Food truck owners in Saskatoon and Regina say they’re being cautious before serving up summer eats as the COVID-19 pandemic continues.
Marla Mullie, owner of Rebel Melt Food Truck in Saskatoon, is currently preparing to serve up their grilled cheese sandwiches on wheels for a sixth year.
“As far as I understand it, we’re able to open. It’s just… we’re not going to have any events, we’re not going to have anything with big crowds,” Mullie said on Tuesday.
“Our current permit is good until the end of May, so we can open… Hoping in the next couple of weeks.”
Mullie said they’ll be following public health guidelines for COVID-19 once back in operation.
“We’ll have to limit the number of staff inside the truck. Normally, we would have three or four on a busy day, sometimes more for the big events. So we’ll have to limit that to maybe two people,” she said.
“We’re looking at doing some kind of an online or text ordering system… and we’re looking at having like a table set up outside for someone to take orders and payments.”
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The owner of Rebel Melt Food Truck said she’s been in contact with other members of the Saskatoon Food Truck Association (SFTA) about the 2020 season.
Prairie Smoke & Spice BBQ owner Rob Reinhardt said his food truck has been running seasonally in Regina since 2012.
“We don’t usually get it running until about the middle of April once it’s nice enough on a consistent basis. We don’t have to worry about things freezing up and we run it until about mid-October,” he said on Tuesday.
This year, his food truck is back in business serving southern-style barbecue in the Queen City with some changes.
“We started operating last week, actually. We are not going out every day. We’re taking it easy and just trying to figure out our long-term approach to this summer,” Reinhardt said.
Reinhardt said Prairie Smoke & Spice BBQ has implemented new protocols and safety procedures.
“On the customer service side… we have new signs in place that place prominently in front of the line to remind people about social distancing. We have windows in places on our food truck to minimize the amount of airflow that goes in and out of the service window,” Reinhardt said.
“We have highly visible markers on the ground that we pick up and take with us from location to location. And, we’ve implemented new contactless payment this year as well.”
Global News also spoke with two other Regina food truck operators who said they’re not opening due to the pandemic.
Questions about COVID-19? Here are some things you need to know:
Health officials caution against all international travel. Returning travellers are legally obligated to self-isolate for 14 days, beginning March 26, in case they develop symptoms and to prevent spreading the virus to others. Some provinces and territories have also implemented additional recommendations or enforcement measures to ensure those returning to the area self-isolate.
Symptoms can include fever, cough and difficulty breathing — very similar to a cold or flu. Some people can develop a more severe illness. People most at risk of this include older adults and people with severe chronic medical conditions like heart, lung or kidney disease. If you develop symptoms, contact public health authorities.
To prevent the virus from spreading, experts recommend frequent handwashing and coughing into your sleeve. They also recommend minimizing contact with others, staying home as much as possible and maintaining a distance of two metres from other people if you go out.
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