How do I calculate break-even for a food truck?

Divide the costs you owe before selling anything — pitch, crew, fuel — by what is left of an average sale after the food in it. That gives the number of customers.

What is a good average spend per customer?

It depends entirely on what you sell, and this page will not invent one for you. Until you enter yours, the answer is badged as resting on our assumption.

Should break-even include my wage?

If you want to be paid, yes — put your own hours into the fixed costs. Otherwise break-even means the truck broke even and you worked for nothing.

Does break-even mean I made money?

No. It means you stopped losing it. Nothing towards the van, insurance, registration or the prep you did beforehand is in that number.

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How many customers before the day stops costing you.

Your fixed costs against what is left of an average sale once the food in it is paid for. Break-even is not a target — it is the point where the day stopped losing money, and it pays you nothing for the day itself.

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Your numbers

Costs before you sell anything

Pitch fee, crew, fuel — everything you owe whether ten people turn up or three hundred.

Average spend per customer

Untouched, so we are assuming $18 — and the answer below says so.

Food cost as a share of a sale

Ingredients and packaging as a percentage of what a customer pays.

What that means

Customers to break even

Includes an assumption

Rests on a $18 average spend we assumed. Put in your own and this becomes your number.

Takings to break even

Includes an assumption

$702

What each customer contributes

From your numbers

$12

What is left of an average sale once the food in it is paid for.

Why it says that

Which half of the answer we actually know

Most calculators present everything they show you as a fact, including the parts they guessed. This one marks them.

From your numbers

Arithmetic on figures you typed. Nothing of ours is in it, so it is allowed to look certain — because it is.

Includes an assumption

A default of ours is in the sum. It is named, it is amber, and the working says what it is worth. Replace it and the number becomes yours.

This is how CaterCloud treats every number it works out, not a flourish for this page. An estimate that looks like an observation is a number you would quote a customer from.

Questions

What people ask

How do I calculate break-even for a food truck?: Divide the costs you owe before selling anything — pitch, crew, fuel — by what is left of an average sale after the food in it. That gives the number of customers.
What is a good average spend per customer?: It depends entirely on what you sell, and this page will not invent one for you. Until you enter yours, the answer is badged as resting on our assumption.
Should break-even include my wage?: If you want to be paid, yes — put your own hours into the fixed costs. Otherwise break-even means the truck broke even and you worked for nothing.
Does break-even mean I made money?: No. It means you stopped losing it. Nothing towards the van, insurance, registration or the prep you did beforehand is in that number.

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