How to make your food truck stand out at events?

A fancy looking food truck that catches the eye in small towns might enjoy significantly less attention at mass events, such as music or street festivals. The reason for this is that high-profit events will always attract more competition. Basic food truck concepts without any specific branding find it difficult to attract attention even in small towns. Read our food truck tips on how to stand out from the competition in every situation.

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By Arthur Schmidt von Happe

October 25, 2020

13 min read

A fancy looking food truck that catches the eye in small towns might enjoy significantly less attention at mass events, such as music or street festivals. The reason for this is that high-profit events will always attract more competition. Basic food truck concepts without any specific branding find it difficult to attract attention even in small towns. Read our food truck tips on how to stand out from the competition in every situation.

1. Your menu is your best advertisement!

Good food and high quality are of course most important. Even the most professional branding will not help if your food is tasteless, if you use old cooking oil or if you do not have the right equipment. Freshness and hygiene standards are absolutely essential.

In addition to high-quality food and hygiene standards, each food truck should stand out from the competition by offering a unique choice of dishes and drinks. Successfully distinguish yourself by offering exotic cuisine, unusual ingredient combinations, traditional dishes with a twist, or with a unique choice of sauces, dips, drinks or maybe a wide range of desserts. Of course this does not mean you should develop a new menu for every event, but keep in mind that small changes could positively impact your success. An original choice of beverages, including homemade lemonades or craft beers, could significantly contribute to increased profits.

However, when preparing your food truck menu, don’t forget about the general concept of your food truck. Your offer should be in line with your original concept. Contrary to classic unbranded food trucks, your customers will expect much more from the ingredients and the way you serve your dishes. In order to achieve your turnover goals, limiting your menu to five or six items at street food festivals makes sense.

How much or even whether you limit your menu offer for specific events depends on the target group. What age groups do you expect? Which dishes do you think will be popular with the target group? You should stock up as appropriate and prepare your dishes as needed. Which drinks will sell best? Anticipate the consumer behaviour of the target group, including which items could be considered as unnecessary. This is important not only regarding the menu offer, but also decoration elements or even music. More on this later.

2. Your food truck is your brand!

Unlike classic food carts, food trucks are an independent brand. First of all, food trucks almost always catch the eye of passers-by. Food trucks without their own unique brand will tend to be less crowded during larger events. The colours and logo are the two most important elements for catching customer attention. They should be original and match both the name and concept of your food truck. If you are just starting off on your food truck adventure, and have not yet come up with the design or concept, you will find a lot of relevant information in the following articles:

• Naming your food truck

• Designing food truck logo ideas (or asking a professional for help)

• Food truck advertising and marketing strategies

Once you have defined your concept and design (colours, fonts, etc.), make sure you are consistent with the same style in every aspect, such as branded take-away packaging, T-shirts, boards and banners. Sticking to the above advice is crucial in order to become a recognizable brand and be remembered by your customers for many years to come. Loyal customers will be able to easily identify their favorite food truck from among the competition.

However, the list of important business aspects does not end here. Food truck customers can see how you prepare their order. Customers will only be happy to spend their money with you if your food truck looks clean and hygienic. Dishes prepared in an interesting and unusual way by chefs who are able to connect with their customers will guarantee a lot of interest. If you’re open for others to watch you cook, then don’t hide anything from your customers. You don’t have to be pushy, but remember to engage in some form of communication. Most customers appreciate a bit of joking around – as long as your jokes don’t go a bit too far.

Everything is a matter of moderation and good taste. Paracelsus’s classic maxim “The dose makes the poison” applies to food trucks as well. Being creative should therefore not stand in the way of the development of your business. A triumph of style over substance may work against you. It’s better to be moderate, so as not to overwhelm your customers. The best solution is a compromise between a slightly provocative and elegant but at the same time uniform style.

However, there is much more to an effective marketing strategy than it may seem. Read more about how to develop your brand and launch advertising campaigns for your food truck in one of our other articles. Find out more about free and paid methods, and developing the right strategy for your specific food truck offer. Our team of experts have put together some valuable advice for brand development and marketing. You can find all the posts from our gastro-live channel in the archive.

3. Decorating your food truck to attract more customers

Follow our simple food truck business tips make your food truck stand out from the crowd. You cannot change the design of the food truck for each event, but you can slightly modify the external appearance depending on the type of event. At larger events, flags, neon signs or banners make customers eager to find out more.

Remember to stick to your own style! Neon lights are ideal for food trucks styled as ’70s American diners, but not necessarily so in the case of vegan or bio food trucks, where banners, flags or green-leaf plants will work better.

You should spend a moment to think about the image that you want to portray. What comes to your mind if you think about a food truck serving Mexican food? Write down all the ideas you come up with. For this example, you could come up with the following list: bright colours, flowers, Frida Kahlo, Sugar Skulls, Carlos Santana, cactuses, chili peppers, tequila and lemon, Desperados, machetes, El Chapo, Día de Muertos, La Cucaracha, Luis Buñuel, Mariachi etc. During your first brainstorming session, you should come up with many ideas that can be easily used as decorative elements. Its also worth considering current trends. Frida Kahlo is popular right now and probably will be for some time. You could look for local artists to design a colourful poster or even use your food truck as their painting canvas. If you put up a few large cactuses and a couple of sun loungers, you should get a Mexican feel. And if you add the right music, your food truck will definitely not go unnoticed. Spotify has playlists with original covers of songs by Radiohead or Nirvana in Mexican folk music style, which will catch the attention of customers just walking past your food truck.

