BYU students Brighton Kriser and Bryce Lund are hoping to change the way Utah residents find their food trucks. They have created the app mobileDelicious, a real time food truck locator that gives users the ability to see trucks in their area.
The app launched on July 1. Lund, a sophomore majoring in computer science, said the idea sprang from the desire to get away from traditional food truck schedules.
“There’s no good way to find a food truck,” Lund said. “You can get on their Instagram page and just hope for a schedule, but what (mobileDelicious) does is it lists all the food trucks in the area and allows the food truck owners the ability to update their location in real time.”
MobileDelicious users will find a list of food trucks currently open around them, as well as the exact location and any reviews other users have submitted. The app has already been downloaded more than 1,500 times, according to Lund, and is currently partnered with several trucks including Mama Z’s, Bam Bam’s BBQ and Better Burger.
Long-time friends Lund and Kriser have split responsibility when it comes to handling mobileDelicious. Lund has focused on the technical side of developing the app over the past year, while Kriser has overseen marketing and publicity.
“I’ve done all the coding and all the apps and everything; all the technical side of it. Brighton has done the business development I guess you could say,” Lund said.
The response from food truck owners has been especially positive, according to Kriser. Truck owners have been looking for an app like mobileDelicious, but didn’t have the time to develop one themselves.
“They were really excited that we had created something especially here in Utah, because there are apps out there that do similar things, but the thing that people are really excited about is that we are here in Utah, and that we’re here to promote it to the people who will actually be visiting their food trucks,” Kriser said.
Trina Perez, founder of Buzzed Coffee Truck, was referred to the app by a friend and decided to get in touch with Kriser and Lund to pursue a partnership.
“They responded very quickly and it was less than a week before my truck was on the app and it was up and rolling,” Perez said. “We’ve had people come to the truck as a result of the app.”
MobileDelicious is user-friendly for both consumers and food truck owners, said Perez, who admits she uses the app as both. She checks in every week and notices more and more food trucks being added.
Simplicity and accessibility have set mobileDelicious apart for BYU sophomore and food truck frequenter Nate Sherman. He uses the app to check up on food trucks in his area one to two times a week.
“When you click on the food truck it gives you a menu. Something that’s nice about that is that it’s always up to date,” Sherman said. “It never lags. You don’t get to a spot and the food truck isn’t there. It does a really good job of doing what it’s intended for.”
Currently the app is only available for the iPhone, but Lund explained he and Kriser are working on an Android app and hope to have it released in the near future.
