The very idea of a food truck has been around for a long time; they sell hot dogs, noodles, ice cream, and other things in this format. The main essence of such a mobile kitchen is fresh, freshly cooked food. Mobility, which was originally conceived, created a food truck, now actually not relevant, because to work officially you need to rent a piece of land from the city and stay there stationary. Do you want to drive around town? Rent a few more plots and pay for them, but this is not economically viable. Thus, the food trucks are moored to certain locations where they operate.
Reading the news in recent years, you may have noticed that the street food market is going through bad times, as the authorities of large cities have decided to clear settlements of such non-stationary food establishments as much as possible. And in general, the situation is also affected by factors such as the growing popularity of stationary cafes and food courts in shopping malls, the difficulty of obtaining permits from city administrations to place a retail outlet and the stereotypical thinking of city residents that food in fast food establishments is not of very high quality and healthy. All this significantly reduces the confidence of customers, and it becomes increasingly difficult to work in the niche of street trade.
As you can see, the situation is not rosy, but, talk about complete closure of all street fast food should not be, it will work but a little in a modified format with high-quality equipment and dishes not worse than restaurant. That is the format of the business and represents the food truck. In the USA, Europe and Asia this type of cafe on wheels is very popular.
A food truck is a cafe based on a truck. They brand the truck in accordance with the cuisine theme, mount the restaurant equipment, hire qualified cooks and install it in the passable city streets, having previously obtained the permission from the city authorities. It is possible to work in this format in both large and small cities.
What is the concept of a food truck
The main features of the food truck as a business are several factors.
Budgetary start. If you compare the launch of a full-fledged cafe with the construction of a building, renovation, purchase of land and organization of sales from a food truck, the difference will be huge. Food Truck allows you to start with a minimum budget and if necessary, quickly sell out the equipment and the vehicle itself, which reduces the risks of investing in this niche.
Mobility. By placing a street cafe or restaurant on the basis of the car you can change the location, obtaining permits, and test sales in different parts of the city. In addition, there is an opportunity to travel to the sites of holidays and various events, where a day you can earn an amount comparable to 10 working days in the normal mode.
Short terms for launching a business project. Starting your business with the purchase of a ready-made converted car, obtaining permits and finding a location can be done within 2 months. If you will design a food truck from scratch, it will take more time, and also, allocate time for branding.
Good ROI. If the location of the outlet is successful, you can recoup your investment in 7 – 12 months.
All these factors encourage novice entrepreneurs to implement this business idea in practice, but at the same time, to diversify the menu, it adds new types of dishes or use specific areas of cooking, for example, Chinese or Georgian cuisine.
Format of a food truck
The choice of the format of the food truck is carried out after assessing the competition in your region, and the demand for certain types of dishes. For example, here are a few working options for the work of such a mobile retail outlet.
Burger joint. A popular type of product, which can also be unique with special sauces of its own production.
Coffee shop with confectionary desserts. Range includes a wide choice of coffee drinks, smoothies and smoothies. Additional sales are provided by sandwiches and sweet desserts (cakes, cookies, candies).
Cooking steaks. Often use grill and very high quality meat. Finding suppliers of meat products should be a priority, because the taste and saleable appearance of the finished culinary product depends on it.
Pizza. Customers are offered several kinds of pizza, as well as salads and drinks.
Noodles with various additives. This can be Asian cuisine or dishes according to their own recipe.
There are many options for a custom menu for a food truck, ranging from the same sushi to pancakes and ice cream. You can check out Asian street food for menu ideas, and videos on the subject abound on YouTube.
Location
Finding a location for a food truck is one of the most difficult tasks in this business. The level of sales depends directly on a good location and it’s worth taking the time to analyze locations, evaluate competitors and negotiate a permit to trade.
