Portion control is an essential element of food cost and quality control. It reduces food waste, ensures a consistent and quality product. Other benefits it produces is that it helps speed up food preparation and service. This will provide a big impact on a food truck’s food cost. Any extra food added to the customer’s order is money coming out of a mobile food vendor’s bottom line.

An extra ounce of soup or a handful of cheese may seem insignificant, these amounts added up per dish over an extended period of time are costing you thousands per year in additional food cost. Excessive portions also contribute to food waste. Both in terms of orders that are thrown out or half eaten. It also leads to over-ordering to stock your truck day to day; that is your profit going into the garbage every day.

Portion Control For Your Food Truck

The best way to get a handle on food cost is to keep an open dialogue with all of your food truck staff, assess if and where waste is occurring, and have a mechanism in place to ensure that each portion is consistent in every dish that leaves your food truck’s kitchen.

Portion Control: Assessment

When you create your menu, you should also allocate portions for each menu item and price them accordingly. The general rule of thumb is that each dish on the menu should cost 30 – 40% of the selling price in order to cover expenses and make a profit. Lack of consistent portions makes it impossible to assess the true cost per item.

Talk with the staff members who clean up the garbage containers you provide around your truck. They can provide information about what is being thrown away. If certain dishes are constantly being thrown away half-eaten perhaps you need to rethink that particular dish and alter it or eliminate it from the menu altogether, or adjust your portion sizes.

RELATED: Strategically Reducing Your Food Truck Portions

Portion Control: Prevention

A successful food truck requires a team effort. It’s important that all of your staff are on the same page and have the necessary equipment to ensure product quality.

  • Provide pictures of each plated item illustrating the correct portion sizes and plating.
  • Provide a chart that lists the correct portion of each item in all food preparation areas (truck and prep kitchen).
  • Pre-portion condiments, sides, and sauces.
  • Order pre-portioned stock where practical.
  • Make sure that all bulk items are portioned out and appropriately labeled and stored as soon as possible.
  • Have and an adequate amount of the correct sized storage containers, ladles, and scoops for each menu item as well as a variety of measuring cups, spoons, and scales.

These measures not only help to ensure less waste, they also speed food preparation and service, especially at your truck’s busiest times. This makes certain that your customers get what they expect every time they dine: consistently good-looking, tasty food, in fair portions, at a reasonable price.

RELATED: 6 Accounting Equations To Know For Your Food Truck Business

The Bottom Line

Love of good food and the ability to share it with others is the main reason you opened your food truck in the first place. Proper portion control practices will help to ensure that it stays open.

What portion control practices do you use? Share your thoughts on this topic in the comment section, our food truck forum or social media. Facebook | Twitter