4 Ways to Improve Your Mobile Kitchen

These days it seems like there’s a new food truck around every corner. A report found that the size of the food truck industry is estimated to reach $985 million in 2019. And with a significantly lower upfront investment compared to a brick and mortar restaurant, now is the best time to make the most of your mobile kitchen. Follow our tips to help improve your food trucks and stand out from the growing crowd.

Refresh menu

Don’t let your menus get stale. Keeping them fresh and filled with seasonal items will keep your customers interested and coming back for more. But remember to keep things simple on your menu boards. Too many choices and too many ingredients can fill up a menu board quickly. Let us help with the design and printing of your custom menu boards. We can be a one-stop-shop for all your custom printing needs.

Food Packaging and labels

Being organized is a crucial aspect of every commercial kitchen. In a mobile kitchen with limited space, being organized becomes even more important. So let us help you keep things neat and tidy with our packaging and labeling.

We can provide fresh packaging and custom packaging for anything in your mobile kitchen. With Planglow USA packaging you can trust that we will have packaging to suit your needs. Planglow USA products are compostable and 100 plant-based. We have a number of packaging options, such as:

-Sandwich Packaging

-Windowed Bags

-Salad Boxes

-Wrap Pack Boxes

-Hot Food Boxes

-Cups & Lids

-Containers & Lids

You can also print your very own custom labels at home with LabelLogic Live.

To help you stay organized with all your kitchen prep work, use food rotation labels. Food rotation labels are used to properly label and date food products for food preparation and storage. The FDA has set forth guidelines for all commercial kitchens to follow when using food rotation labels. You can choose to use one or a combination of the following label materials for your food trucks.

Dissolve It - Will wash away after 30 seconds in any water temperature without leaving behind a sticky residue.

Mighty Peel - A water-resistant label that is made from durable plastic with a special adhesive that allows you to remove it cleanly from a container every time.

Ultra Removable - Similar to Mighty Peel, but with a basic paper face. This label offers a cost-effective option.

Cold Temp - Designed for containers that will be kept in the freezer. These labels have a strong, permanent adhesive.

Label Types & Uses

Day of the Week Dot - Single day prep

Day of the Week Date Label - Single day prep with optional write-in space

Item Shelf Life Label - Multi-day label for item name, employee initials, prep date/time, prep day of the week, expiration date/time, and expiration day of the week

Universal Label - Multi-day label designed for quick use. Can feature employee initials, prep date/time, prep day of the week, expiration date/time, and expiration day of the week

Use By Label - perfect for meats, produce and pre-made ingredients.

Use First Label - Great for back of house rotation

Use Last Label - For the latest prepped items

Allergen Alert Label - notify staff and consumers of possible allergens

Make sure everyone is safely trained

Is everyone working on your mobile trucks food handler certified? Do you have a way of keeping track of when their certification expires? If not, then sign up for the Always Food Safe Company’s ANSI accredited Food Handler Certification Courses. Your staff can become certified or re-certified with these 100% online videos and quizzes. With these courses, you can easily manage all of your staff certifications and prevent expensive fines via the health department thanks to renewal reminders.

Take good food photos and update constantly

Keeping your social media up to date with quality, eye-catching photographs of your food will help draw hungry customers to your food trucks. Try posting a photo around the same time every day. Posting around 10 a.m. is a great time to engage with your followers since people are starting to think about where they want to eat for lunch. Also remember that if you don’t post frequently, your images will reach fewer people. So post at least once a day and at the very least once a week.