Naming your food truck is one of the most important things you will do…Get it right with these 17 tips
When starting a food truck business there will be a hundred things to think about, from what type of food to sell to what licenses and insurance are needed to trade legally.
And one of the most important things you will do is come up with a name for your food truck.
But before doing so there are a few steadfast rules, such as having a name that makes it clear what food you sell, checking the business is not trademarked, and having a food truck name that is memorable and easy to pronounce.
There are also a few more very important things to consider when naming your food truck that will help to attract more customers.
Read on for 17 tips on how to name your food truck…
1. Be clear about what food you sell
The reality is people don’t like to think too hard or guess what you are trying to sell. This is especially true if you are a new food truck business and you are a relative unknown.
So to make it easy for your customers to know what food you sell name your food truck with the name of the food actually in the title.
So, for example, a food truck name like “Roys Rolling Pizzeria” shouldn’t leave people in much doubt just from your name that you sell pizza.
2. Make it memorable
Vanilla-sounding names are easily forgettable so try to be a bit creative in the process.
You want to leave an impression and have a food truck name that your customers will go away remembering and hopefully tell their friends.
3. Make sure people can easily pronounce it
If you can’t pronounce it, I doubt very much your customer can. I made this mistake with a business in the past and it can be quite frustrating when you have to keep repeating the name of your business to customers and suppliers.
This is a sure sign that people are confused with your food truck name.
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4. Be specific
If you intend to sell, just one type of international food, such as Caribbean or Mexican then try and reflect that in the name. So for example, if you want to sell tacos go with something like “Terry’s Tacos” or “Jerry Jerk Truck”.
This may be a boring name but you get the idea. People will know what type of food you sell.
5. Be general if doing different types of food
This is not ideal when starting as businesses are now niching down these days. This is especially true in the food truck industry, where food trucks mainly do specific types of food only.
However, if you really want to serve a range of different foods, have something like “World Foods” in the name.
I know a few vegan and gluten-free food truck owners that serve a range of international food, with world food in their title and they seem to be pretty successful.
6. Think ahead
This is quite a hard thing to do with any new business but try to have a 3-5 year plan where you see your food truck business going in this time frame.
This will help you from the off when naming your food truck, decide if you intend to stay niche or want to expand your product range
7. Keep it short and catchy
Wendy’s Wonderful Waffle Truck is a bit of a mouthful and would probably get most people tongue-tied
Long names just sound a bit awkward to say, so you want a food truck name that is short, catchy, and rolls off the tongue. Try to use no more than three words in the name of your business.
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8. Avoid controversy
It sounds like common sense and it is, but in the time we live the most innocent-sounding name to you may offend the next person. And we definitely don’t want to scare customers away.
For example, when I first started in the street food industry I was thinking of what type of food to sell. I ended up with burgers as it’s a very popular product and the name I came up with was the “Chubby Elvis Burger Bar”.
However, after running it past a few people I decided it was not the best name for a food truck for a number of reasons.
9. Check the name isn’t trademarked or registered
This is a big deal and can come back to bite you in the rear end of your food truck, metaphorically speaking.
You don’t want to build a food truck business on a name that is already taken. They can cause all sorts of legal problems down the line, and potentially undo all of your hard work building up your business and customer base.
For those in the UK, you can check to see if the company name you want is already taken here on Companies House.
If you are in the US then you can check if the name is trademarked at the United States Patent and Trademark Office. To check if the business name is available you can also go on to your local government website which should have an entity name check tool.
10. Name of food + Co.
This is a very effective way of naming a food truck where you can combine a wide range of names (your name, family name/city) with the type of food you intend to sell plus the word “Co.”
For example:
– Generic name (bobs) + type of food (burger) + Co. = Bobs Burger Co.
This makes it clear to the customer what you sell and also makes your operation sound pretty professional with the word Co. in it.
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11. Involve family and friends
Starting your own food truck business can be a lonely enterprise and can lead to tunnel vision, which is not always the best for making good decisions.
This is why it is a good idea to get some family and friends on board to help with food truck names or by running the names past them you have already come up with.
12. Use familiar words
Don’t try and be too clever when coming up with a name for your food truck business, such as smashing two words together to create a new, unfamiliar one. Like “tastylicious”
Stick to single words that people are familiar with.
13. Make a shortlist
Make a list of as many food truck names as you can think of, preferably 100+, no matter how silly they may be.
Then make a shortlist of the around 10 names that feel right to you, and think fit the criteria for a good food truck name outlined in this article.
14. Do a survey
Following on from the previous tip, once you have a shortlist of food truck names create an online survey and get people to vote on 5-10 names.
You can easily create a survey through Survey Monkey or Facebook and it’s a handy way of gauging people’s responses to your name at scale.
15. Avoid geographical names
If you intend to grow your food truck business and have an online presence people may assume you only serve a particular area.
For example, Kentucky Fried Chicken, changed their name to “KCF” so that the location was not a prominent feature in its title.
16. Choose a name that stands out
You are a new food truck business and you are highly likely to have competition, which is especially true for food festivals and street food markets.
This is why you need a food truck name that helps you stand out from the crowd and captures people’s attention, which in turn will draw your customer’s eye to your menu of tasty delights.
17. Think it through
And finally, just make sure you really think things through before making a decision on the name of your food truck.
Not only will you be spending money on your logo, signage, and all the associated branding such as food packaging and t-shirts but it also potentially going to be one of the most valuable assets of your business in years to come.
Food truck name ideas (and ones to avoid)
To help you on your way here is an example of good food truck names and ones to avoid:
- The Burger Bus
- Bob’s Burritos
- Pizza On Wheels
- Custom Pizza Co.
- Smoothie Queen
- The Coffee Stand
- Bagel Brothers
- The Coffee Cart
- The American Burger Co.
- The Taco Stand
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Food truck names to avoid:
- Daily Hip Hop
- Dash Diner
- Delicacy Hop Trucks
- Delicious Delivered
- Discos Foods
- Divine Crap
- The Food Guy
- Street Flavor
- South Of The Border
- The Yum Yum Shack
- Exquisite Eatery
Author
Gavin D is the founder of Street Food Central and Tru Foo Juice Bar Co. and has worked in the mobile catering industry for over 7 years.