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Food Truck Festival: Worth It?
Pitch fee, organiser's cut, expected covers, food cost, staff and fuel against the profit you need. TAKE, NEGOTIATE or PASS.
Per day. Include power hook-up and permits.
0 if it is a flat fee only. Some take 10 to 20%.
Be honest. Ask a truck that did it last year.
From your menu costing. Festival menus run 28 to 35%.
Pay yourself too.
What a good Saturday at your usual spot makes.
How this is calculated
Net sales = covers × ticket × (1 − organiser cut). Costs = pitch + food % of sales + staff × hours × wage + fuel.
Profit = net sales − costs. TAKE if it beats what you need, NEGOTIATE above 60% of it, PASS below.
Break-even covers = fixed costs ÷ what each cover leaves after the cut and food.
Prices are before GST/HST. Add tax on top of the price shown, never inside your margin. Estimates, not advice.
TAKE IT
$152 an hour for the truck · break even at 135 covers
- Sales
- $4,960
- After organiser's cut
- $4,464
- Food (32%)
- $1,587
- Staff
- $418
- Pitch + fuel
- $790
- You need
- $700
What saying yes to festivals like this instead of a normal day costs over a year, halved for the ones that surprise you.
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