6 Routes You Can Take When Naming Your Food Truck

When it comes to naming your food truck, a prospective owner needs to give as much thought to it as they would in naming their child. It’s a name that you will use for the lifetime of your mobile food business. What you name your food truck can contribute to its success. This single name will help you establish the core concept and identity of your business, as well as build your truck’s brand awareness.

First and foremost, you must determine your target market. Whether you are looking to attract families, the business crowd, the baby boomers the millenniums (or for that matter all of the above), your name should be something your core customer base can relate to. Second, your name needs to represent your brand and what type of dining experience you wish to offer from your service window. Last, make sure the name is easy to pronounce (customers will not want to dine somewhere they can’t say), easy to spell and easy to remember.

Here are several helpful ideas on naming your food truck:

Name it after an area code

One of the big trends when naming your food truck today is to use the area code of your operation or the country code of the cuisine you serve. For example, Via 313 an Austin, TX food truck that sells Detroit style pizza (313 is the area code of Detroit), or 5411 Empanadas a Chicago food truck that sells Argentine style empanadas.

Name it after your signature item

If you specialize in one type of food (as most food trucks do), consider incorporating your signature item into the name of your truck. For example, a food truck that mainly sells hot dogs in Dallas calls itself “Sassy Hot Dogs.” Not only will this help identify your truck for exactly what it sells, but it will also help improve your rankings in Internet search engines.

Name it after an ethnicity

If your mobile food business specializes in a type of ethnic cuisine, it makes sense to give your truck an ethnic name – just make sure it can be phonetically translated into an easy-to-pronounce English word, and that customers are able to easily figure out what type of cuisine you serve. Also, beware that while the name might translate to something meaningful in your own language, it might not always sound appetizing or inviting as an English word.

Use a clever, witty pun

One of the best ways to grab attention is to come up with a clever pun for your food truck name. A clever name can also help ramp up profits, as you can market your name/brand on T-shirts, caps, aprons and other retail merchandise for sale from your sales window.

Name it after yourself

One of the more traditional trends is when naming your food truck is to name it after yourself or a relative. This could be like “Mama’s Food Truck – Malaysian Cuisine.” This is a good idea if you have a great story to tell or a larger-than-life personality, and works better if the person the truck is named for is actually going to be working in the truck. Trucks named after the owners also help to create better personal relationships with customers, as it evokes the feeling that you are inviting your customer into your own home.

Adding “food truck” to the name

It is always a good idea to add the primary identifying words to your food truck name that will help customers understand that your operation is mobile. Using the word “food truck” can attract the right crowd especially when they are searching for a local food truck online.

The Bottom Line

Deciding what to call your food truck is a fun and exciting part of starting a mobile food business. But the process can also be a hard stop for vendors struggling to find the perfect balance of wit, relevance and personality.

Which path did you use when naming your food truck? Share your thoughts on this topic in the comment section or social media. Facebook | Twitter