By Sarwat Nasir
Khaleej Times, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
WWR Article Summary (tl;dr) A new Youtube series follows the adventures of four food truck owners in the UAE. One of the participants says she is taking part in the show to highlight the “reality” of food trucks and the hard work that goes into it.
DUBAI
The first episode of a drama-documentary on food truck operators in the UAE, which follows the journey of four food truckers, has been released on YouTube.
The show, titled Truckers of Arabia, aims to show the culture of food trucks in the country and their growth over the past couple of years.
There will be nine episodes in season one, with a new one being released each week on YouTube.
“The purpose of the social media show is to chronicle the exciting roller coaster journey of the founders of four of the first food trucks which emerged in the UAE. The show captures their individual growth to being a successful food truck entrepreneur from their erstwhile backgrounds. In a way, they set the path for the mainstream food truck culture in the UAE,” the producer of the show, Aasim Shaikh, said.
One of the participants in the show is Cara Davies, who owns the GObai food truck. She launched her official food truck in 2015 and was one the first five trucks to emerge in the country.
She said she is taking part in the show to highlight the “reality” of food trucks and the hard work that goes into it.
“We also want to share or journey so other people can learn from our experiences or simply enjoy the drama and chaos we face day in day out,” Davies said.
“Today, there are over 100 food trucks in the UAE and a lot of them set up ‘shop’ not only because of the novelty of having a food truck, but because people only see the good side of running a food truck operation. Don’t get us wrong, it is great fun, but there is a lot that happens in the background and it is not everyone’s ‘cup of tea’.
“We have seen so many businesses start off and very quickly close as they realise that it is not as easy as one thinks. It’s definitely not just turning up and selling — there is a lot that happens in the background. This is what we want to show the people — raw, realistic and spill the beans on what we go through every day, which will hopefully help budding entrepreneurs and fellow food truckers alike.”
In the teaser of the first episode of the show, viewers can see another food truck owner, Abrar Salama, saying that she spent all her savings in the food truck and now she’s “stuck”.
Salama owns food truck Bio Bean and launched it two-and-a-half years ago. Her aim for the show is also to highlight the hard work that goes into operating a food truck. More information is available on Facebook.com/TheTruckersOfArabia
