Christchurch food truck operators sick of break-ins, beggars and abuse

By Indiana Bell, University of Canterbury journalism student

Tomas Kubica has spent three years selling raclette cheese delicacies from his Christchurch food truck, but is increasingly concerned about unsavoury behaviour by vandals, burglars and people begging for food.

Kubica's truck Raclette Team was seriously damaged after being broken into twice at the Arts Centre in April.

"My tablet was thrown to the ground and broken. They forced their way into the food truck and caused extensive damage to the doors and the structure of the vehicle.

"The force used during the break-in damaged parts of the food truck and left me unable to operate my business until repairs were completed."

The break-in cost the business $5000, including repairs, discarded food, replacement stock and lost trading income while the caravan was fixed, Kubica said.

"As a small business, experiences like these have a huge impact on us financially and emotionally and they make it much harder to keep operating."

Homeless people frequently asked him for food when he first opened the business, which Kubica said he gladly provided.

Some people kept coming back and were increasingly aggressive when he told them he was not in a financial position to regularly give away food, Kubica said.

A man who threatened him was taken away by Arts Centre security, he said.

"It's not that we don't support homeless people, it's just that we tried and these people have become really bad to us. It's really painful, we're just a small business, we try working super hard and all these things keep happening."

Sangkutsa, another Arts Centre food truck specialising in Filipino cuisine, had also been broken into four times over the past two years.

Owner Reuben Boiser said one burglary caused significant damage to the serving windows and doors.

Thieves broke in again earlier this year by destroying the truck's locks.

"A few items were stolen, including my chef's knife which was a personal gift from my wife, as well as a lighter. They also took our empty till and left the inside of the trailer in a mess."

Other businesses, including Korean food truck Jaeju, had also experienced break-ins, Boiser said.

"From conversations within the local hospitality community it is clear that this is not just an isolated issue for one operator, and many small businesses are becoming increasingly concerned about the ongoing impact of theft, vandalism and anti-social behaviour.."

Arts Centre operations manager Daniel Stirland said anti-social behaviour was not a significant issue in the precinct.

"We experience the occasional incident with opportunists targeting our small businesses from time-to-time. We take measures to reduce and mitigate these incidents," he said in a statement.

Most of the Arts Centre's 1 million annual visitors respected the heritage precinct and its businesses, Stirland said.

Christchurch Police Inspector Paul Reeves confirmed three food trucks were broken into three months ago but no one was arrested following an investigation.

"Police take all reports of anti-social behaviour seriously and respond and investigate accordingly. We want all who operate a business or who visit it to feel and be safe."

Retail NZ advocacy manager Denise Garland said there had been a rise in abusive and aggressive behaviour since the Covid-19 pandemic.

Businesses were using extra security, including monitoring their CCTV and educating and training staff about de-escalating volatile situations, she said.