Otterly Delicious Food
Truck
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California State University, Monterey Bay
Food Truck Service
Hali Whittington, Saul Hernandez, Gal Shapira
Business Marketing
Bus 306-82, Fall 2014
Presented to Professor Carol Davis
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Truck
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Table of Contents
Market
Analysis………………………………………………………………………………………………………...3
Situation Analysis…………………………………………………………………………………………..3
Market Summary…………………………………………………………………………………………...4
Target Market….…………………………………………………………………………………………….4
Geographics…………………………………………………………………………………………………..4
Demographics……..…………………………………………………………………………………………5
Behavior Factors/Psychographics…………………………………………………………………..6
The Market….…………………………………………………………………………………………………7
Market Needs…..…………………………………………………………………………………………….7
Market Trends…..…………………………………………………………………………………………...7
Market Growth….…………………………………………………………………………………………...7
SWOT Analysis….……………………………………………………………………………………………8
Strengths….………………………………………………………………………………………………….…8
Weaknesses….………………………………………………………………………………………………..8
Opportunities….……………………………………………………………………………………………..8
Threats….……………………………………………………………………………………………………….8
Competition….………………………………………………………………………………………………..9
The Product….………………………………………………………………………………………………..9
Product Offering….…………………………………………………………………………………………9
Keys to Success….…………………………………………………………………………………………10
Critical Issues….……………………………………………………………………………………………10
List of Tables and Figures
Figure 1: Would it be advantageous to have a food
truck?………………………...…………………………………………………………………………………..5
Figure 2: What types of food should be
sold?…………………………………………………………………………………....……………..................6
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Market Analysis
Situation Analysis
The Otterly Delicious Food Truck will be an extension of the current California
State University, Monterey Bay (CSUMB) food offerings by Sodexo. The life of a
California State University, Monterey Bay student is often busy and sometimes
overwhelming, with a workload often consisting of several hours of reading, writing,
studying, completing other homework assignments, all while working to complete
semester long projects. These are often the requirements for just one class; now consider
a student taking several of these courses! Students must rest well and eat well to have
energy and focus for all these duties. Although being a responsible student often means
sacrificing proper rest, it should not mean sacrificing proper nutrition. Busy students at
CSUMB find the lack of available food options to be a burden and an inconvenience in
maintaining good nutrition, especially on East Campus (Student A, et al., survey, October
2014). While the options for food on campus are very limited, they are completely
unavailable at night on East Campus. Many students find themselves staying up late at
night completing many assignments but have nowhere to buy a quick meal stay fueled in
the late hours of work. To appropriately provide convenient food options to students late
at night, especially on East Campus, the Otterly Delicious Food Truck will bring food
options to students so they may spend their time being productive in their school work
and not worrying about what to eat. The Otterly Delicious Food Truck will work to fill
the gap in providing food at all locations on campus so the question of what to eat will no
longer be a dilemma.
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Otterly Delicious will allow more food options to students on all parts of
campus. The truck will offer a variety of food choices and will be able to offer different
menus on different days. By parking on campus during the day, students will be able to
try something different throughout the week. In the evenings and at night, the truck will
have designated times to park at the various housing areas on campus to accommodate to
all students.
Market Summary
With a food truck at CSUMB, our target market will be all students and in the
evenings especially, students living on East Campus. By bringing another food option
on-campus during the day, students will crave the food and also find it more convenient
than leaving campus to buy lunch. Those living in East Campus are the primary target
market in the evenings. Many find themselves with no nearby food after Ord Market
closes, making the food truck something to look forward to. With the added convenience
and various appetizing options of a food truck, CSUMB would allow all students to eat
better and better perform in their studies all while making profit, making all CSUMB
students the target market for Otterly Delicious.
Target Market
Geographics
As understood by survey results of students at California State University,
Monterey Bay (CSUMB), a food truck is a dining amenity that the students would
happily take advantage of. 85% of the 58 students who responded to the survey answered
positively to the idea of a food truck on and near campus (Student A, et al., survey,
October 2014). These are the geographic regions that are instrumental to the success of
the Otterly Delicious food truck. These two areas are so important because this is where
students spend most of their time, whether they’re on campus for class or living, or they
are in East Campus because that is where they live there or have a friend who lives there.
