Yats restaurant overview and operations

Yats Restaurant Case Study

This project calls for the introduction of a mobile restaurant truck to supplement the existing product line of the Yats restaurant chain. The purpose of this addition is to add revenue from an entirely new market of customers who may not be inclined or able to take the time to patronize a traditional sit-down restaurant but who will appreciate the opportunity to purchase the types of foods served by the Yats restaurant chain. In addition to serving members of the traditional lunch crowd during the work day, it is also anticipated that the mobile Yats food service truck will enable Yats to add revenue from sales to the late-night recreational crowds and to sports fans in the vicinity of organized sports events.

The principal advantage of the mobile food service truck is that, unlike brick-and-mortar restaurants, the mobile truck can move to any location instead of relying exclusively on customers in the immediate vicinity of its existing restaurants. In addition, the mobile truck allows the Yats restaurant to continue serving its existing customer base for extended hours wherever there is a perceived demand in the vicinity of Yats restaurants in a manner that is not associated with the overhead costs of extending the operating hours of its restaurants. That is because the sales revenue necessary to make extended restaurant hours profitable would greatly exceed the sales revenue necessary to make manning the mobile food service truck profitable.

Another advantage of the mobile food service truck is that it provides an opportunity to experiment with additional menu items without making changes to the existing menu of its restaurants that could have detrimental effects on customer loyalty in the traditional restaurant setting. Those new items that prove successful in the mobile food service truck could be incorporated into the existing restaurant menu without the same potential risk of untested restaurant menu changes. In that regard, it is also conceivable that food-to-go items introduced by the mobile service truck will generate demand for similar items in the Yats restaurants.

It is anticipated that the initial expenses for the fully outfitted and equipped mobile food service truck will be approximately $70,000. It is also anticipated that the truck crew will require some initial training and that the Yats chefs will have to participate in adapting the available food fare to the mobile environment. This process will include an assessment of what menu items can be easily prepared in the truck and how their ingredients will be packaged and stored for that purpose. Instead of hiring outside workers with experience in mobile food service operations and providing instruction to them in connection with learning how to prepare Yats products, it is preferable to recruit mobile truck operators from current Yats employees. It may be advisable to hire an experienced outside mobile food operations manager during the initial transition as well.