How to start a food truck business in Europe
Pitches, business set-up, food registration, hygiene and the trailer: the steps in the right order, each with its official source.
Read the guide 5 minFTS Academy
Guides for your food truck.
Made by the people who design the trailers: tools to work out your figures and guides for every decision, with the rules that apply in Ireland and across the EU. Everything we wish we’d read before our first day of trading.
Romain, Paul and our distributors are here to answer your questions.
Pick the stage you’re at
Starting up.
The steps, the paperwork, the budget: where to begin.
How much money do food trucks make? Margins and break-even
No made-up averages: how to estimate your own takings, then deduct VAT, ingredients and fixed costs, with the official source for each deduction.
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Food truck course: what training is actually required?
Food hygiene training, HACCP, hygiene passports, alcohol exams: what the law really requires in Ireland and across Europe, and what is simply good advice.
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Food truck VAT and business structure
VAT rates by product in Ireland and across Europe, small business thresholds, sole trader or company: the official sources, plus the questions to ask your accountant.
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Food truck financing with little or no savings
Start-up loans, public guarantees and benefits you can keep while you get going: how to finance a food truck without savings, starting with Ireland, each with its official source.
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Food truck industry in Europe: 2026 figures and trends
How many food trucks there are, how fast the sector is growing and what changed in 2026: the figures official statistics actually publish, and what they leave out.
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Food truck franchise: what to check before you sign
Entry fees, ongoing fees, the documents you must receive before signing and the clauses to read twice: how a food truck franchise works, and how to go independent.
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Buying your trailer.
Real prices, new or second hand, and the licence you need.
Food truck price: how much does it cost in Europe?
The trailer, cooking equipment, registration, pitches and insurance: every cost with its price or its source, and no made-up figures.
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Second hand or new food truck: what to check
A second hand food truck looks cheaper. What to check before you pay, the costs that often follow, and what you get with a new trailer.
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750 kg food truck trailer: no BE licence needed
Licence, size, registration and roadworthiness tests for a trailer of up to 750 kg, using our AIR 220 as the example.
Read the guide 4 minFood truck van or trailer: which to choose in 2026?
Van or trailer? Licence, registration, roadworthiness tests, upkeep, mobility and pitches: an honest comparison, point by point, with the rules in each country.
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Caravan food truck: can you convert a caravan?
Thinking of turning a caravan or a horsebox into a food truck? What the papers, hygiene rules and weight limits require in each country, and the alternative.
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Food truck dimensions: size, weight and drawings
The actual measurements of a food truck trailer, what they mean for the way you work, how much space to allow on a pitch, and dimensioned plans to download.
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Food truck auction: seized trucks and pitfalls to avoid
Seized food trucks: where public sales take place, how they work, the papers to ask for before you bid, and how to compare the total with a new trailer.
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Mini food truck: small trailer, cart or van?
Cart, three-wheeler, van or small trailer: what each kind of mini food truck can really do, the rules in each country, and our AIR 220 in detail.
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Empty or fully fitted food trailer: the real maths
An empty trailer is cheaper to buy. Here is what it still needs before you can trade, in money, hours and paperwork, worked out item by item.
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Catering trailer: how to choose, fit out and buy one
Burgers, chips, sandwiches: let your menu choose your catering trailer. Equipment, size, licence, the Irish rules and what to check before you buy.
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Food trailer registration: COC, plates and tests
What the European Certificate of Conformity does, and how a food trailer is registered and tested in Ireland, the Nordic countries and southern Europe.
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Finding your concept.
Ice cream, coffee, chips: what each idea needs from the trailer.
Ice cream trailer: display, freezer and power
What you need to sell ice cream from a trailer: the display, the cold chain, power, the best pitches, VAT in your country and the Frost layout.
Read the guide 5 minDessert food truck: crepes, waffles or ice cream?
Crepes, waffles or ice cream: what each sweet concept needs in power, refrigeration, season, pitches and VAT, and which trailer goes with it.
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Food truck ideas: 11 concepts, from classic to original
Burgers, coffee, crepes, ice cream or poke: eleven food truck concepts in four groups, the trailer layout for each, and the questions to ask before you choose.
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Fitting it out.
Layout, workstations, extraction hood: a kitchen that copes with the rush.
Food truck layout: floor plan, standards and cost
How to plan the inside of a food trailer: the working zones, the hygiene standards, water, power and gas, the cost, with our four layouts as examples.
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Food truck extractor hood: extraction, gas and the rules
Why you need a hood as soon as you cook, how it works in a trailer, what the rules say in Ireland and elsewhere, how to look after it, and the Chef+ hood.
Read the guide 5 minFood truck power: generator, fridge and hook-up
Which fridge, how much power and when you need a generator: how to size your supply, the two inlets on our trailers, gas for cooking and the rules in each country.
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Food truck equipment: the complete list
What hygiene rules require, what the trailer already comes with and what you add for your menu: the complete list, in three levels.
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On the road and on your pitch.
Pitches, rules, insurance: everything that happens outside the kitchen.
Food truck pitch: where to trade and what it costs
Public land, markets, private land, events: who allocates each food truck pitch in Ireland and across Europe, how the fee is set and which papers to bring.
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Food truck insurance: what to cover with a trailer
Liability, the trailer on the road, equipment and stock: what you must insure and what is worth insuring, in Ireland and across Europe. No made-up premiums.
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Food truck license: which licence for Ireland and the EU
There is no EU-wide trading card. In Ireland you need a casual trading licence from your council; elsewhere, the permit each country requires, with official sources.
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Food truck on private land: permission and limits
On private land, the owner’s permission is where the rules start, not where they end: food registration, licences, planning and the agreement to sign.
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Selling alcohol from a food truck: which licence?
The occasional licence in Ireland, municipal and police permits in the Nordic countries, regional rules in the south: what each country requires to serve alcohol.
Read the guide 5 minFood truck regulations and permits in 2026
Business, hygiene, pitches, the trailer, gas and alcohol: every food truck rule in the order you will come across it, starting with Ireland, each with its official source.
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Planning a food truck?
Six questions to find your layout, or ask us to call you back. No obligation.