Make sure your decorations aren’t tacky. High-quality decorations will look much better than cheap rubbish. Attracting the attention of customers is one thing, but do not overdo it with the decorations, as this could have an opposite effect. Too many decorations, not necessarily matching the general concept, can work against you. Be creative and original, but stick to your concept and don’t exaggerate with the details.

4. Let your customers have an unforgettable culinary experience!

Good food alone is not enough. Celebrating food has become an event in itself. While the hashtag #Foodporn rules on Instagram, taking pictures of a delicious looking meal is nearly as important as actually eating it. As the food truck owner, you should make sure your customers have a good experience and only positive emotions. This includes not only delicious, but also visually attractive dishes that look great on pictures, preferably with an unique and well-stocked food truck in the background.

The general customer experience while ordering from your food truck is also very important. Customers should always be able to choose from a wide range of beverages that suit the delicious-looking meals. Due to limited space, you should choose them carefully when putting together your menu, and also offer drinks that are not commonly available in bars and restaurants. Lemonade or craft beers would be perfect. If technically possible, iced tea would also be a good idea. Wine from the same region as your cuisine can additionally enrich customers’ overall culinary experience.

With the right approach, you can also turn a snack into a culinary experience. Tables and benches are rare at large events, but are perfect if you have a short break for a quick meal. Comfy-looking sun loungers, pouffes and umbrellas with your food truck logo and colors will also make the experience more enjoyable.

5. Your employees are your most valuable asset

Events such as street food festivals are usually not worthwhile if you don’t hire anyone to help you. You need a team to support you in order for the event to pay off. Good employees are almost a guarantee of success.

Even your best employees will only become a good team when their tasks and responsibilities are clearly defined. If you have a three-person team, the first team member could, for example, take orders, the second one could prepare the dishes, and the third one could serve them to the customers. Thanks to clearly defined tasks, employee will know what they have to do, and all processes will run smoothly. It is important to fairly distribute the responsibilities between employees. A person with a sense of humor should not work at the cash register or prepare the food, but should connect directly with the customers when serving their orders. Time will quickly tell where each employee fits in best. If they have worked out among themselves how to smoothly work together, then under no circumstances should any changes be made just for one individual event. Such changes would only cause stress, dissatisfaction, and confusion among both employees and customers.

Its a truism that friendlier service means better sales. Knowing this is basic, but is often forgotten in stressful situations. You should remind your employees of this from time to time in a friendly and motivating way. Customers will always notice if employees are smiling and friendly, which will make them feel more relaxed and welcome.

Appropriate clothing is also an important and simple way to present a positive image of your food truck. Matching uniforms, t-shirts or aprons with your logo will not only fit in with the general concept, but also make the team look like a family. Don’t exaggerate with uniforms though. Employees should look authentic and feel comfortable. Such employees are more likely to do a good job and entertain customers with their enthusiasm, and even encourage them to come back again.

6. Customers are financial analysts, business advisors and living advertisements at the same time.

Once customers have chosen your food truck and tried some of your dishes, it’s time to get to know their opinions. Customers are more than just profit generators. Make the most of their presence! The big advantage of a food truck is the direct contact with the customer. You can get immediate feedback without making market research. In the era of Instagram and Facebook, customers can also help build the recognition and marketing reach of your food truck. Both factors are essential to your success, but should not be taken for granted. The large number of visitors to street festivals or other such events is a great opportunity to get some valuable feedback.

Even if working at such events can be stressful, it is worth asking customers what they liked or didn’t like, of course once the queues are gone. A simple question is often enough to find out what customers thought about their order. However, do not be too pushy in asking such questions. Most guests will always say yes, thank you or nod automatically. You can get more detailed answers if you ask more specific questions. If you recently added a new dip to your offer, it is worth mentioning it and also asking if it tastes good. Additional banter such as: “We recently came across this brewery. How do you like their beer?” or “We met this great artist, and he designed our food truck. How do you like his work?” is always a nice additional touch. If the client is willing to join in the conversation, you can ask more questions and discuss anything they think could be improved. Questions like “What would you do differently?” or “Do you have any ideas for a good dip?” will not be treated as going too far, although be careful not to sound unprofessional. However, if you are convinced about your menu offer and you really only have one simple question, then it shouldn’t be a problem.

The second key aspect is being active on social media, i.e. the most important marketing channels of food trucks. Posts, likes and comments can both strengthen your brand and increase its recognition. In addition to your own website, you should also create profiles on portals such as Facebook or Instagram and regularly add new content. Stamp cards are also a good idea (e.g. a free meal after collecting ten stamps), and you can also add additional information about following your profile on Facebook and Instagram. QR codes can direct customers to a specific portal and encourage them to like your profile and leave a comment.

Alternatively you could also ask for likes instead of tips. The same applies to reviews left on such sites as Google or TripAdvisor. However, in order to attract the attention of potential customers on social media, you should make sure your profiles look ok. Customers often make pictures of delicious looking dishes and then share them on Instagram. If your food truck looks good, it could be the perfect background for pictures of food with the hashtag #Foodporn. However, remember that as each event comes to an end, new opportunities arise. The more people come across photos of your food truck on Instagram or Facebook, the greater the demand will be at future events.

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