Menu engineering works perfectly for food trucks too. With just five items, you can see exactly which dishes are popular and profitable. In this article, you'll learn how to analyze and optimize your five items for maximum profit.
Why menu engineering is crucial for food trucks
At a food truck, every square meter is precious. You can't offer 50 dishes like a restaurant. That's why every item on your menu needs to work hard for its spot.
Menu engineering helps you to:
- Identify your best-performing items
- Improve or remove unprofitable dishes
- Strategically arrange your menu for more profit
The four categories of menu engineering
Each dish falls into one of these four quadrants:
💡 The four quadrants:
- Stars: Popular + profitable (keep and promote)
- Plowhorses: Popular + unprofitable (raise price or lower costs)
- Puzzles: Unpopular + profitable (promote better or adjust)
- Dogs: Unpopular + unprofitable (remove)
Step 1: Gather your data
For each of your five items, you need two numbers:
- Popularity: How many do you sell per day/week?
- Profitability: What is the food cost percentage?
⚠️ Note:
Always calculate food cost with selling price excluding VAT. Formula: (Ingredient costs / Selling price excl. VAT) × 100
Step 2: Determine your averages
With five items, it's easy to determine what "popular" and "profitable" means:
💡 Example food truck data:
- Burger: 45 sold/week, 28% food cost
- Pulled pork sandwich: 25 sold/week, 32% food cost
- Vegetarian wrap: 15 sold/week, 22% food cost
- Loaded fries: 35 sold/week, 35% food cost
- Fish & chips: 10 sold/week, 38% food cost
Average sales: 26 units/week
Average food cost: 31%
Step 3: Place each item in a quadrant
Items above average are "high", below average are "low":
- Burger: High sales (45) + low food cost (28%) = STAR
- Loaded fries: High sales (35) + high food cost (35%) = PLOWHORSE
- Vegetarian wrap: Low sales (15) + low food cost (22%) = PUZZLE
- Pulled pork: Low sales (25) + high food cost (32%) = DOG
- Fish & chips: Low sales (10) + high food cost (38%) = DOG
Step 4: Take action per category
STARS (Burger): This is your goldmine. Make sure you always have ingredients in stock. Place it prominently on your menu.
PLOWHORSES (Loaded fries): Popular but not profitable. Raise the price by €1-2 or lower the food cost by using smaller portions or cheaper ingredients.
⚠️ Note:
Raise prices carefully at food trucks. Customers are price-sensitive and can easily go to a competitor.
PUZZLES (Vegetarian wrap): Profitable but not popular. Try to promote it better or adjust the name/presentation.
DOGS (Pulled pork & Fish & chips): Not popular and not profitable. Consider replacing these with new items.
Food truck-specific tips
At a food truck, extra factors come into play:
- Preparation time: Items that take long cost you sales during the lunch rush
- Ingredient overlap: Items that use the same ingredients are more efficient
- Seasons: Hot soup sells poorly in summer
💡 Example optimization:
Replace fish & chips (DOG) with a chicken burger that:
- Uses the same ingredients as your regular burger
- Is faster to prepare
- Better fits your target audience
How often to review?
At a food truck, you can adjust faster than a restaurant:
- Weekly: Check sales figures and food cost
- Monthly: Analyze trends and consider adjustments
- Seasonal changes: Replace items that no longer fit
An app like KitchenNmbrs helps track these numbers automatically, so you can quickly see which items perform best.
How do you apply menu engineering? (step by step)
Gather sales and cost data
Note for each of your five items how many you sell per week and what the exact food cost percentage is. Calculate food cost with selling price excluding VAT.
Calculate average sales and food cost
Add up all sales and divide by 5 for average popularity. Add up all food cost percentages and divide by 5 for average profitability.
Place items in the four quadrants
Items above average sales and below average food cost are STARS. Items above average sales but above average food cost are PLOWHORSES, and so on.
Take action per category
Promote your STARS, raise prices of PLOWHORSES, improve marketing of PUZZLES, and consider replacing DOGS with new items.
Monitor and repeat monthly
Track your figures weekly and analyze monthly whether items have changed categories. Adjust your menu based on results.
✨ Pro tip
Start with your best-selling item as a reference point. If that's a STAR, try to bring your other items to the same level of profitability.
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 if all my items are popular?
Then you look at the relative differences. The least popular item still becomes a PUZZLE or DOG. Focus on improving the food cost of your least profitable items.
Do I always have to remove DOGS from my menu?
Not necessarily. Sometimes a DOG has strategic value (attracts certain customers) or is easy to improve. Try first to lower the food cost or increase popularity.
How often should I do my menu engineering analysis?
At a food truck, you can be more flexible than restaurants. Check your figures weekly and do a full analysis monthly. During seasonal changes, it's helpful to review your entire menu.
What if I only have three items instead of five?
Menu engineering works with three items too. You then calculate the average of those three items. It becomes harder to make distinctions, so consider expanding your menu to 4-5 items.
How do I raise the price of a PLOWHORSE without losing customers?
Do it gradually: raise in steps of €0.50-1.00. Or improve the presentation/portion size so the higher price feels justified. Test for a week first and monitor sales figures.
📚 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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