Wayback Burgers Turns to Electric Mini Food Trucks As Delivery Solution

The latest innovation in food delivery has arrived, and it was born out of one man’s refusal to serve soggy french fries. Wayback Burgers president and CEO John Eucalitto was dissatisfied with what he was hearing from major players in third-party delivery, so he and his team decided to partner with a vehicle manufacturer to develop and pilot a mini food truck delivery solution, according to an article in QSR Magazine.

The 161-unit burger franchise found a vendor that develops 5-foot-6 by 9-foot electric, mini food trucks complete with refrigerators, freezers, griddles, fryers and whatever else is needed, and run on electric and propane with a battery that lasts about 80 miles per charge. The trucks cost $35,000–$50,000 apiece, a significantly lower cost than that of a standard food truck, and they don’t take cash, so customers can’t walk up and place an order.

A small pilot launched in New York City determined the vehicles were able to push a ton of volume out of a very narrow space, prompting the brand to dive in.

Eucalitto says the mini-food truck idea was so novel that it required the brand to develop its own marketplace technology in the form of an app called Viddl-it. It works similar to other platforms like DoorDash, UberEats, and GrubHub, but in this case, the guest is connected to a driver who accepts the order and is dispatched to the scene to make the meal. The app is a central part of the operation for the trucks; according to the article, the technology is designed so if the truck operator receives and accepts an order 3 miles away, then two minutes later receives another order from one mile away, it will redirect the driver to the closer order.

“The most important part is the consumer will get a quality of product that they can’t get in any other delivery service,” Eucalitto said, according to the article.

While still in its early stages of rollout, the vehicle has the potential to shake up the rapidly evolving delivery space. Read the full QSR Magazine article here.