Coffee truck controversy is brewing in Riverhead: Some deli owners irked by vendors

A “coffee truck” controversy is brewing in Riverhead.

Some local delicatessen owners are complaining about the operation of trucks that go from site to site selling food and beverages, particularly along Route 58.

Duffy Griffiths, the owner of two local delis, said the trucks are capturing valuable sales from construction sites, car dealerships and elsewhere along a route with several businesses that sell similar products.

“When the coffee trucks don’t run, my delivery sales go up and suddenly car dealerships are making orders for eight to ten egg sandwiches,” Griffiths said. “They shouldn’t be allowed to go anywhere near Route 58.”

The town code prohibits peddlers from operating 1,500 feet away from public markets and businesses that sell the same kind of products.

But that restriction is extremely difficult to enforce, according to Town Investigator Richie Downs.

“His suggestion to restrict them from Route 58 makes sense with all the businesses that sell coffee there,” Downs said, “But the way the law is written makes that difficult to enforce. One obstacle is that it requires us to physically measure how many feet the truck is located from a ‘like’ business.”

It is also difficult to penalize those operators without valid permits due to the limited staff of two town investigators, he said, adding a formal complaint against the trucks has not been filed in several years.

As of Friday morning, the town clerk had only two licenses for coffee truck peddlers on file.

“I don’t even see the benefit of allowing them in the town at all,” Griffiths said. “They’re not an asset. You’re allowing someone to drive in, steal business and leave without paying taxes to the town.”

He said he used to supply egg sandwiches to a truck in bulk at $1 per sandwich, but stopped after the truck set up nearby and began to undercut his sales using his own product.

Kevin Judge, owner of Maple Tree Deli, said he believes this type of operation also poses a potential health risk.

“They’re picking up egg sandwiches from places at 5 or 6 in the morning and continuing to sell those sandwiches at 10,” Judge said. “That’s a health hazard – it’s impossible that they’re keeping those sandwiches above 100 degrees for that long.”

Food truck operators are required by county code to obtain food permits from the county health department.

Not all businesses are bothered by the operation of the trucks and one local supplier said the relationship is entirely symbiotic.

“It helps because the word gets out about our pizza and that brings in customers,” said Carlo’s Pizza employee Paul Kurzyna. “They go to Riverhead Eagle and let’s say someone there, who has never had our pizza, says, ‘Wow, that’s a great slice, I’m going to bring my family there.'”

Two truck operators interviewed at Carlo’s pizza on Friday expressed this exact sentiment.

“We’re helping out some local businesses by selling their food,” said one driver named Jimmy, who would not give his last name. 

Another driver, who would only give his name as “Jamie,” — though a third food truck operator parked at Carlo’s referred to him as “Vinnie” — said they are simply providing a service.

“We provide a service that’s necessary to our clients and whose needs cannot be met by a deli,” he said. “My route was established over 30 years ago, so I could complain that these delis are cutting into my business. The way I feel about it is, I’ll leave you alone if you leave me alone.”

The town board at its works session Thursday discussed increasing the annual fee solicitors must pay to apply for a license from $100 to $500.

The proposed resolution, which was ultimately removed from those to be voted on at next Tuesday’s meeting, originated with the code committee.

Supervisor Sean Walter took issue with the extent of the hike, which he called “a little steep,” as it represented an increase five times the size of the current fee.

Councilman Jim Wooten said he thought the fee was reasonable.

“They will make [$500] in one stop,” Councilman Wooten said.

Councilwoman Jodi Giglio, the code committee’s town board liaison, said the number was far below local business owners’ suggestions at $2,000.

“We’ve gotten complaints from several deli owners throughout the town that are losing business to these coffee trucks, some of which don’t bother to take out permits,” Giglio said after the meeting. “Even if they did, the permits they have to pay don’t even come close to equating with what these local business owners have to pay between taxes and paying employees.”

Southold Town currently charges peddlers an annual application fee of $200, while Southampton Town charges $350 for an individual and an additional $350 for a truck, according to the town codes.

Griffiths of Duffy’s Deli called a hike to $500 “a joke,” adding the number would not satisfy him as someone who pays more than $35,000 in sales and property taxes to run his business.

“That doesn’t count paying my employees,” he said. “I would like to see the town crack down on unlicensed peddlers, though I imagine that would be nearly impossible to do.”

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