Food truck initiative aims to attract visitors

A variety of new sweet and savoury treats will be on offer in Yarragon next month when the Yarragon Food Truck Village opens for business.
The food truck village is the first of its kind in Baw Baw Shire, hosting eight different vendors with a variety of cuisines.
Set to open for business in early December, the Yarragon Food Truck Village site will be open every day from 7am to 11pm. Each vendor will set their own opening times.
Property owners and food truck village organisers Doreen and Fred Simonic said the food truck village would capture business from passing highway traffic and provide new food options for Yarragon locals to enjoy after other hospitality businesses had closed for the day.
"All that passing traffic, it just keeps passing if we haven't got anything to offer them," Doreen said.
"I think that Yarragon will benefit because if visitors are stopping, they're then going to look at the shops, walk around town, stretch their legs."
Doreen and Fred have owned the block off the highway for a number of years, wanting to utilise it in a way that would benefit from the passing traffic.
After a holiday in New Zealand where they visited a number of food truck villages in tourist towns, Doreen said they had a "light bulb moment" about how they could use the block.
"We thought it was perfect for that (a food truck village)," she said.
"It's got the service road that takes you straight off the freeway, it's right at the lights so people would you know, be stopped there and see it. We've also got access to a really large body corporate car park at the back, so there's rear access as well."
The food truck village will feature eight different vendors, all offering different cuisines.
"We've got an awesome mix of savoury and sweet, so there's going to be something for everyone," Doreen said. "All our vendors were really enthusiastic, once I started putting the call out to see who might be interested, they just came flooding in. I've actually got a waitlist now."
Three of the food trucks were custom built by Doreen and Fred and have been rented out to vendors for a six month period. The other trucks will come in a month at a time.
"They'll come in for a month, and they'll have first choice if they want to stay," Doreen explained. "If they decide to move on, then someone else will come in."
Doreen said the project had been well supported by Baw Baw Shire, local councillors and Member for Narracan Wayne Farnham.
"The planners at Baw Baw Shire have been excellent to deal with and they've kept us informed along the way," she said. "It's been a tricky one to navigate, but everyone's worked together to achieve a great result."
Doreen said the Yarragon community had also shown its support and was "really enthusiastic" about the project.
"They've been patient, it's been quite a lengthy process, we've had quite a few hoops to jump through to satisfy all the permit requirements," she said. "But they've been really enthusiastic and they're all very eager. I think they'll all be very impressed when they see who we've got coming."
To find out more about the Yarragon Food Truck Village, including the different vendors and the soon to be announced opening date, visit the Yarragon Food Truck Village Facebook and Instagram pages.