A little over a year ago, Portland businessman Matt Noone was spending some time with his son. “It was a beautiful day out, and we were both hungry for different food,” Noone said. “I said, ‘Well, let’s drive around and we’ll find a food truck.’”
They had no luck. Noone, who owns a staffing agency in Portland, then tried to find a food truck locator online, and struck out there, as well. That’s when he got the idea to create one himself.
Noone launched his food truck app, FoodTruX, about a week ago in Portland and also Denver, where his brother-in-law owns a quesadilla food truck. The app uses GPS to connect consumers with about 60 food trucks in Maine, showing their locations, menus (with photos) and specials of the day. Individual food trucks usually post their menus and whereabouts on social media, but are not always good about keeping the information up to date.
Noone has high hopes for his app, which is free to consumers. He’d like it to be in 24 U.S. markets by the end of this year, and 50 markets by the end of year three.
Food trucks can try the app for free for 60 days before a $35 per month subscription kicks in. Noone estimates the app has to send just 2.5 consumers to each truck to pay for the subscription.
“Our app on the consumer side allows you to search from your geo-located spot,” Noone said. “Say it’s lunchtime and you just want to see what’s close. You can pop the app on and do a half-mile or quarter-mile radius search to see what’s close to you.”
Consumers can also search by category, if they’re in the mood for, say, Asian or Mexican food.
Noone has planned regular scavenger hunts and other promotions so app users can earn swag and win gift cards to their favorite food trucks. The app include an events calendar as well, listing activities from art walks to music festivals, so food trucks can let users know where they will be parked.
“Food always follows fun,” Noone said. “You don’t see these trucks setting up on a dark street corner, they’re always setting up at something that’s a fun activity.”
Download the FoodTruX app from the Apple App Store and Google Play.
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