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Figure 1-Number of students who would eat from a food truck (Student A, et al.,
October, 2014)
Demographics
Otterly Delicious caters to students of all kinds. The beauty of serving such a
diverse group of people is that there are few restrictions on who to target. Otterly
Delicious targets students at CSUMB of all ages, gender, incomes, life cycles, race,
religions, etc. This dining option is perfect for busy, hungry college students who need to
have a faster, more convenient dining option. However, Otterly Delicious does aim to be
accessible for all incomes by providing high quality, reasonably priced food options. The
food truck also features foods spanning across all types, including Mexican, Italian,
American, etc., to ensure that the most students can be served. In the same survey
mentioned previous having food offerings of all types would bring the most success to
the food truck. Students who chose the “other” option specified either healthy options or
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all of the above (Student A, et al., October 2014).
Figure 2- Food types desired by students (Student A, et al., October, 2014).
Psychographics & Behavioral Factors
Otterly Delicious will essentially target busy students who are in need of fast,
convenient, and satisfying food. These may be students on campus stopping for a meal in
between classes, students studying in their East Campus apartment late into the night that
need dinner, or a hungry student on their way to the library. However, Otterly Delicious
also strives to be an available food option for any and every student. This means that it
will be a food option for almost every occasion. The fact that this food truck will feature
a menu of many options means that there is something for everyone regardless of
personality or lifestyle. Otterly Delicious will feature vegan, vegetarian, and even gluten
free menu items to ensure that students of every lifestyle are able to find food to eat.
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The Market
Market Needs
While fifty-four percent of CSUMB students surveyed cook at home every day,
fifty-nine percent of them are not satisfied with current food options on campus
(SurveyMonkey, 2014). Cooking at home provides the convenience of choice and
freedom to eat whenever it works in a student’s busy schedule, but the fact that the
majority of students surveyed are not satisfied with current food options highlights a gap
in the CSUMB food offering. Much of the time spent grocery shopping and cooking can
be better spent completing assignments. Eighty-nine percent of students surveyed
expressed the desire for more food options close to campus and eighty-five percent said
they would take advantage of a food truck option if available on campus
(SurveryMonkey, 2014). These statistics show the necessity for a more convenient food
option for CSUMB students.
Market Trends
The market share of food consumers on campus is dominated by Sodexo. Sodexo is the
primary food service provider here at CSU MB. Since barriers to entry exist, they look to
remain the primary market shareholders. One continuing trend is the growth of CSUMB
admitted students. As student population continues to grow, so will potential consumers
for Otterly Delicious.
Market Growth
There is a growing market in our field, food service. Enrollment in our university is
rising, and more specifically the business program will be impacted. Since the
construction intends on completing by fall of next school year, the newly generated foot
traffic will yield more attention to our new business.
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SWOT Analysis
Strengths
Otterly Delicious is new, it is attractive, and it offers delicious food at a convenient
location. We provide a service: hot, fresh meals. The timing of our introduction serves as
a huge strength. Our presence will be the elephant in the room, and people will be curious
as to what we have to offer.
Weaknesses
Students and faculty on campus might not trust the vendor yet, since it is not yet
established. We do not yet know how much inventory to stock ourselves with each
morning.
Opportunities
The opening of the new business building, in the fall of 2015, will put more foot traffic
and passersby near Otterly Delicious. Otterly Delicious can attend sports events, as well,
and park near the Kelp Bed (gym). We could sometimes position our food truck in the
athletic parking lot near the swimming pool for swimming events. Locations are new and
intriguing opportunities.
Threats:
Negative word of mouth threatens to detract student business at our food truck business.
Another potential threat is rain or other severe weather conditions limiting people’s
willingness to spend time outside. These environmental threats can hinder business and it
is important to be aware of what course of action to take once bad weather does happen.
Copy-cats could try to do what we intend to do, and saturate our market.
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Competition
Although competition for a food truck could be stretched to cover all restaurants
and grocery stores, it would be fairer to consider fast food options as the most immediate
competition for Otterly Delicious. Within 10 miles alone of CSUMB there are multiple
Subway Restaurants, Taco Bells, McDonald’s, Chipotle, and Carl’s Jr. to just to name a
few.
