Seven hours. That's the amount of time it took to make the round-trip down to the New England Produce Center in Chelsea, MA - just outside Boston. I headed down to pick up Red Fresno Chiles, a pepper we use in our Ragin' Rooster Sriracha mustard. Where could you cut food costs? Why go to Boston? Price. The peppers are more than half the price we pay for them in Vermont: Vermont Produce Supplier: $8.92/pound New England Produce Center: $4.00/pound I've purchased peppers from the produce supplier before - at $8.20/pound. At that price, I was losing money selling to my [...]

Most small restaurants or independent food truck businesses start as one-person enterprises. In the beginning, you’ll find yourself doing not just all of the cooking and cleaning on your new food truck, but taking on a multitude of additional responsibilities. One day to the next, you may find yourself also fulfilling the roles of accountant, marketing expert, photographer, social media manager, graphic designer, bookkeeper, purchasing manager, billing department, legal analyst, and amateur financial planner. In order for your business to grow, however, it’s important to realize that it’s impossible to handle every one of these roles by yourself. Eventually, and [...]

No matter the style of food establishment you are running, you really need to understand at least a little about marketing and psychology in order to better promote your brand. And this goes double for food trucks, which often have more passing trade than standalone restaurants and cafes. Being on the street gives food trucks an advantage, but if you want to take more advantage of your passing customers, and entice them to come back again for more great food, then having a menu card they can take with them is the best option. Menu cards should be given to [...]

In this post-millennial era, the food truck industry is still booming. Becoming more popular on an almost daily basis, new food trucks are popping up all over the United States, bringing delicious delicacies to the curbside and outside malls and office blocks. An industry that is estimated to be worth more than $2.7 billion a year, a food truck is a lucrative business idea with heaps of potential. Now that you have your food truck name - based on our awesome articles on how to start and how to name your food truck business - it’s time to start thinking [...]

When many of us first start new food truck businesses, we don’t know where to buy the inventory we need to make the signature dishes that are going to keep our hungry customers coming back for more. The solution, at first, is simple: When you need food, you go to the supermarket. It’s actually not a bad way to get started. After all, when you first open your truck, you have no idea what kind of volume you’re going to do every day, you probably have limited capital to buy product in large quantities, and you have, in most cases, [...]

Labor Day and then Halloween is right around the corner. You know what else is? The craziest 6-8 weeks of your life known as the holiday season. It's the time of year the cash rolls in and every customer you meet is unbelievably happy (ok, most of them). While you probably have thousands of things to do (I know I do!), I'd highly recommend putting some time into making sure you're going to run an automated sales generating machine this holiday season. Over the past few weeks, I've been neck-deep in holiday cheer. And I wanted to share 10 tactics [...]

December is a crazy month. You've got holiday parties to attend and maybe even cater to (which for many of you represent a large chunk of your annual sales). And of course you have year-end accounting (unless you've hired a bookkeeper). Oh, and did I mention, holiday parties, Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanza, and New Years? It's a lot to handle. But you can't lose steam. Finish strong. Hit your sales targets and sell your heart out. It's a busy time of year, but I know you can do it. And if you get stuck I'm here to help. That's why I'm [...]

Slotting fee? Food broker? LTL? For many entrepreneurs, starting a food business means having to learn new vocabulary. Sure, you know what a spreadsheet is, what your price is, and what the post office is, but what about the terms specific to the food industry? Below, you'll find 25 terms to better acquaint yourself with the food industry. Some I've stumbled over the years - and others are essential to your success. Let's get started! Financial terms Food Manufacturing terms Shipping terms Sales and marketing terms Financial Terms COGS: This stands for "Cost of Goods Sold." In other words, it's [...]

When you start any type of business, you're bound to make a few mistakes along the way. But the important thing is that you learn from these mistakes. In today's blog post, we share some of the top five mistakes first time food truck owners make so you can avoid them. Some of these mistakes end up costing people their business because they aren't able to course correct in time. Others never recognize they are making these errors at all and ultimately fail. Don't let this happen to you! Saving Money on Branding Built by M&R Specialty Trailers and [...]

A solid catering business can be an amazing extra revenue stream for any mobile food business., or even the primary source of income for many concessionaires. But before you bake catering services into your business plan, let’s consider a few of the pros and cons. BBQ Trailer built by M&R Specialty Trailers and Trucks. Pros: Booking a catered event for your food truck or trailer removes a lot of the doubt and anxiety that can surround the food truck business. After all, with a scheduled, catered event, you’re not roaming the streets, looking for a place to park [...]