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.
Romain BarreauFounder of Food Truck Store · 5 min readHow much does a food truck cost? The biggest part of the food truck price is the trailer itself: at Food Truck Store, prices start at €11,500 excl. VAT. On top of that come your cooking equipment, your start-up costs and your monthly running costs; this guide goes through each one, with its source.
The trailer is the biggest cost.
All four layouts come in the AIR 220 format (750 kg, which you can tow on a category B licence) and in the larger BOLD 270. In the AIR 220, the Essentiel costs €11,500, the Frost and the Barista €13,300 each and the Chef+ €13,495, all excluding VAT; the BOLD 270 ranges from €15,500 to €17,500. Your quote shows the VAT that applies to your purchase.
What the price includes.
Our trailers come fitted out: a fibreglass body, stainless steel worktops, an automatic sink, 230 V wiring and the fittings specific to each layout, such as the professional extractor hood and cold storage of the Chef+. Cooking appliances, a coffee machine or a beer tap are not included: you choose them to suit your menu. An empty trailer is cheaper to buy, but fitting it out costs you time, journeys and paperwork.
Gas and power need a local professional.
The gas bottle box is available as an option on every model; the gas installation and its inspection are carried out by a qualified professional in your country, who quotes for the work. EU rules cover the appliances themselves (CE marking), but each country sets its own rules on the installation, how it is checked and who may work on it (Regulation (EU) 2016/426, art. 3(3)). Our trailers are wired for 230 V single phase as standard.
- Gas installationCarried out by a qualified professional in your country, on their own quote. The gas bottle box is an option on every model.
- Gas inspectionHow often depends on your country: in Germany, before first use and then at least every two years.
- ElectricityWired for 230 V single phase as standard, with two power inlets for two separate circuits: check what power each pitch can supply.
Start-up costs, country by country.
Registration fees, number plates and roadworthiness tests depend on your country, and so does whether the trailer needs registering at all: up to 750 kg, it has no registration of its own in Belgium (Royal Decree of 20 July 2001), the Netherlands (Rijksoverheid) or Spain, but it does in Germany, Luxembourg and Italy. In the Netherlands, registering your food business with the NVWA is free (NVWA). For the fees in your country, ask your vehicle registration authority and your local council.
- Registration
Fees and plates are set by your country; with the COC, no EU country may refuse to register a trailer that conforms.
- Insurance
Your insurer will explain how the trailer is covered on the road and what cover it offers for your business.
- Food business
Register with your country’s food safety authority: it is free in the Netherlands, for example.
- Gas
The installation and its first inspection, quoted by a qualified professional in your country.
What you pay every month.
Pitches cost money: a council fee on public land, the organiser’s pitch fee at markets and events, or whatever the landowner asks on private land. Then there are stock and packaging, insurance, and periodic tests of the trailer and its gas installation where your country requires them. Your insurer and your council will give you their figures; we do not make them up.
Stock and packaging: a cost every time you trade.
Will it pay? Run your own numbers.
Whether your food truck pays its way depends on your average spend per customer, your food costs and your daily sales. Only you know those figures, so we will not guess them for you here.
The free FTS Academy quiz starts from your menu and tells you which layout and format to budget for, and why.
Your budget, item by item.
Your budget covers the trailer, your appliances, the start-up costs and a cash reserve for the first few months. Compare our food truck trailers by layout, and find out whether a used or a new trailer suits you better.
In the end, it all comes down to service at the counter.
Your questions answered.
Got another question? Just ask us ›A new, fitted-out food truck trailer from Food Truck Store costs between €11,500 and €17,500 excl. VAT, depending on the layout and format. On top of that, budget for your cooking equipment, your start-up costs and a reserve for the first few months.
The Essentiel costs from €11,500, the Frost and the Barista from €13,300, and the Chef+ from €13,495, all excluding VAT.
Pitch fees, stock and packaging, insurance, and periodic tests of the trailer and its gas installation where your country requires them.
No. The stainless steel worktops, the automatic sink and the fittings of each layout are included, such as the professional extractor hood of the Chef+. You choose the cooking appliances, coffee machine or beer tap to suit your menu.
No, our prices are shown excluding VAT. Your quote shows the VAT that applies to your purchase and the cost of delivery to your country.
By Romain, founder 
