Find My Food Truck 

know​ when your ​favorite foods​ ​come​ to you

Team 7
Ben Braga, Kenton DeSanti, Colton Harris,
Mason Payne, Sidney Wathen, Brandon West

MKTG 6920-001
December 10, 2018
 Executive Summary 
Food truck owners have a common problem of ​decreased customer volume​. This is
due to the ​complexity​ of “on-the-go” customers and non-stationary food trucks. These
elements make connecting the two a challenge. The ​best​ option currently available is an
online calendar​ that shows “meetup” events where food trucks could ​potentially​ be
found for a day.

Our research proposes a ​mobile application​ that ​locates​ food trucks was among the
highest of importance​ to the consumer. Our mobile app solution is called ​Find My
Food Truck”​ . The features of this app include:

1. alerts​ when favorite trucks are nearby,

2. menus​ of local food truck items,
3. exclusive in-app user ​discounts​,
4. online ordering​, and
5. turn by turn ​directions​ to the truck site.

Find My Food Truck ​provides a ​simple​ way for consumers to ​connect with their
favorite food trucks​. Our application will ​increase​ ​customers​ and ​revenue​ for the
food truck industry in Utah.

Find My Food Truck 1 

 
 Table of Contents 
 

Executive Summary 1 

Table of Contents 2 

The Problem 3 

Discovery 4 

Our Process 4 

Key Insights 6 

Our Solution 8 

The Value 9 

Alternative Solutions 9 

The MVP Prototype 10 

Conclusion 12 

Appendix 13 

Questions to Food Truck Owners 13 

Sweeto Burrito Owner Interview 13 

Waffle Love Owner Interview 14 

Survey Results 15 

Value Proposition Canvas - Foodies 18 

Find My Food Truck 2 

 
 The Problem 

Food trucks have been around for most of the 20th century, but did not become a trendy
eatery until the recent arrival of millennials. As a ​new growth​ ​industry,​ food truck
owners must take several steps to ​bring in new customers​ and ​improve​ steady cash
flow. Today, food trucks are estimated to be a ​$2.7 billion​ industry​.

Historically a blue collar ​convenience​, food trucks

now ​cater toward the younger generations​ as
these customers search for ​authenticity​ and ​cheap,​
quality​ food. They are a ​craze​ among young people
who are progressively ​eating out less​ because
they are all about ​saving money​. Food trucks are
here to stay.​ They will likely thrive for many years
to come, but their owners need to ​improve​ their
marketing​ and ​customer engagement​ efforts.

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 Discovery 

We reached out to and ​interviewed​ several local food trucks owners including those of
Sweeto Burrito​, ​Waffle Love,​ and ​San Diablo Artisan Churros​. We clued in on what
these companies ​did well​ to bring success and what they ​struggled​ with. However, we
also wanted ​feedback​ from potential food truck ​customers​.

Our Process 
By reviewing tools to available to food trucks, we found that existing services are a
myriad​ of websites with ​infrequently updated calendars​ and very ​little​ food truck
location information. Most sites only advertise catering or occasional “meet-up” events.

We determined that the problem of ​keeping track of food trucks​ pertained more to the
consumer​ than the actual ​food trucks.​ To further explore the food truck customer
needs, we began by defining the ​customer segment​ as:

Find My Food Truck 4 

 
 Demographics  Psychographics 

Age​: 18 - 35  Food truck enthusiasts 

Income​: $15k - $45k  Millennials 

Using this ​“Foodies”​ segment, we modeled the customer’s ​value proposition​:

Image 1. “Foodies” value proposition canvas (available larger in the ​Appendix​).

The ​value proposition canvas​ revealed the needs and solutions we believed to be
most important​ to address:

- GPS locations  - Menus 

- Delivery  - Online ordering 
- Event calendar  - Ingredient lists 
- Notifications  - Food sources lists 
- Coupons  - Ingredient filters 

Find My Food Truck 5 

 
 To ​validate​ these assumptions, we then sent a ​survey​ out to food truck ​customers,​ to
which we received the following results regarding the order of importance:

Chart 1. The top food truck needs identified by customers via survey (available in the ​Appendix​). 

Customers confirmed our assumptions by ranking ​locating​ food trucks (maps), and
alerts​ for nearby food trucks and ​events​, as the ​most important​ needs. ​Coupons​ were
more important​ than we had thought, and ​delivery​ was ranked the ​least important
overall. ​Online ordering​ was ​second least​ important. 

