How mobile food trucks become big business

A major business thriving in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) is food vending. As a result of this, food trucks are seen at nearly every street corner, with customers queuing to place orders. Daily Trust on Sunday spoke to some of the vendors on how the business thrives and what it takes to sustain it.

In Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory, a lot of people are engaging in food vending to meet demands from different clients, including companies.  Many of them do the business using trucks.

Chef Denike, who manages two food trucks, told Daily Trust on Sunday that although the business is profitable, starting it can be expensive.  “It requires bulk cash as you need to get the truck, set up the business, pay for different licences and registration,” she said.

Denike has managed the business for a year, and within that period, her customer base has grown. She also said, “Because we had to cut down on the students we take at our culinary school, we decided to open the food truck to serve as an alternative source of income.”

Her trucks are located close to government secretariats and parastatals, and as such, civil servants form a very large part of their clientele. She said their meals and drinks were affordable because their customers are mostly students from the culinary school and civil servants who work around the area.

“The meals we sell include grills, such as lamb chops, small chops, salads, burgers, rice, mocktails and lots more. They range from N1,500 to N4,500, depending on the order,” she said.

On how to start the business and sustain it, Denike explained, “Aside just having good food in your shop, customer service is important, as well as your target audience.”

She added that a big advantage of the food vending business is the use of trucks for mobility, as they can easily move around, build customer growth and take care of different events.

She also said, “The truck or minivan you purchase depends on the kind of food you would want to sell. It will also help you know what equipment you need to set up the truck, such as burners, chillers, microwave, industrial zinc etc.

“A fully equipped AV truck will cost about N25million, minus the expenses it will cost you to ship it down.

“However, if you buy a brand new truck and renovate it to look like a kitchen, it can cost you about N15m. This option is usually preferable because you can arrange the kitchen to suit what kind of meals you would be making. This is because most times, when you buy a fully equipped truck you might not necessarily need all the equipment it comes with.

“Also, depending on the kinds of food you want to sell, a truck might not be necessary; a minivan with a compartment attached to it will suffice.”

“To set up the business, you need all the necessary licences and registration to operate. Denike said, “Whether you intend to be a static truck or the one that moves around, there are necessary registrations and approvals you need to clear with the area council. There is a department in the Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) that regularly checks food hygiene, waste management and other protocols.”

According to her, it is necessary to set up a proper accounting system when running a food business as this helps to determine a lot. “A proper accounting system will help you monitor your progress. Through your sales you can tell which of your meals sells more and which one sells less, as well as what needs to be done to improve sales generally.

“Also, don’t be unrealistic with your pricing. You must consider how much people are conveniently willing to spend on eating or treating themselves to a meal that is not their regular breakfast, lunch or dinner. That is why it is important to conduct a market survey in the area you would like to set up your business as that will help you leverage on the prices of your meals and the number of customers you can get,” she explained.

Due to the location of one’s truck, Denike said Mondays to Fridays were always busy as a lot of their customers are people who work in offices around them. She noted that during weekends they would attend more to deliveries.

She also said the business faced a decline during the rainy season as people would prefer to stay indoors and eat rather than dine out. “During the rainy season, everyone would prefer to be home rather than be at a food truck because it is not as convenient as a restaurant. However, even though the traffic is low, we tend to have more takeouts during the rainy season,” she said.

Another vendor, Emmanuel Osueke, also noted that the rainy season is a very difficult period for most food truck businesses.

The truck where Osueke works is located along the busy streets of Ademola Adetokunbo at Wuse 2. He said, “Location plays a big role when planning to start the business. For example, a place where there are a lot of shops and offices will suit a food vending business rather than a residential area.”

He said taxi drivers always gathered beside their truck to look for passengers, a situation that also attracts customers to their business daily.

Emmanuel also said that to increase traffic and customer growth, they run 24 hours on weekends as there is usually a lot of late night movement and a high demand for food.

Emmanuel sells rice with chicken, chicken and chips, noodles at a flat rate of N1,500.

Another vendor who identified himself as Oliver said running food business required finding new ways to stay relevant among competitors, which include changing recipes, bringing out new and updated menu, offering other options, such as 24-hour meals, as well as delivery services.

At Oliver’s truck, also located at Wuse, one can order meals such as burger, shawarma, small chops, noodles etc. His meals range from N1500 to N3500, depending one’s order.

He said that although it is capital intensive, food vending is very profitable as there will always be a high demand. “People are always hungry, so there will always be a need for food. Once your customers are assured of quality meals, building a base won’t be difficult,” he said.

Oliver also said location played a big role in the success of the business. “It is more strategic to stay in a place where there are companies as workers are always inclined to come out and search for what to eat.

“Due to the location of our truck, we can boast of attending to 30 or 40 customers on a daily basis. This is minus home and office deliveries, which are placed through the customer care line,” he added.