•His sandwiches are named after players including Maradona, Vidal and Ronaldo
•He sells 150 a day, inspiring teammates to consider starting their own businesses
Every day coming home from training, footballer Hugo Bascuñán drove past an unused food truck parked by the side of the road.
After mulling over what to do after his career for several months, he worked on a business plan and negotiated to buy the truck from the owner. Bascuñán has since refurbished the food truck, and today it is open for business (every day except Monday) in his hometown of Casablanca, part of a wine region near Valparaiso, Chile.
Each of the 34 varieties of sandwiches on the menu is named after a football player from late Argentine great Diego Armando Maradona to Chilean star Arturo “The King” Vidal. The food truck is called “Football Lover” and to complete the theme, there is green artificial turf outside with the white markings of a football pitch.
“The footballer names really resonate with customers,” Bascuñan says as he opens up the truck at 10:30 a.m. on a winter’s day. “People stop by and say give me a ‘Diego Armando’ please.”
Even though it was launched during the pandemic, the new business is thriving. He has hired six staff, extended the opening hours and sells as many as 150 sandwiches a day. In the evening until closing time, people come to the truck to eat and chat about football.
