When I heard Perth was holding its first Food Truck Rumble as part of the Eat Drink Perth festival, I pondered why ‘Rumble’? Having been to the event I now know why. I also know how many chickens it takes to make a food truck rumble, and ten strategies that attract customers to your truck.
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Delish Ice Food Truck Rumble © The Ponder Room
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Positioning
The event began with the rumble of trucks moving into position. The Merrywell and Little Caesars shared pole position in front of the State Library. Clearly if you are a market leader remember to negotiate your spot.
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Food Truck Rumble The Merrrywell
© The Ponder Room |
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Food Truck Rumble The Merrywell
© The Ponder Room |
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| Food Truck Rumble Little Caesars © The Ponder Room |
Know your customers limits
Mindful of the inverse ratio of trucks to stomachs, namely 17 trucks to my one stomach I, like all the other patrons, had to be very selective, even though my eyes had already adjusted to accommodate at least 15 truck offerings. So with the limit of one stomach, I pondered …
Portion size to fit the customers needs
The contrary strategies adopted by the two pizza trucks provide a good example of knowing your customers’ needs. Vinces Mobile WoodFire Pizza was very well set up, the service was good and customers could order from a range of classic full size pizzas.
At the other end of the Perth Cultural Centre, Little Caesars catered to a single or more adventurous crowd. They offered smaller bite size pizzas with unusual toppings. The size also meant the service was quick. I’m sure the same thing happened with The Merrywells sliders.
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| Food Truck Rumble Little Caesars Salmon © The Ponder Room |
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| Food Truck Rumble Little Caesars Eggplant © The Ponder Room |
Pricing
The prices ranged from $5 to $15. While I didn’t see all the prices I can say that Little Caesar’s pricing of $3 each or $5 for two appeared to be popular.
Clear signage
Most people wandered passed all the trucks before making a decision, and most trucks had clear signs about what was on offer. However the positioning of the signs sometimes made it hard to read, especially when people were lined up in front of the truck. Signs that were off to the side seemed to fair the best. Those down low underneath the window were largely irrelevant and held up service as customers had to wait until they were near the front to read what was on offer.
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| Food Truck Rumble Little Caesars © The Ponder Room |
Branding Themes
Most of the trucks were themed or branded, with thumbs up going to the dessert vans for going the extra mile. Two examples were Delish Ice and Kustom Cupcakes along with Lil Tortilla Boi
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| Food Truck Rumble Delish Ice © The Ponder Room |
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| Food Truck Rumble Lil Tortilla Boi © The Ponder Room |
Also nearby was The Classroom pop up bar looking every bit like a science lab, including waiters clad in whitecoats. Judging by the glasses around me the espresso martinis were the most popular option.
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| Food Truck Rumble The Classroom © The Ponder Room |
Crowd interaction
The Kustom Cupcake girls held a Cup Cake Eating Competition (more on this in an upcoming post). Aside from creating a point of difference the event also entertained the crowd, which was a very welcome relief as they waited in queues (another bonus for their brand).
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| Food Truck Rumble Kustom Cupcakes © The Ponder Room |
Queue management
It was fantastic to see so many people supporting the event, however it also meant that the queues for some trucks (both ordering and waiting for orders) were so long, there was no point looking to see what was on offer. This was a shame as it meant customers missed out on trying something new. It also caused some negative murmurings amongst the crowd.
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| Food Truck Rumble © The Ponder Room |
Plan for success
It’s always hard to judge quantities for an inaugural event, and as a result several trucks sold out before the end. This made for some very happy truck owners but some quite dissatisfied customers, which can backfire on the brand. It’s just as important to have a strategy for when things go well.
Great top level organisation
Chatting to several of the truck owners suggested the Rumble was a huge success, and a big shout often went to Ai-Ling. As usual there has to be one strong driving force behind events that prove successful.
Congratulations to all involved, the truck owners, the organisers and the City of Perth. As I ponder the event I’d suggest that truck owners keep an eye on these strategies, particularly queue management. Perhaps those electronic order disks might be an idea as they would take the waiting customers away from the queuing area, although they may prove cost prohibitive.
So how many chickens does it take to make a Food Truck Rumble? …
According to the guys from Franklin Foodies 1,000 Chicken Wings along with 300 Tacos and 200 Philli Cheese Steak Grinders.
Why ‘Rumble’?
Well that was the sound my stomach made as soon as I stepped into the Perth Cultural Centre precinct. I’d ponder that the vibrations from the collective rumbling of the stomachs around me, would have been enough to dislodge several paintings from their frames in the nearby Perth Art Gallery. Congratulations should also go to the Perth public for embracing the event and waiting so patiently.
For more information about the Rumble go to https://www.facebook.com/FoodTruckRumble
For information about Eat Drink Perth go to
