When You’re Starting a Gourmet Food Truck

Old, young, rich, or poor, street food is an important part of all our lives. We’ve all grown up around street idlivada carts, chaat stalls, and ‘Chinese’ food trucks, but the new buzz in the street food world are, high-concept, Gourmet Food Trucks. The great thing about a food truck is that it does away with a lot of your culinary and business limitations. Today, food trucks are serving it all! Whether it’s classic soul food like dosasand burgers, or a quirky take on it like a pao bhaji rolls and deep-fried Oreos, as long as it tastes good, there is surely an audience for it. So much so, that even five-star hotel chains like The Lalit, are getting on the food truck bandwagon!

This is great news for you if you wish to start your own food truck. Here are a few things you should really keep in mind before starting out.

1. A Solid Start

Your food truck business can only be as strong as your team is. People choose one food truck over another over the subtlest of differences in the taste profile. Loyal regulars even refuse to eat their favourite comfort foods unless made by their favourite cook at their favourite food truck! If you’re starting a food truck business, you need to build a strong team of people you trust. You should be able to completely rely on everyone onboard, to be able to create a signature taste for your food truck.

2. The Squeaky Clean Truck

To begin with, make sure your truck is in good shape, is insured, and that you have all the other necessary documents, including your license, in order. Also, keep your food truck completely neat and clean. Your customers will appreciate it if you do this and they will surely remember if you don’t! Make sure your food truck’s décor, both inside and out, is warm, inviting and gives the guest an idea of what your food truck is all about.

3. Budgets & Research

It’s easy to lose track of the workings and various unavoidable expenses in the food truck business. In fact, if you don’t keep this aspect completely under your control, there is a real possibility that things might spiral out of control. This is why you need to do extensive research and prepare plans, and most importantly, budgets, before going into business. You also have to ensure that these budgets are never overshot, unless there is a really good reason to do it!

4. Menu

Your menu is the penultimate interaction that guests will have with your food truck. Once they are at your food truck, they would look at your menu and decide what to eat, or even if to eat! Make sure your menu is short, easy-to-navigate and well-designed. Before you put anything on your menu, remember to try it out with a focus group of your trusted friends. And of course, always budget the recipes on your menu before pricing them, to find out if they are financially viable or not.

5. Ingredients

Ingredients are everything. Whether it’s the pao, the peas, or the pasta, make sure you use the freshest, locally sourced, and organic ingredients in your recipes. This not only keeps the quality of your food high, but also pays forward the benefits of your business’ success to the community around you. Over time, this builds you a robust and reliable vendor base, which will stand by you through thick and thin!

6. To Wash it Down

When setting up a gourmet food truck, always round off your menu with a beverage or two. Something as simple as lemonade will do the trick! You also can’t afford to ignore the water. You should always have clean, drinking water available at your food truck. In fact, if you believe in healthy and holistic eating and want something special to go with your gourmet food truck menu, you can go for natural mineral water coming from a pristine source. We recommend Komin Natural Mineral Water, sourced from the ancient aquifers of the mystical Sahyadris.