Restaurant on wheels pulls in in Sweden

They can already be found in USA and in London. We have seen them on TV, on reality shows and in movies. They sell everything from fast food to gourmet food and coffee. Mobile restaurants, also known as food trucks, are making their entry in Sweden. Löfbergs Lila is one of the pioneers. 

For a year, Löfbergs Lila's food truck, Lila Hy, has been wheeling around Sweden to let the Swedes taste coffee. In 100 days, we have served 75.000 cups of coffee and travelled 8.424 kilometres. Next, Lila Hy will show up on the culinary exhibition Mitt Kök in Stockholm on November 10-13.

- We can see that the trend with food trucks is here to stay. For us, it is a perfect way to meet people when they are longing for coffee. But also for trying new ideas and strengthen our relation to new as well as loyal customers, says Leif Sjöblom, marketing manager at Löfbergs Lila.

Hot trend
A food truck is a vehicle with a built-in kitchen or café from where you can serve food or drinks directly to passers-by. The trend is hot in New York, where you can find food trucks specialized on waffles and Wiener schintzels for example. In its latest report, the American restaurant association, NRA, predicts that the trend will continue to grow.

- I believe that the food trucks are so popular thanks to their mobility and the possibilities to reach out to people you do not usually meet. For us, it is first and foremost about giving people the opportunity to experience our coffee and taste their way to their favourite, says Leif Sjöblom.

Better dialogue
Lately, the guests have been able to compare Löfbergs Lila's Crescendo, a full-bodied coffee with a powerful aroma, with Kharisma that also has a clear character but is a bit milder.

- We have gotten very postive response. It is very interesting to hear more about why the guests like one coffee or the other. All of a sudden, we have the opportunity to have a direct dialogue with our customers about flavours at the same time as we can answer questions about our products, says Leif Sjöblom.

French bread truck from 1960
Lila Hy is an old renovated Citroën from the 1960's. It is a wink to the history of Löfbergs Lila, which started for more than 100 years ago with importing cars from Citroën among other things. During the past year, the old jewel has been rolling to Stockholm, Karlstad, Göteborg, Uppsala, Sälen, Åre, Visby, Båstad, Jönköping, Skaraborg, Östersund and Luleå. 

- We have used our Facebook page to let people know where we go next. It has worked really well. We have met a lot of nice people and have also gotten many great comments about our coffee as well as our beautiful car. We will now sit down and think about how we want to develop our concept further, says Leif Sjöblom.

For more information, please contact:
Leif Sjöblom, Marketing Manager, Löfbergs Lila, +46 (0) 54-14 01 42

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The Lila Hy food truck in numbers 2011 

• Car: Citroën Hy
• Model: 1960
• Previous use: Bread truck in France
• Its function today: Café on wheels with coffee tasting
• Days out on the field: 100 days
• Number of kilometres: 8.424
• Number of times for jump-starting the car: 78
• Number of customers: 2 per minute
• Number of served cups of coffee: About 75.000
• Places we visited: Stockholm, Karlstad, Göteborg, Uppsala, Sälen, Åre, Visby, Båstad, Jönköping, Skaraborg, Östersund and Luleå
• The most thirsty town: Visby