A new program at North Carolina’s Blue Ridge Community College will see food trucks deployed on campus to serve lunch and snacks to students.

According to local reports, the college solicited letters of interest from local food truck vendors in the surrounding communities of Hendersonville, Asheville and Brevard to fill out the roster of participating merchants. Today marks the last day for prospective food truck vendors to submit their letters of interest for the new program.

Food trucks represent a growing trend in campus dining services, with a number of institutions taking to the mobile eateries in recent years. The food truck program at Blue Ridge is still in its infancy, as key considerations like seating and power for the trucks are still being sorted out. The college will, however, take pointers from a previously successful deployment at its Transylvania campus where the food truck merchant became a mainstay for hungry students.

Parameters for food trucks

According to Blue Ridge’s official statement, the college is soliciting letters of interest for food truck vendors for its Henderson County Campus in Flat Rock, NC, and the Transylvania County Campus in Brevard, NC. BRCC’s Brevard campus serves roughly 500 students, while the campus at Henderson County campus has 1,800 credit students along with continuing education students.

Per the college’s parameters, successful food truck vendors must be completely self-contained and meet the minimum sanitation standards required by the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources. They must also sell Pepsi products while on campus to meet the college’s exclusivity agreement with Pepsi.

The college is expected to rotate the successful food truck vendors on a set daily schedule Monday through Friday each week, excluding days the college is closed. Blue Ridge Community College also prioritizes establishing relationships with local merchants whenever possible. The college regularly encourages participation from local merchants to the establishment, preservation and strengthening of small businesses, as well as businesses owned by women and minorities to encourage their participation in college procurement activities.

Although official locations for the food trucks have not yet been finalized, college officials intend to station the trucks in a central location on each campus in highly trafficked student areas.