Key Insights 
Food trucks ​worry very little​ about ​marketing​ and attracting new customers to their
varying locations. Their ​main strategy​ is to set themselves in a ​location​ or ​event​ where
they are be able to ​attract people already there​. They try to ​position​ themselves at
prime ​locations​ at peak ​times​ to make sales.

Food trucks ​advertise much less​ than we had ​expected​, and

some ​do not advertise​ ​at all.​ Many have ​no way of
connecting​ with customers ​other​ than social media. Several
owners stated they ​did not want to spend​ much money on
advertising​ or ​connecting​ with customers.

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 We also believed that the food trucks focused on a ​specific
customer ​base​. However, we discovered that food trucks
did not​ ​have​ a ​specific customer.​ In fact, Sweeto Burrito
stated that their ​target market​ was ​“anybody with
money.”​ This was a surprise to our group that ​threw us
off​ our original ​assumptions.​ We were forced to return to
the ​drawing board​ to re-examine our ​direction.​

Customers were also ​more​ interested in menus with ​pricing​ than menus with
ingredients​. ​Reviews​ for each food truck was also ​very important.​

Find My Food Truck 7 

 
 Our Solution 

Image 2. Mockup of F
​ ind My Food Truck​ application launch screen with logo.

Our solution is the development of a ​mobile application​ (app) called ​Find My Food
Truck​. This app is intended to keep ​customers​ and ​food​ ​trucks​ constantly ​connected​.

The ​minimal viable product​ (MVP) includes the ​four​ most wanted features​ that
are easy to use and keep you constantly connected to your prefered food trucks.

1. Notifications​. ​ Mobile ​alerts​ inform when a preferred food trucks is ​nearby. 

2. GPS locations​. ​GPS maps and directions guide the customer to the trucks.
3. Menus​. D​ iscover foods by menus, prices, ingredients, and nutritional values.
4. Coupons​. P ​ roprietor-selected coupon prices are available for select items.

Finally, the app includes ​online ordering​ with mobile pay, to provide ​convenience
and ​simplicity​ to the user.

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 The Value 
Industry ​growth​ has made it ​difficult​ for consumers to ​keep track​ of the
ever-increasing number of food trucks on any given day. It is also difficult for ​food
trucks​ to ​stay​ ​connected​ with their customers. Most food trucks have ​social media
pages and ​infrequently​ post updates about their locations. This is ​not​ a perfect solution.
There is ​no centralized platform​ for all food trucks and their customers to ​connect​ in
an easy-to-use manner.

Find My Food Truck​ will be the unique platform that will ​connect consumers​ more
effectively to food trucks. The goal of the app is to provide a more ​enjoyable​ ​experience
for the consumer to ​find their favorite food trucks​ that meet their location, cost,
and ingredient needs. Today's world is all about convenience and ease, and food trucks
must be willing to adapt to this ever-changing market to stay competitive and relevant.

Alternative Solutions 
One of our alternatives was to provide ​delivery​. We predicted that customers would
want their food delivered for ​convenience.​ We believed that customers were not always
willing to ​travel​ to a food truck. However, this is ​not​ the case. Our survey results show
that delivery was the ​least desirable​ feature. Delivery was an easy feature to ​cut​ and
allowed our group to focus on the issue of helping customers easily ​find​ food trucks.

Find My Food Truck 9 

 
 The MVP Prototype 

Image 3. Prototype screenshots of a (a) alert, (b) GPS map, (c) menu, and (d) online ordering. 

Building the ​MVP​ ​prototype​ meant assembling a ​customer story​ around the ​top five
primary needs we identified for food truck customers:

1. Maps
2. Alerts
3. Coupons
4. Menus
5. Online orders

In our story, the customer receives an alert ​notification​ on their mobile device that “a
favorited food truck is nearby.” The customer uses the notification to access the
default map​ screen with their food truck ​highlighted.​ The customer views the ​menu
(with discounts), chooses an item, and ​checks out​ with Apple Pay. After payment, the
app returns the customer to the ​GPS map​ with a ​route​ to the food truck displayed.

For this story, we determined the demonstration workflow should be:

Notification ⟶ Launch screen ⟶ GPS map ⟶ Menu ⟶ Checkout ⟶ Route 

Find My Food Truck 10 

 
 Image 4. Screenshot of prototype design and story workflow in AdobeXD.

