Mobile cooking is no longer a fad, but a business model developed by many restaurants to increase their sales. A food truck, in addition to being a very impactful form of advertising, can turn into a very profitable extension of the restaurant.
Have you ever considered having your own food truck? Do you want to discover the advantages? And what kind of dishes would you offer if you had one?
Continue reading our article and judge for yourself if this option may interest you in order to introduce your gastronomic offer to a greater number of customers and thus increase your sales .
The financial advantages of the food truck
- It is a relatively profitable business model, because due to the simplicity of its physical infrastructure, the investment required for the launch and monitoring of the project is much lower than that of opening a new premises. One can say that the food truck allows you to quickly amortize start-up costs and, if you make appropriate efforts to develop it, it generates enough revenue to cover one-time maintenance costs.
- A food truck goes to different places to offer its gastronomic offer, which translates into savings in terms of authorizations, taxes and management fees .
- As the dishes are served in more convenient formats, the sale is simple: the more products you sell, the more revenue you collect, resulting in a stock that is easier to make profitable .
The commercial advantages of the food truck
- As we have just explained, the food truck literally allows you to “move your establishment” to places, events and festivals offering optimal marketing opportunities. It is an effective solution to reach all kinds of customers and to permanently impact future prospects.
- It allows for more direct loyalty, because this form of marketing establishes a simpler and more relaxed relationship with customers than in a traditional restaurant.
- It makes it possible to make changes faster and more easily, thus setting things right, improving service and achieving results in the very short term.
The advantages of a food truck for the restaurant
- It enhances the brand image . If ten thousand people attend an event and at least a thousand of them have mentioned your food truck, the repercussions are phenomenal, thanks to word of mouth and social media interactions, where you can be sure customers will post. photos of the food truck or dishes, including mentioning the name of your restaurant.
- It makes your restaurant’s star products known to more customers . By offering smaller versions of your most profitable dishes, or in finger food format, you introduce your gastronomic offer to customers, with the ideal opportunity to encourage them to come and make it a more complete experience in your restaurant. . It is therefore essential to distribute your business card and printed advertising material.
- It is ideal for trying out new dishes before putting them permanently on your restaurant’s menu , as you get quick and direct feedback from customers, making it easier to know if your creations have been liked or not.
- It allows you to make your establishment known to catering professionals. The prestige and notoriety of a restaurant increases when it manifests its presence by sending a food truck to important and strategic events for the profession. It is also an effective method of meeting other restaurateurs and suppliers, and an ideal medium for restaurant growth, expansion and innovation .
They have a food truck
Chifa: Its gastronomy is inspired by the fusion of Peruvian and Asian cuisines. It is possible to taste the recipes of its creator, chef Estanis Carenzo , both in his restaurant in Madrid and in his food truck, which participates in fairs such as MadrEAT , where he offers sandwiches of creative cuisine such as the dark beer bread sandwich topped with pork loin, topped with chipotle mayonnaise, Vietnamese pickles and totopos.
Le Réfectoire : After spending time in the kitchens of the Ritz hotel, Valentine Davase embarked on her gastronomic project, called Le Réfectoire. The Réfectoire has a restaurant and a food truck in Paris and specializes in hamburgers , a popular product of mobile cooking, but with the refined touch added by this French chef. The average food truck bill is around 10 euros, a relatively profitable and competitive figure.
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Marketing, a fundamental tool to increase food truck sales
A business model like that of the food truck requires a constant and more abundant influx of customers to be successful. The most effective way to achieve this goal is to apply marketing strategies that will continuously attract and capture customers . Restaurants that increase their sales with a food truck use different actions:
- They have a database which is constantly updated and contains information on the customers who frequent the classic restaurant and especially on those who go to the food truck, and who are more numerous.
- They run email campaigns to communicate not only restaurant information, but also all the news about the food truck, where to find it, new products, rave reviews, and more.
- They publish creative storytelling articles on social networks , telling the stories that unfold around such an urban and mobile business as the food truck. It’s an effective way to bond emotionally with customers and keep them coming back.
- They carry out promotions and discounts on the web and on social networks , and invite customers to come and taste the dishes at the food truck. Can you imagine customers looking for a food truck at an event just to take advantage of a “2 course for the price of one” promotion? This constitutes an impressive level of brand penetration!
To conclude, if you are looking for new business models to increase your sales, and want to invest in a format that is simpler than a traditional restaurant but which is not less profitable, the food truck can be a remarkable solution. The adrenaline is sure to be there and of course, the influx of customers. So, are you going?