10 Ways Established Restaurants Use Food Trucks to Expand Their Business

Food trucks have exploded in popularity over the past few years, and they’re here to stay. No longer relegated to parks and street corners, food trucks can be found at big sporting events, festivals, and even in malls.

Established restaurants are even starting to use food trucks as an extension of their brand. They help in catering customers during off-peak hours or providing additional revenue streams during slow periods. 

Food trucks may seem like they’re one of the newest business concepts out there. They actually have been around since the Middle Ages. While most people don’t think of food trucks when they hear the term food cart. There were dozens of food carts at any one time during medieval times in cities like London and Paris.

Fast forward to modern times, and you’ll find that food trucks are popular with new ones springing up every day.

Over the past decade, they have become a big business, giving established restaurants ways to attract new customers. It helps them to promote their products to people who wouldn’t usually be drawn in by the restaurant’s brick-and-mortar location. 

This article discusses how established restaurants can use food trucks to expand their business. It highlights from hosting their trucks at the restaurant to organizing cross-promotional events. 

• Create Limited Edition Food Truck Offerings

Many restaurants do not have a food truck, or they have location that makes opening one profitable. In these cases, restaurants can use food trucks as a way to expand their business. 

Create limited edition items that can only be purchase from your food truck for a short time. This helps build demand and allows you to test markets without risk. You can also try offering daily specials to being available only from your food truck for a week at a time. 

Even with limited supplies, you’ll increase your foot traffic and create new revenue streams.

• Develop Niche Menus for Specific Events

This is one of the most popular ways for restaurants to incorporate food trucks into their business. You can have a number of food trucks come in for a specific event. Such as your annual summertime cookout or Halloween party

The event might be at your establishment, or it could be off-site somewhere else. Either way, you can easily turn it into a holiday by attracting more people to your event. You can also have them stay longer because they have several things going on at once. 

This gives you more exposure and allows guests to try various foods from different locations. It also helps you to switch rather than just one place all night long. Food truck parties are becoming so popular that some cities now even offer permits.. They offer specifically designed for these types of events – keep an eye out if yours does!

• Target Another Demographic Without Adding Staff

While food trucks serve customers looking for a quick, affordable bite on the go, restaurants can still capitalize on their success. 

Specifically, businesses can look to food trucks as an opportunity to diversify without adding staff. Instead of creating new dishes or hiring chefs, restaurants can take advantage of what they already have in place by offering expanded menus via food trucks. 

Offerings like pizza and steak could be offered through food trucks that park near other businesses or public places where people spend their downtime. This will give your business more exposure without having to divert attention from its primary offerings.

• Give Employees Opportunities to Showcase Their Own Creativity

If you’re an established restaurant looking for new ways to market your business, why not think outside of the box? 

By engaging with customers in new ways, businesses are better able to keep people coming back. 

And it doesn’t hurt that having a mobile food operation is also incredibly cost-effective! Consider hiring a food truck as part of your marketing plan.

• Go to Festivals or Major Sporting Events

An easy way for a chain restaurant to expand its customer base is by partnering with other restaurants and using their trucks as a launch pad. 

Often, suppose a franchisee wants to start a food truck but doesn’t have immediate access to one. In that case, he or she can create an agreement with an existing truck owner who has one already—in exchange for sharing profits from events or festivals, they both promote each other at those events. 

In addition, because food trucks draw crowds wherever they go, it’s a great way for established businesses to get exposure at major sporting events and festivals without having to go there themselves physically.

• Coordinate with Colleges and Universities

A great way for an established restaurant group to expand its brand without massive investment is by partnering with other restaurant groups.

• Partner with Another Restaurant Group

By partnering with a second, established restaurant group, a food truck business can increase its brand awareness and visibility.

• Become A Culinary Tourist Destination

Have you ever noticed how food trucks can draw more customers than most restaurants? Well, there’s a good reason for that. New and innovative ideas are a great way to get people talking about your business—and also a great way to find new customers. 

Creating an innovative campaign doesn’t have to mean cutting-edge technology or something outside of your budget; it can be as simple as reaching out in a new way, such as by using social media outlets like Twitter and Facebook.

• Collaborate with Other Food Trucks

It’s good for you, and it’s good for your business.

• Try Something New and Innovative

Working with food trucks is a great way for restaurants to test out ideas that might work in their own dining room. 

For example, if you have an Italian restaurant with regular customers in one area, use food trucks for new customer acquisition. 

Customers are on the go, so using a truck can be more convenient than traveling out of their way to your location. Another idea is to partner with local schools by offering classes on how school cafeterias can prepare healthier meals.  

Hope this article on wizarticle helps you understand  how established restaurants use food trucks to grow their business and attract more customers.