The Burger King employee who went viral after management gave him a mediocre gift bag has his retirement plan ready ...

and, it involves putting his culinary skills on wheels. Kevin Ford -- who blew up in 2022 after his BK bosses gave him a pretty low-key cheap gift bag for his 27th anniversary even though he'd never missed a day of work -- tells TMZ he's bought a food truck for the next stage of his life. Ford tells us he purchased the truck-trailer for about $20K, including shipping, from China -- a much cheaper price than you can find in the U.

S. -- fully equipped with an oven, fryer and more ..

. basically, the works. KF -- who's going to collab with his Le Cordon Bleu-trained daughter -- plans to start by selling some food he knows well .

.. hamburgers and hot dogs.

He says he wants to move on from BK once he starts making a profit with "K27Y" -- a reference to his viral fame. Ford wants to be out before next May -- 'cause that's when he'll hit 30 years with the franchise. While he's starting with American classics, Kevin tells us he wants to infuse Filipino dishes into his truck .

.. a tribute to his Filipina fiancée.

As we told you ...

the GoFundMe money raised after Kevin went viral for his so-so gift bag's already been put to good use -- 'cause he bought a house in Nevada earlier this year for $177K. He plans on starting out by doing pop-ups near the home he purchased, kicking off at a Home Depot in October. From mediocre gift bag to state-of-the-art food truck .

.. Ke.