Adding pizza truck to pizzeria

[Gianni5]

Hi all,
I’ve seen a few pizza trucks nearby (sf Bay Area) turn their success into brick and mortar locations in recent years but I’ve never seen the reverse. A restaurant/pizzeria adding a pizza truck to their existing business.
   We are fortunate to have 4 successful pizza/pasta restaurants within about a 30 mile radius and for years I’ve been kicking around the idea of doing a truck that all the stores could use for events, catering, food truck parks etc. but have been hesitant to pull the trigger.
   I’m wondering if anyone on the forum, especially those with experience running a food truck has an opinion on this subject   
Thanks

[scott r]

I spend 3 times the amount of work and energy running my food truck as I do my restaurant and it makes me less money.  I can't believe how much harder it is to deal with.  To me the effort just isn't worth the paycheck.   If I could have two restaurants instead of a truck and a restaurant I would be ecstatic, but obviously restaurants cost much more money to get off the ground than a food truck.   

My truck is out 6-7 days a week, year round in new england, though.  That doesn't help!  If you can use it only for catering the margins are incredible and it takes less skilled employees because you don't have to move as fast.  If your going to be out doing high volume vending every day like I am I would avoid it unless you really need another revenue stream.   
 

[Gianni5]

Thanks Scott
That’s exactly the kind of advice I was hoping to get. I’v Done my fair share of working harder instead of smarter and I’m trying to learn from my mistakes.
With that being said I do wonder if having the truck strictly for catering could be a nice addition. For example this weekend we had fairly large catering orders on both Friday and Saturday evening that really bog down our kitchen and it’s hard on our staff and our guests who are dining in. I was thinking the truck could be a big help in these type of situations. A lot to think about

[thezaman]

  hi, i can chime in on this from the other side. i have been in the pizza business for 36 years. 5 years ago i put a forno bravo casa 110 on the back of a pickup truck with a flat bed and beefed upped suspension.my goal was to handle farmers markets and home catering. the catering part became popular right away. and as i got better at making and cooking wood fired pizza i started to do festivals and food truck events. as Scott has said above the catering is sure money. food costs are low and you can schedule your employees based on a guest count. vending is iffy, you can sell 30 pizzas or you can sell 600 pizzas. i usually have 4 600 pizza events each summer.  and one 2000 pizza 3 day multi location and one 2500 pizza week doing a county fair those  events are profitable. selling 30 pizzas is a two man job. if i can do it it is break even.if i cannot work it and i need two employees you loose money. overall vending works well for me. i do not hit a corner and stay all day waiting for customers. that is the advantage of having this be a second business vs you main income business. i also have a husband wife team that take the smaller jobs.they prep pay their labor force and i just take a percentage of sales. that frees me up to work as needed at the pizzeria during busy times so it is a win win for them and myself.
 another benefit of mobile is employees like doing it and it can be a perk to motivate your work force. it is exciting to be in the open air and be responsible for a easy menu.
  for me my pizzeria is busier in the summer as we have a patio that adds 60 seats and at times the wood fired has created lots of personal stress. usually staffing related. three years ago i decided to run two wood trucks and now usually have both of then booked on weekends and i give jobs away to other wood guys all of the time. i have taken my dough making and prep for the wood trucks away from my restaurant and rented a space to keep the confusion down.
 so that is my story wood fired has added a nice avenue to increase business. it is time consuming and definitely adds a challenge in that it is not as consistent as in house restaurant sales. but i would have never thought 5 years ago it would become such a big part of pizzeria's mix.

[woodfiredandrew]

+1 very valuable info Scott and thezaman............

[Gianni5]

Thank you guys
I still think the truck can be useful for catering.  Especially with us having multiple locations I think we'll do enough business to make it worth while.