Food Truck Inventory App: Count Stock and Plan Prep for Every Pitch

A food truck inventory app has to answer two questions before every shift: what do we have, and how much should we prep for this pitch. Describe your menu, your commissary and your events to Mythex and it builds the stock count, the prep list and the history behind them, on a database the whole crew can open from a phone.

Who it's for

Food truck owners who count stock on the back of an order pad, or share a spreadsheet that breaks the moment two people edit it. It suits a single truck working weekday pitches and weekend markets, and an operator running two or three trucks from one commissary kitchen.

What you can build

Ingredients and packaging by location: commissary, truck one, truck two
A pre-shift count screen on a phone, with who counted and when
Covers and takings recorded per event
Prep lists scaled from the last time you traded at that event
Reorder alerts for buns, boxes, napkins and gas
Waste logged at close so overprep shows up

Two stock locations, one truth

Most stock lives in the commissary: dry goods, the walk-in, packaging pallets. Only a shift's worth goes on the truck. If the app tracks both locations, loading the truck is a transfer, not a guess, and the count at close tells you what is coming back. With two trucks, each gets its own location, so a busy Saturday on one does not hide a shortage on the other. Every movement records who did it and when.

Commissary and each truck as separate locations
Loading the truck recorded as a transfer
Close-of-shift count on the truck

Prep from last year's numbers, not gut feel

Running out at a festival costs sales you cannot get back; overprepping fills the bin. Record covers and takings for each event and each regular pitch. When the same festival comes round, the app can scale the prep list from the covers you served last time, with a margin you choose. Weather and clashing events still matter, but starting from a real number beats starting from memory.

What to count before every shift

Keep the pre-shift list short or nobody will do it. Proteins, buns or bases, the two or three sauces that run out, cups and boxes, gas and generator fuel. Everything else can be counted weekly. The phone screen shows each item with yesterday's figure, so a quick check is just confirming or correcting it. Items below their minimum land on the reorder list for the next supplier order.

Mistakes to avoid

Do not track every spice jar; you will stop counting within a week. Do not forget packaging, which runs out as easily as food and stops service just as hard. Record waste at close, even roughly, because it shows which menu items you overprep. And keep allergen information on the menu items, not only in the stock list, so the website and the truck show the same thing.

A prompt to start from

Make a stock and prep tracker for my food truck. Track ingredients and packaging in the commissary and on the truck as separate locations, with loading the truck recorded as a transfer. Give me a short pre-shift count screen for my phone, a reorder list for items below their minimum, and a record of covers per event that generates a prep list for the next time we trade there.

Questions

Can I count stock on my phone at the truck?

Yes. The count screen works in a phone browser and records who counted and when. On Pro it can also go out as Android and iPhone apps that open your published app.

Can it plan prep for an event?

Yes. If you record covers per event, ask for a prep list scaled to the expected number for the next one, based on what you served there before.

Can it connect to my card reader?

Only if your card reader's provider offers an export or API you connect with your own account. Many owners start by entering the day's covers and takings by hand, which takes a minute.

Can it mark items sold out on my pre-order page?

If the pre-order page is in the same Mythex project, yes: it can read stock and hide an item when it hits zero, or you can flip it off by hand.

Do I need to code, and is it free?

No coding is needed; you describe the app in chat. The Free plan needs no card and lets you build and publish; Pro is $25/month for code editing, export, a custom domain and the phone apps.

Templates to start from

Italian Restaurant Website Template — Filterable menu with dish detail pages
Fashion Storefront Template — Working cart and stockists directory
Inventory Tracker Template — Stock alerts with demand forecasts
Food Photo Portfolio Template — Asymmetric grids with infinite carousel
Food Blog Template — Recipe cards with full-screen search