What is the break-even point for a food truck?
The break-even point is the minimum revenue level your food truck must achieve to cover all its costs — without making a profit or a loss. Below this threshold, you lose money. Above it, you start generating profit.
For a food trucker, this indicator is fundamental: unlike a fixed restaurant, your revenue varies greatly depending on the day, weather, location and season. Knowing your daily break-even helps you decide which locations are profitable, when it's not worth going out, and how much to prepare for each service.
Fixed costs and variable costs: understanding the difference
Fixed costs (monthly)
- Vehicle lease or loan repayment: €300–800
- Professional insurance (liability + vehicle): €100–200
- Estimated fuel & maintenance: €200–400
- Social charges (self-employed): varies
- Fixed location rents: €50–500
- Software & subscriptions (incl. FoodTracks): €0–100
- Accountancy: €50–150
Variable costs (activity-dependent)
- Ingredients (food cost): 25–40% of revenue
- Packaging & consumables: 2–5% of revenue
- Additional labour (extras): variable
- Payment platform commission (SumUp): ~1.75%
- Additional fuel by route: variable
Tip: for the break-even calculation, only fixed costs are used in the formula. Variable costs are already captured in the gross margin rate.
The break-even formula for a food truck
Formula
The gross margin rate is what remains of your revenue after paying for ingredients. If you sell a burger for €12 with €4 of food cost, your gross margin is €8, i.e. 67%.
Worked example: Camille's food truck
Camille just launched her artisan burger food truck in Lyon. Here are her March numbers:
| Cost item | Monthly amount |
|---|---|
| Vehicle lease | €550 |
| Professional insurance | €140 |
| Fuel & maintenance | €280 |
| Social charges (self-employed) | €800 |
| Location fees (markets) | €200 |
| FoodTracks Pro + SumUp | €55 |
| Accountancy | €80 |
| Total fixed costs | €2,105/month |
Applying the formula
Gross margin rate
Average ticket €13 · Food cost €4.55 (35%) → Gross margin = 65%
Minimum monthly revenue
€2,105 ÷ 0.65 = €3,238/month
Minimum daily revenue
€3,238 ÷ 22 days = €147/day
Tickets per day
€147 ÷ €13 = 12 tickets/day minimum
Conclusion: Camille needs to sell a minimum of 12 burgers per day (over 22 days/month) to cover all her costs.
5 levers to improve your food truck profitability
Increase the average ticket
Offer meal deals (main + drink + dessert), upsell smartly (extra fries, premium sauce). Going from €12 to €14 average ticket reduces your break-even by ~14%.
Reduce food cost
Renegotiate with suppliers, reduce waste with real-time stock tracking, adjust preparation quantities based on sales predictions. FoodTracks helps reduce waste by 30% on average.
Choose profitable locations
Not all locations are equal. Compare your performance by location with FoodTracks to identify your most profitable spots and reduce time at lower performers.
Predict demand to avoid losses
Preparing too much means waste. Too little means lost revenue. FoodTracks's AI predicts your sales with 92% accuracy so you prepare exactly what you need.
Optimize your fixed costs
Renegotiate your insurance annually, optimize your social regime, share locations with other food truckers to split fees.
How FoodTracks helps you manage your profitability
Calculating your break-even point manually once is useful. But what truly transforms your business is tracking it in real time, every day.
Real-time margin dashboard
View your gross margin per product and per location. Identify dishes that hurt your profitability.
See stock management →AI sales predictions
AI anticipates your revenue for each service. You know in advance whether you'll exceed your break-even point.
See predictions →AI invoice scanning
Your ingredient costs are automatically calculated from supplier invoices. Your margin rate updates itself.
See invoice scanning →