Prime cost combines your food expenses and labor costs - typically 60-70% of a food truck's total revenue. Mobile operations face unique challenges since you can't spread costs across dining rooms or bar sales. Understanding your prime cost percentage determines if you'll turn a profit or struggle to cover truck maintenance, fuel, and permits.
What is prime cost for a food truck?
Prime cost consists of two parts: food cost + labor costs. Food trucks depend heavily on this metric because you operate with minimal overhead - no rent payments, reduced utilities, smaller inventory requirements.
💡 Example prime cost calculation:
Food truck with €3,000 weekly revenue:
- Food cost: €900 (30% of revenue)
- Labor costs: €1,050 (35% of revenue)
- Prime cost: €1,950
Prime cost percentage: 65% of revenue
Calculating food cost for your food truck
Food cost represents the percentage of revenue spent on ingredients. Most food trucks hit 25-35%, though this varies by concept and menu complexity.
Food cost formula:
Food cost % = (Total ingredient costs / Revenue excl. VAT) × 100
⚠️ Note:
Always calculate with revenue excl. VAT. A burger priced at €8.50 incl. VAT is €7.80 excl. VAT (€8.50 / 1.09).
Include these items in your ingredient costs:
- Packaging materials (boxes, bags, napkins)
- Sauces and garnishes
- Frying oil
- Waste and trim loss
Labor costs for food trucks
Labor costs encompass all personnel expenses, including your own compensation as owner. Food trucks typically run with 1-3 people per shift depending on volume and complexity.
What you include in labor costs:
- Gross wages of staff
- Social contributions (approximately 25% of gross wage)
- Your own wage as owner (even if you don't take it out)
- Temporary workers for busy days
💡 Example labor costs:
Food truck with 2 people, 5 days per week:
- Owner: €150/day × 5 days = €750
- Employee: €120/day × 5 days = €600
- Social contributions (25%): €337.50
Total labor costs: €1,687.50 per week
Prime cost benchmarks for food trucks
Food trucks operate with different percentages than brick-and-mortar restaurants due to their unique cost structure. Here's what you should expect:
- Gourmet food trucks: 60-70%
- Fast food trucks: 55-65%
- Dessert/ice cream trucks: 50-60%
- Coffee trucks: 45-55%
⚠️ Note:
Prime cost above 75% is dangerous. Then there's too little left for truck maintenance, fuel, location costs and profit.
Weekly vs. daily calculation
Weekly calculations work better for food trucks than daily tracking because revenue fluctuates dramatically based on location, weather, and events. That's the kind of thing you only learn after closing your first month at a loss - daily numbers can mislead you into panic decisions.
Weekly routine:
- Add up all ingredient costs for the week
- Add up all labor costs (including social contributions)
- Calculate total revenue excl. VAT
- Divide prime cost by revenue for percentage
Food cost calculators can automate these calculations weekly, eliminating manual counting and reducing errors.
How do you calculate prime cost for your food truck? (step by step)
Gather all ingredient costs
Add up all costs that go directly into your product: ingredients, packaging, sauces, oil. Don't forget trim loss and waste - add 5-10% extra on top of your net ingredient costs for this.
Calculate your total labor costs
Add up gross wages of all employees (including yourself), plus 25% social contributions. Temporary workers and extra help during festivals also count in this calculation.
Add food cost and labor costs together
Prime cost = ingredient costs + labor costs. Divide this by your revenue excl. VAT and multiply by 100 for the percentage. Aim for a maximum of 70% for a healthy food truck.
✨ Pro tip
Run your prime cost calculations every 10 days using complete data from the previous week. This timing ensures all supplier invoices have arrived and gives you 36 calculation cycles per year for solid trend analysis.
Calculate this yourself?
In the KitchenNmbrs app you can do this in just a few clicks. 7 days free, no credit card.
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Frequently asked questions
What is a good prime cost for a food truck?
Most food trucks should target 55-70% of revenue for prime cost. Gourmet concepts typically run higher (60-70%), while simpler operations like coffee or fries can achieve lower percentages (45-60%). Your target depends on menu complexity and local labor costs.
Should I include my own wage in labor costs?
Yes, always include your own wage even if you don't actually pay yourself. Calculate at least €100-150 per day for your time and effort. Without this, you'll get a false picture of profitability and make poor pricing decisions.
How often should I calculate prime cost?
Weekly calculation works optimal for food trucks. Daily revenue swings too wildly due to weather, location changes, and events. Weekly tracking smooths out these variations and gives you actionable data for adjustments.
Do location costs count toward prime cost?
No, location fees and permits aren't part of prime cost calculations. Prime cost includes only food expenses and labor costs. Stand fees, permits, and parking costs fall under operational expenses in your P&L.
What if my prime cost exceeds 75%?
Prime costs above 75% leave insufficient margin for other expenses and profit. Review your portion sizes, ingredient costs, and staffing levels immediately. You might be over-portioning, buying expensive ingredients, or overstaffing for your revenue level.
How do I handle food waste in prime cost calculations?
Include estimated waste as part of your food cost - typically 3-8% depending on your prep methods and storage. Track spoilage, over-portioning, and prep mistakes separately to identify improvement opportunities.
Should prime cost be calculated on gross or net revenue?
Always use net revenue (excluding VAT) for accurate prime cost percentages. Including VAT inflates your revenue base and makes your prime cost appear artificially low, leading to poor decision-making about pricing and costs.
📚 Sources consulted
- EU Verordening 852/2004 — Levensmiddelenhygiëne (2004) — Official source
- EU Verordening 853/2004 — Hygiënevoorschriften voor levensmiddelen van dierlijke oorsprong (2004) — Official source
- EU Verordening 1169/2011 — Voedselinformatie aan consumenten (2011) — Official source
- NVWA — Hygiënecode voor de horeca (2024) — Official source
- NVWA — Allergenen in voedsel (2024) — Official source
- Codex Alimentarius — International Food Standards (2024) — Official source
- FSA — Safer food, better business (HACCP) (2024) — Official source
- BVL — Lebensmittelhygiene (HACCP) (2024) — Official source
- Warenwetbesluit Bereiding en behandeling van levensmiddelen (2024) — Official source
- WHO — Foodborne diseases estimates (2024) — Official source
Food Standards Agency (FSA) — https://www.food.gov.uk
The HACCP standards shown in this application are for informational purposes only. KitchenNmbrs does not guarantee that displayed values are current or complete. Always consult the FSA or your local authority for the latest regulations.
Written by
Jeffrey Smit
Founder & CEO of KitchenNmbrs
Jeffrey Smit built KitchenNmbrs from 8 years of hands-on experience as kitchen manager at 1NUL8 Group in Rotterdam. His mission: give every restaurant owner control over food cost.
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