The food truck industry continues to expand globally, with the market size expected to exceed $38 billion by 2025, maintaining a steady annual compound growth rate of 8.3%. The growth rate of the China market significantly outpaces the global average, driven primarily by policy support and shifting consumer habits. The increasing penetration of street food culture, coupled with young consumers’ demand for convenient and personalized dining options, is driving the diversification of food truck formats.
North America remains the world’s largest food truck market, but Asia, especially China, is growing faster. By 2025, China’s food truck industry is expected to account for 22% of the global market, up 5 percentage points from 2023. Electrification and intelligent transformation have become industry standards, with about 60% of new food trucks equipped with solar panels or smart ordering systems.
The trend of healthy dining is reshaping product structures, with the proportion of low-calorie and plant-based meals in the menus of food trucks rising from 18% in 2023 to 34% in 2025. The localization rate of supply chains has increased, with over 70% of China’s food truck operators adopting ingredients from suppliers within a 30-kilometer radius, driven by both cost and environmental factors.
At the policy level, multiple cities in China have relaxed the operating permits for mobile food trucks, with Shanghai and Chengdu piloting the “food truck cluster zone” model. By 2025, the number of compliant food trucks nationwide is expected to increase by 40% year-on-year. In international trade, Southeast Asia has become a new growth point for food truck equipment exports, with the export volume of customized food trucks manufactured in China doubling within three years.
The competitive landscape is fragmented but the head effect is emerging, with the top five brands holding less than 15% market share in China, while the chain rate has risen from 9% in 2023 to 17% in 2025. Patent activity is active, with global patent applications related to food trucks increasing by 26% year-on-year in 2024, mainly concentrated in modular design and energy management fields.
Consumer research shows that 65% of respondents cited ‘meal truck experience’ as a key factor in their choice, while influencer marketing has fueled the check-in economy, with social media-linked orders accounting for 38%. Advances in cold chain technology have boosted delivery efficiency for semi-finished products, with meal truck inventory turnover rates 20-30% higher than traditional restaurants.
