Event & food truck profit calculator
For a market stall, food truck or pop-up: type expected covers, a sell-through assumption and your menu, and see purchase quantities, food cost, revenue, gross profit and break-even covers — all worked out with the sums shown. Free, no signup, runs in your browser.
The event
Sell-through is the share of what you prep that you expect to sell; the rest is unsold stock. No published study measures this for stalls or truck pitches, so 85% is a planning default, not an average. Planning bands, not data: 85–95% for a regular weekly pitch, 70–85% for a one-off festival, 90%+ for catering with guaranteed numbers. Use your own last few events instead.
Menu what you're selling, and what it costs
| Item | Sell price inc VAT (£) | Cost / portion (£) | Portions / cover | Actual sold | Leftover |
|---|
"Actual sold" and "leftover" are optional — fill them in after the event to see what actually happened, and to build a record for next time. Sell price and VAT: enter the price you actually charge (inc 20% UK VAT); the calculator works out the ex-VAT figure.
Expected result at the sell-through above
| Item | To prep | Expected sold | Food cost | Revenue ex-VAT | GP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Portions to prep = covers × portions/cover, rounded up. Expected sold = portions to prep × sell-through %.
Gross profit = revenue (ex-VAT) − food cost, on the portions prepped for the event. Paying customers to break even = total food cost ÷ revenue per paying customer (ex-VAT), rounded up. Revenue per paying customer = revenue ex-VAT ÷ (expected covers × sell-through). It is how many people need to buy before the prep spend is covered. VAT is the UK standard rate, 20%.
Actual result from what you recorded above
| Item | Actual sold | Leftover | Revenue ex-VAT | Leftover cost | Profit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Actual profit = actual revenue (ex-VAT) − food cost on the portions prepped (the food cost doesn't change if some of it went unsold — that's what "leftover cost" shows separately). Leftover cost = leftover portions × cost/portion.
The Total profit row subtracts food cost for every menu item, including any rows below with no "actual sold" entered yet — that food cost was already spent at prep time. Fill in "actual sold" for every item once you have it, for an accurate total.
Save this event
Saved events stay on this device. If you want them on every device, add a free account — magic-link sign-in, no password.
Saved events on this device
| Item | To prep | Expected sold | Food cost | Revenue ex-VAT |
|---|
How this calculator works
1. Portions to prep = expected covers × portions per cover for that item, rounded up to a whole portion — this is what you buy and prep for.
2. Expected sold = portions to prep × sell-through %. Sell-through is your own assumption for how much of what you make actually sells; the rest is expected leftover.
3. Food cost = portions to prep × cost per portion — you pay for what you prep, whether or not it all sells.
4. Revenue = expected (or actual) sold × sell price. Sell price is entered inc VAT; ex-VAT divides by 1.2 at the UK standard 20% rate.
5. Gross profit = revenue (ex-VAT) − food cost. Paying customers to break even = total food cost ÷ revenue per paying customer (ex-VAT), rounded up. Revenue per paying customer is revenue ex-VAT ÷ (expected covers × sell-through), so it counts only the people who actually buy.
This is food cost only: no pitch fee, staff, fuel, packaging or travel. Add those separately for a true event profit.
Figures are guidance only and exclude VAT unless stated, and don't constitute financial advice. Calculations and saved events remain in browser storage unless you sign in and save to your account, which stores only your recipe book and events — see the privacy page. Running a market stall or food truck? Read what actually decides a UK food truck's profit.