Break-Even Calculator for Catering

Catering is a feast-or-famine business, and your break-even calculation must account for that volatility. Unlike a restaurant with daily foot traffic, catering revenue arrives in large, irregular chunks tied to events. A single wedding can bring in $5,000–$20,000 in a weekend, but you might have two empty weeks in February. Your fixed costs, including a commercial kitchen lease, vehicle payments, equipment, and insurance, do not pause between events. Most catering businesses need 3–5 events per month to break even at average ticket sizes of $3,000–$8,000. The critical variable is food cost: catering typically runs 30–38% food cost (higher than restaurants because of transport waste, backup quantities, and presentation requirements). Labor scales with events but has a minimum floor for your core team. This calculator is pre-filled with catering benchmarks, including $3,000/month kitchen lease, 35% food cost, and 30% labor, so you can model how many events at your average price point you need monthly to stay profitable.