5 Tips For Starting An Organic Food Truck

Organic food trucks are slowly becoming a popular trend within the mobile food industry, however, if this is the route you are planning, there are some things you will need to keep in mind before jumping into this type of concept. Today’s tip of the day will cover 5 tips for those interested in either having their existing or future truck become an organic food truck.

5 Tips For Starting An Organic Food Truck

Understand your market

If you want to run an organic food truck, the first thing you need to know is if your local market is open to this type of concept. It’s great if you want to own a food truck that provides organic options, however, if the consumers in your market aren’t will to pay the prices you will be required to charge don’t waste your time.

Expect higher costs

When coming up with financial projections for an organic food truck, assume your costs will be between 10 and 20 percent higher than a comparable restaurant or truck. And if you go all in and use compostable takeout packaging, your overhead can run even higher.

Anticipate price fluctuations

Managing a mobile organic business requires a high level of ingenuity. For example, lemons are always expensive because they aren’t grown in many areas of the country. There may be times when you order a case of lemons that aren’t organic and they’re 30 dollars and when you order organic it can be as high as 60 dollars. Those are real costs you have to factor.

Embrace menu changes

Organic food trucks must go to great lengths to maintain a consistent menu. Keep it the same as long as possible, but do not be afraid to make hard choices. You have to remain confident that you can still make good food even if you don’t have your usual ingredients.

Value supplier relationships

When it comes to working with organic farms, playing hardball may not be the wisest option. Due to the finite nature inherent in organic farming giving ultimatums and deadlines may not bring your business any closer to acquiring the products you need. Both the food truck owner and the farmer have expectations they are working to fulfill and it is patience that is key here.

If you have any additional suggestions for vendors interested in starting an organic food truck, please feel free to add them to the comment section below or on social media. Facebook | Twitter

About the Author: Richard Myrick

Richard Myrick is an architect by degree (Lawrence Technological University, Southfield, Michigan) who began his career in real estate development and architectural planning. In September of 2010 he created Mobile Cuisine Magazine to fill an information void he found when he began researching how to start a mobile hotdog cart in Chicago. Richard found that there was no central repository of mobile street food information anywhere on the internet, and with that, the idea for MCM was born. Richard also wrote the "Running a Food Truck for Dummies" available in bookstores everywhere and Amazon. You can reach out to Richard by email at: [email protected].