2026 Nov 1st
What a Beverage Pallet Really Costs in Canada: The Landed Math From a Calgary Warehouse
A beverage pallet costs more than its list price. The landed cost has four lines: the product price divided over every can or bottle, freight to your door, receiving and handling, and the floor space it holds until it sells. Divide by units or litres, not cases, and add the other three before comparing.
What a Beverage Pallet Really Costs in Canada: The Landed Math From a Calgary Warehouse
For Canadian operators deciding between case buys and full pallets of energy drinks, water or syrup, this page walks the landed math line by line from our Calgary warehouse.
Key Takeaways
The landed math in six lines, before the detail.
List price is line one
The pallet price is only the first of four lines. Freight, handling and floor space finish the picture.
Divide by units
Cost per can or per bottle compares across pallet sizes. Cost per pallet doesn't.
Weight drives freight
A Red Bull pallet carries about 475 kg of product. An Evian pallet carries about 768 kg of water. Freight follows weight.
Receiving takes equipment
A pallet needs a dock or a liftgate and a pallet jack. Plan it before the truck shows up.
Floor space is a cost
A standard pallet base is about 40 x 48 inches, tied up until the last unit sells.
Syrup is a case buy
A Monin case is 4 x 1 L. The math runs per litre, not per pallet.
The fact table
Three real buys from our Calgary catalogue, with counts from our own listings. Weights are calculated and labelled that way.
| Buy | Format | Units | Volume | Weight basis |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Red Bull pallet | 72 cases x 24 x 250 ml | 1,728 cans | 432 L | About 475 kg of product, calculated at about 6.6 kg per case |
| Evian pallet | 64 cases x 24 x 500 ml | 1,536 bottles | 768 L | About 768 kg of water, calculated from volume before bottles and cases |
| Monin syrup case | 4 x 1 L bottles | 4 bottles | 4 L | Case buy, ships with regular parcel or pallet orders |
Facts checked November 2026.
Why the numbers online disagree
Ask three suppliers what a pallet costs and you'll get three numbers that can't be compared. One quotes per pallet, one per case, one delivered. None of them is wrong. They're measuring different things.
Pallet sizes differ too. Our Red Bull pallet is 72 cases while export pallets run 104 to 108. Our Evian pallet is 64 cases, Fiji 60 and Pure Life 84. A lower pallet price can simply mean fewer units.
And list price leaves out the three lines you pay anyway: getting it to your door, getting it off the truck and storing it until it sells.
The math, worked
- Line 1, product: pallet price / units. Red Bull = price / 1,728 cans. Evian = price / 1,536 bottles. Per litre, Red Bull = price / 432 and Evian = price / 768.
- Line 2, freight: quoted by weight, size and destination. Water is heavy for its value. An Evian pallet carries about 768 kg of water against about 475 kg of product on a Red Bull pallet.
- Line 3, receiving and handling: a dock or a liftgate, a pallet jack and staff time to break down cases. If you pay for a liftgate or labour, divide that cost by units too.
- Line 4, floor space: a standard pallet base is about 40 x 48 inches, tied up until the pallet sells through.
- Landed cost per unit = (pallet price + freight + handling) / units.
The calculator below runs that formula on the Red Bull pallet. It pulls today's pallet price from our listing. Type in your freight quote and any handling cost and the landed cost per can updates. Pallet orders are quoted, and a quote from us governs over the list price.
Chicken Pieces · Landed Math
Run your landed cost
The pallet price fills in from our listing. Add your freight quote and handling cost and the landed numbers update as you type.
What one pallet holds (verified specs, fixed)| Measure | Units | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Product cost per can | 1,728 cans | CA 0.00 |
| Landed cost per can | 1,728 cans | CA 0.00 |
| Landed cost per case | 72 cases | CA 0.00 |
| Landed cost per litre | 432 L | CA 0.00 |
Counts are the verified pallet specs from the fact table on this page. Floor space isn't priced here because it depends on your rent and turnover.
