Most food trucks don’t fail because of the food, but because of the menu. Too many dishes, too long to prepare, too little profit margin – and in the end, you’re left with a queue that isn’t moving, whilst half the customers move on.
The toughest figure: portions per hour
The lunchtime rush lasts about ninety minutes. Whatever you can’t sell during that time, you won’t sell at all – you won’t make it up for the rest of the day.
| Preparation | Portions per hour | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Just put it all together | 90 – 140 | Bowls, wraps, open sandwiches |
| Pre-cooked, just finish off | 60 – 100 | Pulled pork, currywurst, soups |
| Freshly cooked to order | 35 – 60 | Burgers, steaks, pan-fried dishes |
| Long cooking time per portion | 20 – 40 | Pizza from a single oven, crêpes |
Work backwards, not forwards. If you, according to Costing If you need 120 portions a day and manage 60 during the lunchtime rush, you’re 60 short – you’ll have to make up the difference in the evening or at a second location. A business model that can’t serve the required volume has, mathematically speaking, already failed.
How many dishes should be included on the menu?
Less than almost everyone wants at the start. The following have proved their worth: three to five main courses, plus a side dish and two or three drinks.
The reasons are practical, not aesthetic:
- Preparation. Every additional dish means its own ingredients, its own preparation and its own leftovers.
- Place. In a food truck, refrigeration is the bottleneck. Eight dishes won’t fit in a refrigerated display counter.
- Decision time. If you’re faced with twelve options, it takes thirty seconds longer. With a hundred customers, that’s half an hour.
- Spoilage. Anything that isn’t sold is thrown away. With five dishes, this happens less often than with ten.
A dish that people associate with you. Food trucks that people recognise have one thing they’re known for. “The one with the pulled pork” is a recommendation that gets passed on – “the one with the wide range” doesn’t.
Cost per dish
The average cost of goods sold should be 25 to 35 per cent . That doesn’t mean every dish has to meet this figure – a mixed cost calculation is normal and sensible.
| Dish | Sales | Cost of goods sold | Proportion |
|---|---|---|---|
| Classic burger | 9,50 € | 2,90 € | 31 % |
| Beef burger, Premium | 13,50 € | 5,40 € | 40 % |
| Chips | 3,50 € | 0,45 € | 13 % |
| Lemonade 0.33 l | 3,00 € | 0,60 € | 20 % |
| Vegetarian bowl | 9,00 € | 2,20 € | 24 % |
The side dishes make the profit. A burger on its own yields a profit of 6.60 euros, whilst a burger with chips and a drink yields 12.05 euros – with hardly any extra work.
Don’t forget the packaging. At 0.35 euros per portion, the burger’s contribution to the profit drops from 6.60 to 6.25 euros. Over the course of a month, that amounts to several hundred euros – a figure that won’t appear in any calculation if you happen to overlook it. Find out more at Packaging and reusable containers.
Set prices
There are two ways to find the price, and you need both:
In terms of costs: Cost of goods sold based on the desired percentage. 2.90 euros at 30 per cent equals 9.67 euros – rounded up to 9.90 euros.
From the marketplace: What are the others charging at the same market? Anyone charging significantly more needs to highlight the difference. Anyone charging significantly less is giving money away – and raising doubts about quality.
Round figures save time. 9.50 instead of 9.47, 3.00 instead of 2.90. Every second counts at the till, and counting change costs more than the difference brings in. For cash payments, this represents a real increase in throughput.
What needs to go on the board
Mandatory information – regardless of how small the map is:
- Price, clearly legible
- Allergens Under the Food Information Regulation – the fourteen substances subject to labelling requirements
- Additives such as colourings, preservatives and flavour enhancers
- For meat: the Origin, if you’re using it for advertising
Allergen information must be available before purchase. In Germany, verbal information is also permitted for non-pre-packaged foodstuffs. For this, trained staff must be available, written or electronic records must be accessible, and a clearly visible notice indicating this option for obtaining information must be displayed (Section 4 LMIDV). A folder or notice can provide the information directly.
Preparation: what needs to be done beforehand
The difference between 40 and 90 portions per hour is almost never down to the cooking itself, but rather to the preparation.
- Sauces ready, in squeeze bottles
- Vegetables, chopped and portioned
- Meat weighed and stacked
- Sliced bread
- Pre-portioned side dishes
Anything you still have to cut whilst things are busy costs you twice over: the time itself and your workflow. If you spend two hours preparing, you’ll save more than two hours at lunchtime.
Vegetarian and vegan
These days, every menu needs to include a meat-free dish – not out of conviction, but for financial reasons: in a group of four, it’s often the one person who doesn’t eat meat who decides where all four of them go for a meal.
It doesn’t have to be anything fancy. A good vegetarian version of the main course is enough and uses the same side dishes.
Edit the map
It’s better to be there too rarely than too often. Regular customers come for something specific; if they can’t find it anymore, they’ll come less often.
Tried and tested: keep the core menu consistent over several months whilst offering a rotating special. This keeps things interesting without having to completely overhaul the preparation each time – and a weekly special is a reason for people to look at the menu in the first place.
