acknowledges that the email was not correct and says that Oostdam now has until the end of September to find a new spot for his foodtruck.

Kuyck explains that the decision to ban foodtrucks for the time being follows from the fact that neither of the foodtruck proprietors had a contract with current caterer Vitam. Kuyck: “Those contracts were signed with caterer Eurest at the time, and Vitam did not take over these contracts after the transition of the catering contract at the start of this year. That means they stood on the terrain without a contract for about six months. Not very surprising, because at that time, Oostdam and Van Schaik started Local Legends, a food counter in Atlas for which they both did have a contract with Vitam.”

However, Oostdam and Van Schaik terminated their collaboration at the end of May and Oostdam subsequently decided to set up his foodtruck on campus once again. Van Schaik says that he still has a contract with Vitam for operating Local Legends that will expire by the end of this calendar year. He expects that this contract will be renewed after the turn of the year.

Self-reliant

Monique Kuyck says that TU/e will consider how it wants to continue with the foodtrucks coming winter. “Do we still want foodtrucks, how many, where should they be located and which requirements should they meet regarding hygiene and the range of their assortment? We will decide in consultation with Vitam, but also with Real Estate Management and the quality commission in charge of campus. Vitam will once again need to enter into a contract with the various proprietors and take charge of inspections. Another important demand: the foodtrucks need to be energy self-reliant. So, no more jumble of cables anymore to connect them to our power unit. And we can always consider organizing this ourselves should Vitam prove unwilling to collaborate on this.”