All of these fast food chains are huge corporations that are able to market their
products through many different avenues including television, the Internet, and print
media. They are financially capable of reaching everyone in the world through their
marketing strategies. Each company markets itself in a different way, each with their own
slogans and ideas; however, they are each offering a quick fix for people who are in need
of fast, but tasteful food. Everyone has experienced the marketing tactics of these
companies in some way or another. Each restaurant also has the financial capabilities to
be in many locations, which often gives them an upper hand against smaller competitors.
The Product
Product Offering
The Otterly Delicious food truck is essentially a mobile restaurant. It will feature
a griddle, fryers, an area for food preparation, a sink, a commercial sized
refrigerator/freezer, and service windows to take orders and distribute them. There should
also be a cash register on board to perform all payment actions. The University of
California, Riverside debuted a “32-foot food truck” on its campus in 2012 that contained
a very similar interior structure (“Anatomy,” 2012). This food truck will be capable of
producing food quickly and efficiently while still giving customers delicious meals. It
would carry the food needed in-house, but every day it would pick up the needed items
from the kitchen on campus. It would also have storage to hold all of the necessary
utensils needed for food preparation and cooking. Food trucks can be purchased, or a
truck that could be converted to fill the needs of Otterly Delicious could be purchased. A
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website called Roaming Hunger sells all different variations of food trucks ranging from
$20,000 to $130,000 (2014).
Keys to Success
There are two aspects in which the Otterly Delicious food truck surpasses its
competitors. Firstly, is the variety of food offered. All of the fast food competitors
discussed previously only offer one type of food whereas the food truck will offer
multiple types of food as discussed earlier and seen in Figure 2. A food truck would also
have the capability to “evolve over time based upon customer input” (“New Food Truck,”
2012). The option for an ever-changing menu can keep customers coming back for new
and exciting meals or snacks. Secondly, Otterly Delicious has the upper hand in being the
most convenient, closest food option. The food truck has the capability to be exactly
where the students are whether that is on campus or in East Campus housing. Even
though the fast food competitors are within a 10-mile radius, some students do not have
transportation, and 10 miles can be too long to walk for food. The closeness of the food
truck also gives students a feeling of safety knowing they never have to go too far to get a
good meal.
Critical Issues
One of the critical issues that could arise as with expanding any business
operations is funding. The startup for the food truck will be the biggest bulk of the
investment, but then there are on-going costs like inventory, fuel costs, insurance, and
wages. This means that CSUMB and Sodexo must have adequate funds to purchase the
food truck, the initial inventory, and the insurance. As explained in an article on
Foodtuckempire.com, initial inventory can be up to about $2,000 with insurance being in
a similar range depending on the coverage, and as discussed in a previous section the
food truck itself can be between $20,000 and $130,000 (“The Complete Breakdown,”
2014). Then the food truck will need to be able to keep bringing in enough revenue to
cover all costs, and then it will hopefully be making a profit as well.
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Truck
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However, the success of the food truck is completely dependent upon the
response from students. There has to be good service and good food for students to keep
coming back to the food truck. These things are dependent upon the employees hired to
help run the food truck. The staff needs to be helpful, efficient, and fast to keep the busy
students happy. Another issue that could affect a positive response from the students is
having the food truck in the right place at the right time. In the beginning this may be a
case of trial and error or issuing surveys to determine the best places and times to park
the food truck. However, if locations and times aren’t resolved in the first few months of
operation, this could be detrimental to the success of the Otterly Delicious food truck.
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References
Food Service Director. (2012). Anatomy of a Food Truck, University of California,
Riverside. Retrieved from http://www.foodservicedirector.com/ideasinnovation/design-portfolio/snapshot/anatomy-food-truck-university-californiariverside?page=0%2C0
Roaming Hunger. Food Trucks and Carts For Sale. (2014). Retrieved from
http://roaminghunger.com/market_trucks/buy
University of California, Riverside. (2012). New Food Truck to Add to UC Riverside’s
Culinary Options. Retrieved from http://newsroom.ucr.edu/2824