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One of the biggest pieces of foodservice news from last year will continue to move the industry for years to come: Food trucks. Whether you've eaten a taco from one of these rigs, considered hitting the road yourself or followed your favorite falafel truck's progress on Twitter, there's a lot to be learned from this mobilized approach to foodservice.

As we navigate an uncertain economy, the most nimble operators in the business are bypassing the hand-wringing and price-cutting and taking their food directly to the people. And not just any food comes out of these trucks. Most often, truck purveyors are inspired by their absolute favorite foods, be it grilled cheese, pho or even cupcakes. They serve only a few items, each prepared with all the attention to detail found in the best kitchens. They finely tuned their recipes, menus and operations to serve only the best flavors and the most-moveable feasts.

While food trucks did not make our official list of Top Ten Trends for 2010, I can connect many dots between the food-truck approach and our top ten. We picked three trends — Worldly Sandwiches, Global Grab & Go and Blue Plate Updates — that show a direct correlation to food on the move, but all of the trends on our list display ingenuity, a high level of focus, exceptional attention to flavor and a deep understanding of what the dining public needs.

Contributing Editor Joan Lang's research demonstrates that diners, chefs and operators see that, in tough times, we all need to find ways to treat ourselves. Whether it's a rustic stew served simply at a harvest table in a favorite tavern, the occasional indulgence of a deep-fried specialty or an ice-cream sandwich that conjures up the sentimentally sweet memories of the Good Humor truck, our trends prove indulgence keeps on truckin'.

Flavor & The Menu's approach to reporting on these trends is also a direct response to the needs and wishes of our readers. You've asked for more R&D tips, and we've given more ink to our experts' great try this now ideas. You told us how much you value our flavor-focused approach to boosting your bottom line, which prompted us to add our Flavor Payoff columns to each trend. Like these tweeting trucks, we are expanding our reach online at our new site, www.flavor-trends.com.

We may not be hitting the streets with a Flavor & The Menu truck, but we do look forward to moving beyond our pages and experiencing what is a dynamic time to be in the foodservice business. See you on the road ahead.

Kathy Hayden, Senior Editor