Trends and Conditions Paper

Week 2

MKT/431

Trends and Conditions Paper

Food tucks have become a staple in urban cuisine. They have created this underground cult following where people follow the Twitter and Facebook feeds of the trucks to find out where the truck will be parked next. According to Levin (2013), “Though many restaurants have returned to traditional brick and mortar locations, food trucks remain a driving force in the industry and an avenue of opportunity for kitchen design and equipment,” (pg. 1). Team A has decided to take the idea of a normal food truck and add a twist that will draw in the crowds. People who normally venture out to a food truck are looking for food that is fast and easy to eat on the go. Our solution is the sushi burrito. The sushi burrito is the great taste of sushi, but wrapped in a convenient burrito for on the go enjoyment. Our food truck will serve a variety of these sushi burritos that will appeal to both sushi lovers and vegetarians as well. The sushi burrito food truck will serve all of the classic rolls that you would find in the sushi restaurant such as the spicy tuna, spicy salmon and the California roll. We will also serve at least three vegetarian burritos such as a cucumber, veggie delight, and a sweet potato burrito. When the clientele grows, the food truck can look into expanding the menu even more.

Current Market Trends

Mobile food has come a long way from the hotdog carts at the corner of streets. People have started to like and prefer food trucks over restaurants because their food is great. Also it takes less amount of time for them to order and pick up their food. People who work and do not have a long lunch break plan out their days in a way to be on time and in the hops of being one of the first in line at their favorite food truck. According to McCracken (2013), “Food trucks are a culinary trend. They are suddenly everywhere. Trucks move constantly, “broadcasting” their location by Twitter, parking wherever they can find enough space, and drawing as many as 800 people.” Many people truly follow their favored food trucks on Twitter and show up wherever they are at whatever time just to have their delicious food.

Sushi burritos are a great way to definitely expand Japanese and Mexican cuisine. Additionally, there is also another national standard in which Japanese food can mix with Mexican cuisine, and that is definitely sushi tacos. Sushi tacos can be an additional benefactor to the sushi burritos because it is also easily made and brings an added dimension to our food truck. Similar to the sushi burrito, you can also differentiate the type of fish you place into these tacos. By having two main dishes that can be mixed and matched differently, our food truck can become much more specialized and separate us from the competition.

In an article on Intuite Network it is mentioned, “Food trucks are hot. They represent local, fresh, fusion, authentic and hip all in one convenient dining experience. Research indicates that food trucks are not just a fad, but a viable market segment with significant competitive advantages relative to quick serve, fast food and take-out food vendors.” People want and like anything food that is affordable, delivered fast, healthy, and tastes great! In today’s world, people have become more aware about what they eat and have been leaning toward a healthier lifestyle. So a healthy lunch that Sushi on the Move would serve could be sushi, but the twist is that it will be in a burrito form. This is an amazing and unique idea because people who love sushi do not have to worry about going to a restaurant, wait to be seated, wait for their food to arrive and wait again to pay the bill. By having a sushi burrito served at Sushi on the Move, people can easily order their burrito, pay for it and have it made in less than half the amount of time they would have spent at a restaurant. In the same article it is mentioned, “Survey results show that food truck customers like the food and enjoy the experience. More than 90 percent of the diners interviewed rated food truck quality as either excellent (43 percent) or good (48 percent). Just over 80 percent of those interviewed used words like fun, exciting, new, different, unusual and unique when asked why they dined at food trucks.” This shows that people like and enjoy food trucks and it has become more than just ordering their food. It has become supporting their locals and at the same time enjoying the gathering of friends and strangers come together for great food and conversations.

Analysis of Why This Would Be A Good Opportunity

Having a food truck creates such a huge advantage to brick and mortar restaurants because people go to where the traffic is. By being mobile and removing the restriction of having just one spot to provide people with service, and it will be much more profitable. For example, places where there are a lot of construction usually entails that there are many workers needing of a lunch; however, they do not have the luxury to stop by at a restaurant and wait for food to come out. Also, because of the increase of yelping becoming ever so popular, creating great, affordable, and specialized food will lead to many yelpers trying our food truck. Ultimately, the idea of having a food truck is a great opportunity because of mobile, financial, and trend advantages. It is the new fad that will continue to progress and grow in our culture

Current Market Condition

There are clear signs of the boom in demand for Japanese cuisine along with fusion cuisine as the global market started accepting diversities of cultures. The improvement and dynamic changes in technology has generated more job opportunities for the employment category, allowing majority of the people to have the capabilities to enjoy wider varieties of cuisine even at a higher price. Japanese cuisine started out slow in immigrant communities and eventually expanded into all parts of the world such as America and Asia where the local culture resulted in innovative ideas for fusion cuisine. The advances of technology has also had its fair share of impact on the sushi industry as the process of flash freezing allowed even cities distant from the ocean to enjoy Japanese cuisines.

The busy and competitive business environment has resulted in the demand of cuisine business prioritizing convenience and portability to suit their working schedule. Some of the common problems faced by the employees would be limited time for their meals whereby travelling around crowded street is another hassle to be considered. The concept of gourmet food truck would fit into the busy schedules of the consumers without great effort in travelling around looking for tasty cuisines. An example of a fusion cuisine, sushi burrito was able to emerge from the crowd and received positive reviews as the idea was a new concept different from the traditional or purist path of eating Japanese cuisines (Moran, 2010). The combination of the Mexican culture and Japanese culture has resulted in a product that is able to satisfy the demand as a healthy cuisines along with portability when sold on food trucks.

Conclusion

Current market trends have shown a great increase in the demand for food trucks. There are some trucks that build a large clientele, which follows them on social media networks. Cities also host local food tuck festivals which trucks can come and reach even more potential clients to grow their following even more. The current market conditions have shown a high demand for Japanese fusion cuisine. More people are looking for culturally diverse dinner plates. When the two of these concepts are combined, the Japanese fusion cuisine and the American food truck, the sushi burrito came to life. The sushi burrito has all of the great flavors one would normally find in the sushi restaurant, neatly rolled into a fast convenient burrito that will allow our customers to enjoy Japanese cuisine on the go.

References

Food Trucks Motor Into the Mainstream. (2013). Retrieved from http://network.intuit.com/2012/12/05/food-trucks-motor-into-the-mainstream/

Jogasaki Sushi Burrito. (2013). Menu. Retrieved from http://www.jogasakiburrito.com/menu-2/

Levin, A. (2013). 13 Trends and Issues to Watch in 2013: Food Trucks. Retrieved from http://www.fesmag.com/features/foodservice-issues/10384-13-trends-and-issues-to-watch-in-2013-food-trucks

McCracken, G. (2013). What Marketers Can Learn from the Food-Truck Trend. Retrieved from http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2011/08/cessna_marketing_what_we_can_l.html

Moran.R., (2010). Fun, innovative menu at Simi Valley’s Go Fish includes sushi burritos and Screaming Tuna, Retreived on April, 2013 from http://www.vcstar.com/news/2010/aug/13/giving-whimsy-a-roll-fun-innovative-menu-at-simi/?print=1