Food trucks and mobile food vending is a billion-dollar-a-year industry, so it’s no wonder that many people are looking to get their hands on a food truck to start selling their cuisine.
What most people looking to get into this industry don’t realize, however, is that there is an option beyond the traditional hot dog cart and food truck. One commonly overlooked space is now on the rise in popularity, and for good reason.
Shipping containers are practically made for mobile food service. It makes functional and economic sense for anyone entering the biz to be looking at shipping containers for sale instead of a food truck or hot dog cart.
Every Little Helps
Space is always at a premium when it comes to mobile food outlets; the more space you have, the better off you are. A good food truck on average will be about 18 feet in length. While this is generally enough to cook your standard burgers and BBQ food, it’s not a lot of space to add the extra touches to your food that allows it to stand out from your competition.
Shipping containers, on the other hand, are sized anywhere up to 40 feet in length. Better yet, they are easily transported. This is double the space you may gain from a good-sized food truck and allows for various extras to be included in your space.
Use the extra space for a bigger kitchen and more storage for a bigger range of food products, as you can now store more ingredients. When your competition runs out of food, you’ll still be serving those hungry customers. The expanse of a container makes economic sense.
To give yourself another leg up on the competition, you can also install a bathroom, a little waiting area with seating or, if you really want to set yourself apart, split the container with a kitchen on one half and a bar on the other half. Use your imagination. The possibilities are almost endless.
Thanks to the added space of a shipping container, you can outshine and outserve any of your competition.
Move Your Food Around
The reason why so many people choose food trucks as their business of choice is because of their mobility. Yes, you can drive them around the country, but don’t think for a minute that just because you’ve chosen a shipping container that you’re confined to one location.
With the huge infrastructure for shipping container transport around the world, it’s never been easier to move a container. You can easily have a truck drop your shipping container restaurant off at any location and you can meet up with it later. This saves you the time of driving it there yourself, which gives you time to focus on other things, like advertising or creating a new menu.
Thanks to their global use, you can also take your mobile food business abroad if you wish. You can load it onto a container ship and meet up with it in another country. This is a game changer when you think about the different people you can reach through international festivals and events.
Protect the Environment
When you purchase a shipping container and turn it into a new business, you are upcycling. You turn something that would otherwise sit unused into something useful. No need to increase the carbon imprint by using newly produced and transported materials. In today’s world, with the prevailing advocacy of environmentalism, upcycling and protecting the environment can give you an edge over your competitors. You will be seen as an eco-friendly restaurant.
To get the best advice and to learn more about converting a shipping container into a mobile restaurant, you should contact a reputable shipping container supply company. It will be able to give you all the relevant information you require to start your new business venture.
Sources:
How Much Does it Cost to Start a Food Truck Business, Mobile-Cuisine.com
Latest Trend in Restaurants: Shipping Containers, TBO.com
