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FT

Food Truck

The Context

Through my innovation lab this project was created to help the company achieve its two yearly goals; increase sales and generate traffic. There was no sponsor and I was not asked to solve this problem. This project was initiated by me as I saw a need for a better method to approach company goals.

Project Details

  • Duration three consecutive months

  • Project team of:

    • Marketing (1)​

    • R&D (1)

    • Asset Mgmt (2)

  • Target audience

    • Age 20-55​

    • Any level of education

    • Median disposable income

The Problem

The company had no method of capitalizing on food trends or testing new menu items with real customers outside of long, outdated internal development processes. Operations, marketing and R&D teams were not able to gain feedback and make quality decisions quickly. The goal was to create a way to speed up the innovation process and reduce the risk in bringing new culinary creations to market.

Research

Using proto-personas created by the brand employees, the group identified  that customers enjoyed the variety of food trucks, were in favor of mobility and comfortable with limited food supply.

Ideation

A non-organization branded, pop-up food truck was selected as a mobile test kitchen to gain feedback from customers quickly and generate additional revenue. The menu would be completely new and change with each iteration. 

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Food Truck Plan

Prototype

Located around the office for 45 minutes, sell new food and desserts in limited supply via word-of-mouth advertising to team members.  Specifically testing:

  • The word-of-mouth communication style in a densely populated office

  • The receptiveness to changing locations

  • The frequency with which a rotating menu would be feasible

Caution video contains sound
First iteration

Insights:
-People liked spontaneous approach
-Guests assumed it was a personal chef recipe
Based on the insights...
What changed in the 2nd iteration?

  • Added names to personalize menu items

  • Added person to directly initiate feedback

  • Changed location to imitate a real life food truck

  • Changed menu for variation

Caution video contains sound
Second Iteration

Insights:
-Multiple options created confusion while ordering
-We sold out of 2 of 3 items
-Guests wanted more leadership made aware of the progress of the experiment!
 
Based on the insights...
What changed in the 3rd iteration?

  • Added an ordering system for more efficiency

  • Targeted senior leadership communication

  • Changed location to imitate a real life food truck

  • Changed menu for variation

Caution video contains sound
Third iteration

Insights:
-More cash needed on hand to start
-The line tripled from the first experiment
-We sold out of everything!
What was the outcome and impact?

The food truck was under consideration for further testing. The possibility to generate income and test new food was particularly interesting to senior management. Bonus outcome! Through our feedback we also deduced that the food truck could be used as a way to test site locations for new restaurant locations too! The most impactful change was management realized that shorter iterative cycles could produce results in line with business objectives. Managers in construction, marketing, and IT departments began co-creating scrappy prototypes in their projects and daily work.

What did I do?

In this project my role was to be the process lead. In other words be responsible for the complete service design journey. I also performed the following duties:

  • Feedback curation from the guests

  • Communication of the day, time, and menu of each iteration

  • Documentation of any new insights

  • Cameraman and video editor of the prototypes in action

  • Scheduling of all core team meetings and prototype execution days

What challenges did I face and how did I overcome them?

The major challenges faced were redefining what a food truck can be used for and the general unawareness of the project. Many thought this was simply a freebie tasting from the test kitchen. These challenges were solved with face-to-face education of participants at the prototype events. After a quick conversation or pre-event speech participants understood the concept and found the project exciting. 

"I can't believe this is actually happening. I've worked here over 10 years and always wondered why we never tested new stuff in-house. Glad to see someone shaking things up around here. "

-Michelle

What would I do differently?

After reflection, I would have tried various communication methods. This would have given insight into the best method to use. I also would have gathered more quotes and individual experience testimonials to help tell the story to senior management using language they more readily understand and with people they know and trust.

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