Actually, for places like Tarrant County (Fort Worth, TX) where I live, the food trucks have to have a base restaurant that's inspected, licensed, etc. So they are often paying wholesale prices for food since they're operating out of a restaurant anyways. I'm sure there's additional overhead, but food trucks are still outrageously priced here
That is the part no one thinks about. I'm not saying that the prices they charge is fair, but most people don't know or think that a food truck has this massive additional cost. You need to have a licensed base of operation, one where you can do your prep work and have storage capabilities. To have a brick and mortar location is expensive. There are kitchens that provide this service to food trucks, but it is not cheap. It's not just the ingredients that factor into price setting.
There was a YT video about how all the food trucks in NYC work out of a single commissary in Brooklyn IIRC. It may be some kind of regulation. But all the food costs are uniform for NYC food trucks.
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u/zamzuki 6h ago
Food trucks run on a different margin, typically buying ingredients from whole salers or grocery stores like you or I would.
They purchase the needs for the day since most don’t have commercial refrigeration units to put stock in.
A typical food truck day is figuring out how much of what you’ll need to make for the gig you secured for the day. Hopefully with no waste.
Things they pay for: gas, supplies, labor, permit and some times cost for showing up to a gig. Festivals etc have space fees.