Organising a food truck for two people: how to work well together

You want to get to the fridge, but your colleague is standing in the doorway. The order is ready, but there are still some packaging items on the serving counter. Meanwhile, the next customer is waiting for their coffee. In a compact food truck, you quickly realise whether the layout works.

A good food truck layout for two people provides each of you with a logical workspace, with the right equipment within easy reach. You’ll also need space to pass orders back and forth. That way, you can continue to work together even when it gets busy.

Start by allocating tasks

First, write down which tasks are involved in a single order. Who takes the order? Who prepares the product? And who handles the finishing touches and serving? This division of tasks forms the starting point for the placement of equipment and worktops. Designing workstations around fixed tasks is also practised in professional kitchens.

For a mobile coffee bar serving cakes, an initial breakdown might look like this:

Use this as a starting point and try out the layout with your menu. For example, if you have a lot of cake orders, the second workstation may require more space than you initially anticipated.

Check the cooling system with the door open as well

A fridge might fit perfectly in the drawing, whilst the open door blocks your colleague’s workspace exactly. The same applies to drawers and cupboard doors.

You should therefore check what movements you make whilst working. Can you fetch milk whilst someone else is taking an order? Does someone always have to step aside to let a drawer pass? And can you bend down without completely blocking the passageway?

Discuss the direction of rotation and access right from the design stage. The items you need most often deserve the most easily accessible spot.

Book a fixed slot for placing orders

Agree on where a prepared order should be left for your colleague. At the coffee bar, this could be a free patch of worktop between the coffee machine and the serving counter.

Keep this area clear of stock and used equipment whilst the sale is on. Also, make it clear which orders still need to be finalised and which are ready to be handed over to the customer. That way, your colleague won’t have to keep asking whether something is ready yet.

Don’t forget to top up and tidy up

Think beyond the first order. Where will you get a new stack of cups when the supply runs out? Where will you put a used milk jug? And can one person take the rubbish out whilst the other carries on working?

Assign a clear place for work-in-progress, reserve stock and used items. Ensure that hand-washing facilities are easily accessible and prevent used materials from ending up on the clean worktop. In professional kitchen design, cleaning and hygienic working processes are integral to the layout right from the start.

Test your food truck layout with ten orders

Using tape on the floor and boxes as worktops, you can create a first full-scale layout. Also mark out the space for open doors and drawers.

Next, practise taking ten different orders together: two coffees, a coffee and a pastry, a larger order, and, in between, a stock-up that needs doing. Make a note of where you have to wait for each other or pass each other.

Do you keep getting stuck at the same point? Move a component or change the division of tasks, and try again. This will help you identify bottlenecks before the layout is built.

Make sure the interior design fits in with your concept

A coffee bar requires a different division of labour to a burger outlet or a mobile cocktail bar. When putting together a bespoke electric food truck So please take your menu, staffing levels and expected footfall into account.

At eFoodTuk, the kitchen is tailored to your concept. A detailed layout plan and a simple trial set-up help us to discuss in concrete terms where equipment, workspace and storage are best placed.