Strengthen Your Mobile Foodservice Operation with These Three Tips
To run a successful mobile foodservice operation, you need to ask the right questions and select the right elements to boost your sales. Customer demands keep changing, and having the ability to move points of service can be rewarding for both customers and operators alike, especially if done correctly.
These are the top three tips to consider when building a successful mobile foodservice operation.
What Is Being Served?
The type of meals being served will almost certainly dictate how those meals are served — and what’s required to serve them. To start, it’s critical to think about menu development as an overall objective of the operation, as well as how the menu will be received by customers. Both are important and will impact mobile foodservice strategies. Consider if you will require cold or hot food, from a cashier’s station, or have ready-made meals.
- Customers are more educated and have preferences. We live in an era where the customer is highly educated on food choices and preferences. Whether it’s an exotic cuisine type or what constitutes healthy choices, today’s diners know the difference.
- Customers have technology. With mobile applications, the technological influence of foodservice goes well beyond delivery service. Technology is even impacting on-premise dining, as well, an this impacts menus.
- There is no magic formula. A menu that’s successful one year might lose favor in another. Menu development and the equipment used to serve it should be fluid and changeable.
Where Is It Being Served?
Mobile equipment is designed to move around a room or a property. It’s important that serving equipment can stand up to whatever challenges are in the way, whether literally or figuratively. Make sure units can stand up to the rigors of transportation, and also make sure units can fit through any doors. Other location considerations are:
- Can locations be moved to high-traffic areas with easy accessibility?
- Is there enough space for equipment?
- What type of flooring will units traverse?
What Does It Look Like?
Whether it’s a high school cafeteria or a banquet buffet in a beautiful ballroom, aesthetics matter. Considering things like color pallets, trim options, and customer wraps will help enable a harmonious appearance in the operation. This will also help boost branding. Consider the following questions when determining what mobile foodservice equipment should look like:
- Is there an overall aesthetic or appearance that needs to be considered?
- Can mobile serving equipment help underscore the goals of the brand?
- Does the service area need customized décor options?