After breaking down the ​features​ of the individual app ​screens,​ we were able to
wireframe​ and flesh out an ​interactive MVP prototype​ of the customer story.

Our prototype can be accessed ​online​ at the following URL or by scanning the QR Code:

https://xd.adobe.com/view/26301dc4-61fc-455d-6085-6ac2562c830f-5001/?fullscreen

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 Conclusion 
To address growing ​pains​ and the ​lack of accessibility​ for customers in the food truck
industry, we propose that ​action​ is necessary. Through many interviews, surveys, and
additional research, we have determined that customers want something convenient,
within their price range, and tasty. With food trucks as a rising trend, many things can
be done to help them improve on these criteria.

Restaurants have and will always be a competitive industry and food trucks are on the
outside looking in. We suggest developing a ​new mobile application​ to resolve the
problem of ​connecting customers to food trucks​. The app will allow the user to know
exactly ​where​ food trucks are and ​alert​ them when their favorite trucks are in the area.
It will also offer ​discounts​ for users and provide options for ​preferred​ trucks and
specialized foods.

These problems have not yet been properly addressed and customers are currently
clueless, ​not knowing​ where food trucks are and what they have to offer. Find My Food
Truck app will resolve these problems and leave the user blown away by its ​simplicity
and the strengthened ​connection​ to their favorite food trucks. This app will
revolutionize​ the food truck industry by ​increasing customer loyalty​, bringing in
new customers​, and ​increasing revenues​.

Find My Food Truck 12 

 
 Appendix 

Questions to Food Truck Owners 

1. What is your target market?
2. How do you reach new customers?
3. How do you select a location for the truck? Is it mostly events/catering?
4. Is there a current app or website you use to find locations and connect with
customers?
a. If so, what do you like and dislike about the app or website?

5. Do you, or have you ever, had an association with the food truck league or a
similar application/website? If no, why not?

6. What do you like about the current process you use to obtain customers and
select locations?

7. What would you improve about the current process you use to obtain customers
and select locations?

8. What are some problems you run into when obtaining customers or selecting
locations?

9. Do you offer a loyalty program or discount for returning customers or students?

10. What has been your most successful marketing tool?

Sweeto Burrito Owner Interview 

1. A food trucks’ market is anyone with money. We serve at all levels of schools,
businesses, and roundups. These locations pretty much cover the entire population.

2. Reaching customers is only limited by an owner's desire. Our outreach is very limited.
Mostly Facebook and a website. We never pay for ad space anywhere, physical or digital.

3. Most locations are by invite only. Locations are probably split between catering and
lunches at businesses.

Find My Food Truck 13 

 
 4. We run our own website that provides services for trucks and potential
clients/customers. It basically serves as the middleman free of charge for both sides, as
opposed to the various services that only charge the food trucks for the service
(something we strongly oppose).

5. No, we've never done business with FTL. We inherited a relationship with Food Truck
Underground that we maintained until they were bought. We've had a limited
relationship with Rolling Menus. For why we limit these types of relationships see 4.

6. The process is customers come to us, which is about as basic as you can get. There
isn't much to say, but it works for us.

7. Our attempt to improve this process is to group together as trucks in one place (our
website), and take back the power from companies that make money off us for doing the
bare minimum. Which is all things we can easily do ourselves. Depending on your
vantage point, it is surprisingly and perhaps unsurprising, that it has been more difficult
than we thought it would to band together as trucks in one purpose. This is a much
longer discussion we won't get into here, since it most likely is outside the current scope.

8. The best locations can be busy/crowded schedule wise.

9. No

10. Since we do no marketing, probably our food speaks for itself and brings people back
(hopefully).

Waffle Love Owner Interview 

1. We mostly receive customers through word of mouth and also social media when
we post delicious photos of our waffles!
2. We usually will try most spots out at least once and then if sales are good we will
continue to go back to that spot. We try not to park to close to our brick and
mortar stores as well. I would say catering is about half of our spots.
3. We do not have an app, we're either invited by locations or we seek them out
ourselves.
4. Yes, we have punch cards that if you buy 10 waffles you get your 11th free! We
also have a birthday club and if you sign up to receive emails and promotions
from us we will sometimes send coupons through there as well.
5. We like that people enjoy our waffles so much they tell their friends about us.

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 6. Even though we feel the word of mouth and social media approach has been
effective we are always looking for better ways to gain more customers and share
our waffles with more people.

Survey Results 

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 Value Proposition Canvas - Foodies 

 
 

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