As the younger generations aim for less-processed food options, food trucks are becoming a popular choice.

College student Lake Wine has visited Billy G’s Carolina BBQ food truck at University of South Carolina baseball games on multiple occasions.

“I like knowing the truck has freshly made food, as opposed to frozen food,” Wine said. “It is pricier just like other food trucks, but you pay for quality.”

Across the nation and the state, the food truck industry is growing. More food trucks are being licensed and more are seeing success.

Nationally, there were around 35,000 food trucks in 2020 and roughly 92,300 trucks in 2025, according to IBISWorld, an industry and market intelligence company. The industry hit about $2.8 billion in revenue in 2025 and has had an annual growth rate of 13.2% over the past five years.

South Carolina, and in particular, Columbia, mirrors the national growth trends. The number of food truck business licenses jumped to 313 in 2025 from 174 in 2022, said City of Columbia Business License Administrator Kelly Smith.

Columbia’s numbers are up in part because of events held at USC, Finlay Park and Main Street. The trucks are self-contained, mobile and don’t require city staff to clean up. And most trucks come with a loyal fan base.

Finlay Park Fridays is a weekly live music series held each Friday at the newly refurbished park that brings in a variety of food trucks to feed the crowd. The event started in late February this year and runs until the end of October.

Columbia residents were excited for food trucks to be a part of their Friday night. After the Columbia Parks & Recreation Department announced in a Facebook post that the event would feature food trucks, residents responded with comments such as, “I like the sound of that,” and “Can’t wait for the food.”

As the series grows, the organizers will jump from three food truck vendors to six each Friday. Vendors will rotate weekly. Big Dave’s Cheesesteaks, Barn Bites, Cousins Main Lobster and Guy’s Hotdogs are some food trucks that have been featured so far. Lines for food at the event can be more than an hour long.

Not only does every Friday present growth opportunities, but every Saturday does as well with Columbia’s Soda City Market. USA Today has named Soda City the No. 1 farmers market in the country for 2025.  The market welcomes up to 7,000 visitors and 200 vendors each week. Around 12 to 15 of those vendors are food trucks.

USC also took an interest in food trucks. Billy G’s Carolina BBQ truck partnered with the university after winning The State newspaper’s Best Food Truck, Best BBQ and Best Catering awards in both 2023 and 2024 and in 2025 winning Best Food Truck and Best BBQ again.

“After partnering with the university, our trends and sales are on an upward” run, said co-owner Will Gause. “My dad actually played basketball here under Frank McGuire.”

Billy G’s Carolina BBQ can be found at Founders Park, Colonial Life Arena and both sides of William’s Brice Stadium.

“People like that, they know our family name, we are locally grown and completely authentic,” Gause said.

Billy G’s has made a name for itself in Columbia, especially for its homemade sauces. The sauces can be found in every Publix, Lowes Food and Food Lion in South Carolina and North Carolina.

While locally owned businesses are growing, national chains are appearing in Columbia as well. Cousins Maine Lobster is a popular, “Shark Tank”-featured franchise specializing in authentic, sustainably sourced Maine lobster. Matt Cobb, Dave Blosser, Madison Cobb and Jackson Conway obtained franchise ownership of a truck in South Carolina for Cousins Maine Lobster.

“We got to see the whole supply chain, from the animal coming out of the water in Maine all the way till it gets to our location,” Matt Cobb said. “Maine lobster is unique because the lobsters that come out of the Maine area are very specific since the quality standards are high.”

Their truck is locally owned and operated, but the business also has the organizational advantages of a larger company. Its grand opening was in late February, and sales exceeded expectations by around 20%.

“We’ve had days where, three hours in, we’re completely of product, and we have to have people from our commissary drive us additional product,” Cobb said.

Mckinley Cobb, who works on the truck, said people have told her they drove for more than two hours to get to the truck after hearing the chain had come down South.

“I think people like knowing where the lobster is coming from, but also a food truck has a unique and personable experience so that, too, makes them come,” Cobb said.

After Cousins Maine Lobster’s early success, the business committed to buying two more trucks. The trucks’ future locations will be in Charleston and Birmingham, Alabama.

The original truck catered a university football recruiting event in March and has been asked to cater the same kind of event in June.

“We contribute a lot of our success to marketing and social media,” Cobb said.

Word of mouth is important for food trucks to get their names out to the public.

But marketing is key, too. A majority of marketing is done through social media outlets such as Facebook, Instagram and X.

Columbia also has a food truck Facebook page showing where trucks are daily and how to get in contact with them. The page now has more than 13,500 members.