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1. Introduction
Food is a requirement for all humans. According to Statista (2022), the global food market's revenue has consistently increased over the past five years, rising from US$6.39tr in 2015 to US$8.27tr in 2021. Some countries are renowned for their cuisine, and food can be a factor that attracts tourists to visit that country. Due to its affordability and convenience, street food or hawker food is popular in many Asian countries, including Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore and Taiwan (Bellia et al., 2016; Yeap et al., 2020). The term “street food” refers to “ready-to-eat foods and beverages prepared and/or sold by vendors or hawkers, especially in the streets and other similar places” (Alfiero et al., 2017, p. 2462). Some of Malaysia's most popular street foods include ais kacang, rojak, skewers and more. Malaysian street food has been ranked among the top 30 best street foods globally, with Kuala Lumpur's street food variety ranked 20th (mStar, 2019). It is an essential industry because it provides income to many citizens and contributes to the local culinary scene. According to Seo and Lee (2021), street food is another reason why tourists enjoy visiting places.
The food truck business is another form of food business gaining tremendous momentum in Asian countries, especially Malaysia. In contrast to the concept of street food, where vendors typically sell ready-to-eat food at a temporary location, food trucks are becoming increasingly popular and widespread in many urban areas because vendors can easily move from one location to another with their mobile food carts (Kowalczyk and Kubal-Czerwińska, 2020; Shafieizadeh et al., 2021). Food trucks are defined as “large-wheeled vehicles from which food is cooked and sold, and which move from location to location, sometimes on a daily basis” (McNeil and Young, 2019, p. 326). Other names for food trucks include mobile food vendors; catering trucks; gourmet food trucks; and mobile restaurants. Due to their mobility, food truck vendors are able to offer a wider variety of menu items and attract new customers who prefer outdoor dining (Martin, 2014; Wessel et al., 2015). Considered a trendy activity, visiting food trucks has become a cultural phenomenon in urban areas. In Malaysia, the food truck industry is in the expansion phase of its life...