Smart Space Management: Tips for Maximizing Storage in Your Food Truck

When it comes to cooking in a food truck, you quickly realize how precious space becomes. Unnecessary or disorganized equipment will create a much bigger problem than it would in a brick-and-mortar restaurant. To help you stay safe and efficient during that Friday night rush, we’ll go over some tips on maximizing your food truck storage.

Create a Detailed Plan

Since you’re starting with limited space, you want to carefully plan where all of your items and ingredients go ahead of time. It’s better to identify any problems in advance, rather than while you’re working. Plus, it gives plenty of time to figure out the layout. If you’re having issues with storage, you may need to reduce the stock of a specific item or find a way to build more storage in your truck. We’ve helped solve this problem before by raising the truck’s roof to create more overhead compartments!

Think of the term “mise en place,” a French term that translates to “everything in its place.” All of your tools need to be set up and easily accessible. At the end of the night, don’t just shove everything into your storage area but instead have a specific layout for how everything goes. If you have all of your tools and utensils within reach, you’ll minimize wasted movements. The saying doesn’t only apply to your cooking utensils but to your ingredients as well. It will be much easier to organize and find items when they're strategically laid out in your truck rather than crammed into the fridge or dry storage. 

Don’t Forget About Kitchen Inventory Management

By keeping a record of how often you use your ingredients, you can adjust how much inventory you keep in your vehicle. For example, if you sell more sandwiches during the weekdays and more burgers during the weekends, you can adjust for the weekday vs. the weekend. If you cater for the same annual events, you can look back at your previous sales to determine which items you’ll need to stock up on and which ones you should reduce. By keeping track of your inventory, you may discover you have enough room for a new food item or that you should take another one off the menu.

Consider Multi-Purpose Equipment

A great way to decrease clutter in your food truck is by using equipment that works for multiple menu items. For example, instead of purchasing a panini grill, get a griddle that can also cook quesadillas or burgers. You’ll free up storage space, and it will help you be more effective when cooking! Instead of moving from one station to the next, you can cook multiple orders with the same piece of equipment.

Don’t Overcomplicate Your Menu

While you may want to provide as many menu items as possible, keeping a simple menu will benefit both you and the customer. When you’re not stretching yourself too thin, your customers will enjoy the higher quality of your dishes and the quick service. You’ll appreciate the lower inventory requirements and lack of complexity during a dinner rush. Plus, it’s common to hear those restaurants don’t want to have large, unfocused menus. Many restaurants are finding success in trimming down their menu and honing in on their unique offering. When you have less to worry about, it allows you to improve your efficiency and quality! 

Use a Commissary Kitchen



If you can’t store all of the necessary items in your truck, a commissary kitchen may be your answer. These are shared commercial-grade kitchens that you essentially “borrow” for a short term to cook and prepare your food. They allow you to legally store and cook your food for customers without owning the facility. You can prepare your food before you open, and you’ll have more space for food prep and access to equipment that couldn’t fit into your truck. Plus, in a shared cooking space, you’ll get to meet other entrepreneurs like yourself! Seasoned veterans can help give new food truck owners advice, or you can find other food businesses to collaborate with or create events. 

We understand the confines of a food truck can be challenging, so we hope our blog about maximizing your food truck storage helps out! If you’re interested in purchasing, renting, or repairing a food truck, San Diego Food Truck Pros is here to help! If you’d like to speak with one of our talented team members or get a quote, you can give us a call at (858) 221-3095 or contact us on our website.