A well-crafted menu plays a major role in the success of any food truck business. However, this is no easy task. You want your menu to be varied enough for customers without becoming overwhelming for you and your helpers to execute. The pricing also must be right. It should be reasonable enough so that it does not scare away potential customers but at the same time it should be high enough to help you make a profit.
Consider these factors when creating your food truck menu.
Deciding What Dishes To Serve
You cannot afford to have a very extensive menu because of the various restrictions. Nonetheless, at the same time, the menu must be varied enough so your regular customers do not get bored with the limited choices. A good menu is one that walks the fine line between too much and too little.
The best way to go about deciding what dishes to serve is by first learning all about the various dishes in your particular niche. If you’ve chosen tacos as your niche, do some research on different types of taco fillings. Also, visit other food trucks that serve tacos and observe what their customers are buying. What type of tacos are the most popular?
While checking out the competition will give you a pretty good idea of what dishes are more likely to do well, you do not want to copy their menu. You must have something different that makes you stand out and draws customers to you so do think about a USP. Have at least one or two dishes that are only served at your food truck and no other.
Pricing Your Dishes
While checking out your competition to see what they are serving, you should also take a look at their menu and see how they have priced their dishes. Are all your competitors charging the same rates or is there a wide price range? Are their customers ordering dishes from all price ranges or are they only ordering lower-priced dishes?
After you’ve done sufficient research on your competitors’ prices, you will need to do some calculations to figure out whether or not you can afford to charge the same rates or whether you will charge more or less. Remember, charging very high prices may scare away some potential customers. On the other hand, you will not make any profit if you price your dishes too low. Finding that sweet spot is important.
Designing Your Menu
After you’ve decided on your dishes and your prices, the next time is to get the menu designed. Here are a few things you must think about when designing the menu:
- The print must be large enough so customers can read it easily.
- Make it easier for your customers to decide what to order by including a short description of each dish on the menu.
- Include a photograph of each dish. Be careful that all dishes that go out to customers look exactly like the photograph.
- If you are serving foods with foreign names, such as Indian foods, adding the English translation for foreign-language names is a nice touch.
If you need more ideas for what kind of food can be successful, check out some ideas for food trucks on usedvending.com
The design of the menu card must be aligned with your brand and your menu. this creates a favorable association in your customers’ mind. Use a Mexican design for a Mexican menu, a Middle-Eastern design for a Middle-Eastern menu and an Indian design for an Indian menu.
Article Submitted By Community Writer
