An Assignment on Service Marketing
Prospect: Mobile Food Court Service

Submittted to,
Dr. Serajul Hoque
Professor
Department of marketing
Faculty of Business studies, University of Dhaka

Submitted by,
Khoundaker Mazhaul Islam
Roll – 155, Section – A
Batch – 14th
Department of marketing
Faculty of Business studies, University of Dhaka

Date of submission: 23/07/2012

INTRODUCTION:
Mobile Food Courts have long been based on the simple concept of bringing quality food to people in areas where there are not many other food choices. Now it is also about bringing cost-friendly options to places where there are other food choices. Faster service and lower prices allow it to compete with brick-and-mortar eateries.
Mobile food trucks serve food to customers in parks, stadiums, festivals and other public venues. Starting a mobile food truck business is similar to running other types of food establishments. A passion for food, the skills to provide quality customer service and the ability to adhere to local health regulations can help for running a successful business. The types of food sold in mobile food trucks include sandwiches, burgers, fuchkaa, hot dogs, salads and side items, such as french fries and onion rings.
To succeed, ones need to serve good, in some areas perhaps even unique, food and maintain the highest levels of cleanliness

Picture: Mobile food court

History of mobile food Court

After the American Civil War, there was a mass expansion to move westward. The expansion created a large market for beef, specifically in Texas. Innovative cattlemen needed to flock cattle to parts of the country that did not have railroads which would mean they would be on the road for months at a time. The need to feed these cattlemen resulted in the creation of the chuckwagon. The origin of the chuckwagon or food truck, stems from the "father of the Texas Panhandle," Charles Goodnight. In 1866, Charles who is a cattle herder had realized how difficult it was to cook proper meals during cattle drives. With that, he took a strong old Army wagon and constructed interior shelving and drawers. He then stocked the wagon with tableware and utensils, spices and medical supplies, including castor oil and quinine. Heavy pots and pans were stashed on the lower shelves while food was kept on in the bed of the wagon. Food consisted of dried beans, coffee, cornmeal, and other easy to preserve food stuffs. There was no fresh fruit, vegetables, or eggs available and meat was not fresh unless an animal was injured during the run and therefore had to be killed. The meat they ate was greasy cloth-wrapped bacon, salt pork, and beef, usually dried or salted or smoked. The wagon was also stocked with a water barrel and a sling to kindle wood to heat and cook food and so the chuckwagon or mobile food court was created.By the 1890s, night lunch wagons, which catered to night-time workers, were a common site in big cities like New York. "The Owl" was the leading "brand" of night lunch wagon, and although they were entirely portable, many did such good business that they rarely moved.
Later versions of the food truck were mobile canteens which were created in the late 1950s. These mobile canteens were authorized by the U.S. Army and operated on stateside army bases. In recent years the food truck resurgence was fuelled by a combination of post-recessionary factors.
The Reasons of growth in the Food truck industry
The industry is booming with approximately 3 million food trucks in the U.S. and more than 5 million food carts, and an unknown number of kiosks, which have appeared in malls, train and bus stations, airports, stadiums, conference centres and other locations in recent years. There are a number of underlying reasons for this growth & these are – * According to the Food industry observers the increase in food truck business is largely in response to the slow-growing economy * More employees are often pressed for time, with more works and shorter lunch hours * From an entrepreneurial standpoint, mobile food businesses have a lower overhead and require fewer employees than restaurants and can be easily moved if one location does not generate enough business. * It has become sort of a tourist attraction in and of itself in many parts of the world. * Often focusing on limited but creative dishes at reasonable prices * The food truck trend has grown as they are now being utilized at special events such as weddings, school dances, birthday parties, mitzvahs, retirement parties, and public gatherings such as art festivals and movie nights. * Finding a niche seems to be a path to success for most food trucks

How the Mobile Food Court will work
Even before deciding what foods to sell, any one will want to consider how he/she wants to sell them. There are several options, including the ubiquitous food truck; food kiosks (small, temporary food stands in malls, stadiums, airports and other locations); food carts that sell pre-prepared or easy-to-prepare food like hot dogs and ice cream; and catering trucks. A new option is "bustaurants," refurbished double-decker buses where patrons dine on the second level.
A decision on how to sell the foods will depend on the following factors : * Start up budget and potential for returns * Commitment to the business whether it is part or full time * Creative ideas and what it will take to fulfil them * Types of food to be prepared * Experience at running a business * The size of the business any one wants to start * Ideal demographic for sale

Service Delivery Process

The service delivery process of mobile food truck is quiet dynamic because of its very nature. But due to the advancement of science and technology tracking food trucks has become much less difficult than ever before. The value delivery process of food truck is shown below-

* With the help of social media groups like Facebook and Twitter, a person can find where their favourite food truck will be at any moment and get up to the minute updates on specials, new menu items and location changes. * In fact, it could be argued that these social media outlets were the biggest contributing factor to the success of the gourmet food truck. * In addition to social media there is a number of food truck tracking apps for smart phones. Some cover specific geographical regions, and others work every where.

In the following figure we can see that customers can get the information of their desired food truck in a real time basis through the use of facebook, twitter & different mobile apps.

Importance in Bangladesh
In the context of Bangladesh mobile food court or food truck business bears a significant importance & there lies an immense potentiality for the growth of this business for a number of factors and these are following namely – * Food trucks require simple skills, basic facilities and a relatively small amount of capital * There are plentiful & large potentiality for income and often offers a very large sector for employment. * Individuals facing difficulty finding work in formal sectors will often venture into this industry, as it allows entire families to involve themselves in the preparing and cooking of foods sold to the public. * The appeal involved in sustaining a food truck lie not only in the low capital requirement, but also in the flexibility of hours, with minimal constraints to locale. * Street foods predominantly reflect local culture and flavour. * Food trucks appeal to consumers in that they are often an inexpensive means of attaining quick meals. Location and word of mouth promotion has been credited for their widening success * Food truck business can be a huge sector to reduce the unemployment problem in our country * Besides it will also help to promote entrepreneurship development in Bangladesh * The mobile food court can represent our traditional foods to the tourists since it can easily attract the tourists particularly in the Coxes bazar, kuakata, Inani and many other tourist hot spots.

Obstacles in this sector
Although the mobile food court business possesses a significant growth potentiality in our country also it is not without some impediments & the are- * For this itinerant nature it can not be in a place all the time & hence traffic problem is a great problem in this country it is supposed to face some troubles * A proper infrastructural development is necessary for the rapid growth in this sector * This might work in the city areas but not in the urban areas alike

Conclusion

"You come here, grab food while you're waiting for friends and then hop on the bus.’’- This statement bears close simile with the tag line of ‘yiaan toon khai jan ’which is one of the prevalent food courts in our country normally seen in the Sang shad Vhaban Area.
Although it possesses some threats and at the same time we can not over look its immense potentiality to reduce the unemployment problem in our country .It is also a huge source of family business where the all the members of the family can contribute .We can involve the unemployed women in this sector & reduce women unemployment rate. Banks now a days are providing SME(small & medium enterprises )loans .So they can patronize this sector through providing their loans .And above all government should take necessary steps for the over all infrastructural development of our country that will ultimately boost up the growth of food truck business or mobile food court in our country .

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