Your Business: Food trucks - Peter Washer, The White Lady

Max Washer - son of Peter Washer, and the third generation of his family to work in The White Lady business - with The White Lady's new events cart, 'Eve'.

Peter Washer runs perhaps New Zealand's best known food truck, The White Lady.

The White Lady is perhaps New Zealand's best known food truck. When and why did it get started?

The White Lady wasn't the first cart - when we went on the road I believe there were five operating in Auckland's CBD alone. Pop began with a milkshake cart, which he operated at the Pukekohe and Ellerslie Race Courses, but when that came to an end he applied for a licence to operate in the city. It's a lot more complex and humorous than that, but we started operating on Shortland Street during Easter of 1948.

During the 1950s and before, you were only allowed single-phase power to a caravan. That meant you were limited to bain-marie cooking. The 1960s saw a new cart with an electrical upgrade that allowed grills, which could handle burgers and toasted sandwiches.

Then the third White Lady - the present one - entered service in 1974, and was 40-foot from door to door with three-phase power. We've tried quite a few things over the years including reviving the pie, though we only reluctantly started selling chips late in 2009.

The White Lady isn't to be confused with Newmarket's Broadway Diner, which my late brother-in-law Guy McLeod bought in 1959. The licence for Broadway is slightly older than ours and I was running it from 2005 to 2014, but the two businesses have always been very separate entities as far as our family is concerned.

What are some of the main changes you've seen in the food truck industry during the years you've been involved?

I've seen a lot of good people with great ideas come and go. They've generally proved their point and moved on to other things. Up until recently Auckland Council hasn't been allowing any new licences - although there have been a few exceptions - so as far as The Lady is concerned it's been the customers that have changed.

My father always maintained that competition was good, provided it was good competition. He meant that provided they kept up standards and acted responsibly - running their business and not attacking yours - everyone could be accommodated. I'd love it if Commerce St was filled with carts of every variety - it would be like a market; it would be fantastic. I've been a one-tent circus for too long, and it's scary at night, out by yourself.

So how has the more general surge in the popularity of food trucks in recent years affected your business?

It's the reason for the spike that's the good news. There's more activity being encouraged in the city and the Council is more open to allowing markets and events to happen. In terms of our business, my son Max has had a 25-foot events cart made, which he has operated from mid-last year, and he's now commissioning a second.

What do you think it takes to have longevity in the food truck game?

Nobody will probably believe this, but The White Lady has never missed a night shift - that's seven nights a week, every night for the last nearly 67 years. My father swore he never missed a shift, and I - being involved since 1972 - know I never have.

The only night I couldn't serve was Friday 20th February 1998, during the big CBD blackout - but I was there. I just believed the lights would come back on! By 10pm I was in a panic, wondering where I could score some barbecues from, but still confident the power would be back on sometime soon.

It was a guy named Robin who came to my rescue, although strangely I never found out who sent him. He had an old army generator truck, which he kept at MOTAT and leased out to film units, and it ran everything for us except the toasties. It was a sharp learning curve, but we were the only business operating for the next fortnight in the CBD other than SkyCity. Trade was good. Proud moment.

If you want a business to last, the responsibility lies with you at the head of the table. You'll often be paying your staff more than yourself and although you may not have done fifth form you're still called on to be a doctor, lawyer, accountant, confidante, teacher, investment adviser and so on. And all the time you're unconditionally and legally accountable to the banks, the courts, Inland Revenue, the Council, the unions and staff. There's only one of you, but many, many of them. Still that's what you get for being the boss!

Coming up in Your Business: New health and safety legislation comes into force in April. What changes has your business had to make because of this, and what impact will new rules around compliance have on your operation? If you've got a story to share, drop me a note: nzhsmallbusiness@gmail.com