Tech Innovations To Upgrade Your Food Truck Business

In the world of fast food, it is all about speed. And when it comes to managing orders for a growing food truck business, this becomes even more important. There are over 24,000 active food trucks in the US, and if you want to have an edge in the market you need to stay on top of tech innovations in the industry.

Using a specialized Food Truck POS system

A specialized Food Truck POS system is one of the best innovations for your business. It has many menu customization features like adding new items, deleting old ones, and renaming others. You can create new menus on it without too much technical expertise on how to use software or coding. A specialized Food Truck POS system can also send food orders quickly to the kitchen staff on what needs to be done and in what order.

A food truck business relies heavily on mobility, and your point of sale should reflect this. Using a portable device like an iPad to process credit cards, manage inventory, and make orders simplifies operations and allows a food truck to fit into its restricted area. Plus, because touch screens are so common, you won’t have to teach new drivers or staff how to use them—they’re intuitive and simple to master.

Apps and Websites for Finding your Food Truck

Getting your customers to sign up with local, regional, and national sites that aggregate food truck locations is another option. Food Network, for example, created the Eat St. app, which allows users to search for food trucks by region or cuisine. Being visible on these applications aids in the discovery of new and existing consumers. Joining these networks relieves the stress of updating clients of your location while also attracting new customers. Apps to get listed in include Food Moves , Roaming Hunger , and Eat St. 

SMS Marketing

SMS Marketing is a powerful tool that can be used to increase revenue in your food truck business. It is an easy and cost-effective way to market and keep in touch with customers and there are a couple of ways you can use it as a food truck owner. You can send out group messages to people who have consented to text messaging from your company’s phone number. This could be a message about where the nearest location for your food trucks will be or an invitation for a special event. You can also send individual messages to specific groups of customers with specific needs – these might include sending notifications about menu items, specials, or promotions for first responders only, or sending messages with friendly reminders about pandemic safety rules.

How do you get customers to sign up for your SMS marketing? Simply offer them a visible incentive at your food truck and give them a reason to opt-in. For example; a free side order or a complimentary burger will work wonders. 

Keep your food prep equipment area modern

Obviously, the main goal is preparing tasty food, and while fresh and healthy ingredients are the key, there is one other thing to consider – food prep equipment. Without professional food prep equipment, running your business would be impossible. Food safety applications can also make or break your business; these can be used in your food truck to automate time-consuming and manual procedures that would otherwise take up too much of your time in your busy schedule. Calibration of thermometers, checking off cleaning and training lists, and creating temperature and consistency logs for quality control inspections are just a few of them. Temperatures and cooking time can be tracked, and manual reporting can be eliminated. These applications are beneficial to any food service establishment, but they are more important in a food truck owing to the greater likelihood of FDA and health inspections occurring without warning. Use these applications to ensure that your food truck is always up to code and avoid having your business shut down due to a failed health inspection.

Online Food Ordering

Food truck lines are well-known to be long at peak periods such as lunch hour, which is a turn-off for many people. Allowing consumers to purchase meals online in advance is a powerful incentive for them to select your food truck over competitors. During lunchtime and other similar busy periods, a pre-ordering online method is extremely useful for professionals.

Digital Menu Displays

Digital menu displays are another of the innovations that can be used to increase revenue in your food truck business. These displays are not only interesting for customers but they also help you organize your stock and they can be updated in real-time. With the help of digital menu displays, you are not only able to offer your customers a better user experience, but you are also able to turn more heads and ensure higher conversions.

The current US food truck market IS WORTH $1.3 billion, and to give your truck a fighting chance of having a piece of it you’ll need to employ every technological advancement you can afford. From modern POS systems, to keeping your food prep area up to date to making use of online food apps – they’re all there to increase your revenue. Make sure your food truck is using all of the innovations above to help your business soar in 2021 and beyond.

Recent Articles