I have very little experience with the Kogi food trucks. I know they're popular, I know the food is apparently pretty good, and I know they've got some vegan options. They're the darling of the new truck-based gourmet movement, and Food Network can't stop talking about them. Doing some research, it seems they bill themselves as natural food, made with love by the children of immigrants. That's cool. I like good "natural" food. I also like to know what's in my food, both in terms of ingredients and calories.
For this, the Kogi folks think I'm a Nazi (no, really, they use the word "Nazi").
This post caught my eye today. For the "tl;dr" among you, it basically says that our food is so good, so awesome, and is made with so much love that we're not going to tell you how many calories it has. In fact, just the fact that you ask us nicely about the calories fills us with rage. How dare you - you wouldn't ask your grandma about it, because she's awesome too. Just the fact that you ask means you're comparing us to lowly fast food, and that's insulting, and you're a horrible person. So stop caring about calories, all you need to know is we're awesome.
(Interpretation mine. I find the original post even more insulting than what I wrote, however.)
Yeah, Kogi - fuck you.
People eat for different reasons, and lots of people, on lots of different kinds of diets (both weight-loss and health related) NEED to know the calories, sodium, or other chemistry-related aspects of their food. Otherwise, they have to skip it. Yes, they want "natural" food. Yes, they want their food to come from good sources. But they need to know this information so they know which of your items they can enjoy, or which they have to portion out and share with friends.
This goes beyond calories. Folks on restricted sodium diets have to know what they're eating. Others need to know how much fat is in their food. Contrary to your idealistic and insulting blog post, these people aren't bound by a "Nazi straight jacket" of nutritional information listings, they just want to know what's in their food - otherwise, they can't eat it at all.
You're growing, Kogi. You've got four trucks and your Culver City kitchen. You're getting national exposure, and people line up for hours to get a taco. That means, eventually, that you'll have to grow up too, and stop insulting people who want to eat your food.
I agree that this post was pretty offensive. And they actually have no vegan options because they cook the tofu on meat-juice-grills. But I eat it anyway... :
Basically what they're saying is they are "too kewl" to bother with not alienating sectors of their demographic, such as strict vegans and people on restricted diets (common these days in america!)
I am a Kogi fan, but this post disappoints me. Aside from the obviously ungracious tone, no one is asking for a nutrition label on each and every item. All they'd have to do is provide a rough estimate based on the ingredients used in each taco. As a consumer, I don't know how much oil they use to cook the items, or if there are any hidden calories via ingredients I hadn't anticipated in a taco or whatever. I know Kogi isn't "health food" but I at least want some control over how many calories I eat a day. Without at least some kind of help from those to whom I shell out my hard-earned money so that I might eat their food, I'm lost. A simple list containing a rough estimate of what ingredients are used and about how much of each ingredient is used in each item would be no trouble to Kogi at all and would help me immensely in my quest for good health. Instead of that, they provided snark. Fuck them indeed!
Eh, while I can see how people can get upset at their attitude towards the nutritional info, people kinda need to keep their expectations in check.
It's food off a goddamn truck.
Anyone expecting nutritional info from food from ANY truck is just setting themselves up for disappointment.
Would it be nice? Yeah
Should you expect it or be upset if it's not provided? No. But you can still vote with your wallet.
I hear ya about it being a food truck, but if you're gonna sell yourself as having good, fresh, natural ingredients, don't call your NICE customers "Nazis" when they ask about calories.