Product portioning is one of the most important activities in your food truck business. It effects your customers’ experience, food quality and food cost.

When someone receives a smaller portion than the person who ordered the exact same thing right before them, customers usually notice and their mood sours.

During the preparation process, inaccurate quantities of ingredients in recipes can alter the food’s flavor and texture. Have you ever had a regular customer ask, “what have you done to the sauce?”

Then there is the issue of food cost. Consistently over portioning a $6.00 per pound product just half an ounce adds almost 19 cents to the serving cost. Say you serve 100 a day, that’s $133 lost per week or almost $7,000 in a year and that’s with just ONE product.

Technological advances in scales and slicing equipment keeps making it easier for employees to portion products faster and with much greater accuracy. The newest digital scales are portable, easy to read, have automatic counting functions and can be equipped with push button or hands free capabilities.Anything you can do to help your staff do a better job of portioning is usually money well spent. Does your staff have the appropriate sized cups, scoops, ladles and other measuring devises at their disposal and are they consistently using the correct ones?

Also, never expect what you don’t inspect. One food truck owner I know has a habit of pulling one item off the line each shift and weighing the key ingredients. If something’s not right, he addresses the issue immediately with his staff. He says that this one practice, more than any other, helps him control portion sizes and keep his food cost in line.

How’s your portioning? Any improvement in this area should result in happier guests, lower food cost and a healthier bottom line.