What it means for a buyer
I ship these pallets out of Calgary through Chicken Pieces (chickenpieces.com), a Calgary foodservice wholesaler. The question I get most from operators is whether a pallet actually beats buying by the case. The honest answer is that it depends on lines two to four.
A pallet wins when you have a dock or a liftgate, a pallet jack, dry floor space and enough sell-through to clear it before the best-before date. It loses when freight to a small town or a manual unload wipes out the per-unit saving.
Restaurants Canada reported on October 27, 2026 that 67% of restaurants are less profitable than a year ago, even with sales up. Squeezed margins are exactly when the landed number matters more than the list number.
The counts behind this page are worked in full in how many cans are in a pallet of Red Bull and how many bottles are in a pallet of water.
How we know this
Unit counts and pallet formats come off our own listings. Weights are calculated from case weights and volumes and labelled as calculated. The 40 x 48 inch base comes from our Evian listing. The profitability figure is Restaurants Canada's. Freight and handling aren't published as fixed numbers because they change by destination, so the calculator lets you enter your own.
Pallets and Cases in This Math
The three buys from the fact table, plus the Pure Life pallet for comparison.
FAQ
The questions buyers ask before they order, answered from the fact table above.
What is the landed cost of a beverage pallet?
The pallet price plus freight to your door plus receiving and handling, divided by the number of units. Floor space is the fourth cost: the pallet holds about a 40 x 48 inch base until it sells.
Is it cheaper to buy beverages by the pallet or by the case?
Often by the pallet on product cost per unit, but only once freight, handling and storage are added. A pallet wins when you have a dock or liftgate, a pallet jack and the sell-through to clear it before the best-before date.
How much does a pallet of water weigh compared with energy drinks?
An Evian pallet of 1,536 x 500 ml bottles carries about 768 kg of water before bottles and cases. A Red Bull pallet of 72 cases carries about 475 kg of product. Both are calculated figures.
How do I compare pallet quotes from different suppliers?
Convert every quote to price per can, bottle or litre, delivered to your door. Pallet case counts differ by brand and supplier, so price per pallet doesn't compare.
How much floor space does a pallet take?
A standard pallet base is about 40 x 48 inches. Plan that footprint plus room for a pallet jack to move it.
Sources
- Chicken Pieces product listing, Red Bull Energy Drink Slim Cans 250ml Pallet of 72 Cases x 24/Case (SKU CP-SYS-2958181): 72 cases, 1,728 cans. Checked November 1, 2026.
- Chicken Pieces product listing, Evian Natural Spring Water 500ml Pallet of 64 Cases x 24/Case (SKU EVIAN-PALLET-500ML): 64 cases, 1,536 bottles, pallet base about 40 x 48 inches. Checked November 1, 2026.
- Chicken Pieces product listing, Monin French Vanilla Beverage Syrup 1L (4/Case): 4 x 1 L per case. Checked November 1, 2026.
- Wholesaler case specifications for the Red Bull 24 x 250 ml tray: about 6.6 kg gross. Supports the pallet weight line.
- Restaurants Canada, quarterly report release, October 27, 2026: 67% of restaurants report lower profitability than a year ago. newswire.ca
Facts checked November 2026. We update this page when pack formats change.
Related guides
Why Canadian Operators Buy from Chicken Pieces
We ship beverage pallets out of Calgary and quote them delivered, so you can compare landed cost, not list price.
Delivered quotes
Every pallet is quoted to your postal code, freight included, and the quote governs over the list price.
Ships from Calgary
Pallets go out by freight from our Calgary warehouse to operators across Canada.
Counts on the listing
Case and unit counts are on every pallet listing, so the per-unit math is yours to check.
Best-before on every pallet
Water and energy drinks both carry printed best-before dates. Check them when the pallet lands and rotate first in, first out.
Request a Quote
Tell us the pallet, your postal code and whether you have a dock, and we'll quote it delivered so you can compare landed cost, not list price.
Request a Quote