Free tool · For venues
Food and beverage minimum calculator
Turn expected guests and average spend per guest into a food and beverage minimum, and see it for Saturday peak, Friday–Sunday and weekday or off-peak dates.
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Food and beverage minimum for Main ballroom: $12,000 on a Saturday peak date, $9,600 Friday–Sunday and $7,200 on a weekday or off-peak date.
How it was worked out
- Expected spend: 150 guests × $100 per guest = $15,000.
- Saturday peak minimum: $15,000 × 80% = $12,000.
- Friday–Sunday minimum: $12,000 × 80% = $9,600.
- Weekday or off-peak minimum: $12,000 × 60% = $7,200.
| Date type | % of Saturday peak | Minimum | Per guest |
|---|---|---|---|
| Saturday peak | 100% | $12,000 | $80 |
| Friday–Sunday | 80% | $9,600 | $64 |
| Weekday or off-peak | 60% | $7,200 | $48 |
Expected guests fill 75% of the space’s capacity of 200.
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Get early accessHow is a food and beverage minimum calculated?
- Expected spend = expected guests × average food and beverage spend per guest.
- Saturday peak minimum = expected spend × the minimum percentage you choose.
- Other date types = the Saturday peak minimum × that date type’s percentage: Friday–Sunday and Weekday or off-peak.
Every amount is in whole cents and rounded to the nearest cent at each step, so you can repeat the steps by hand from the figures on the screen and get the same answer.
What are the starting assumptions?
The calculator needs starting numbers to show a result. They are placeholders, not market data or benchmarks, and every one is editable:
- 150 expected guests in a space with a capacity of 200.
- $100 average food and beverage spend per guest.
- A minimum of 80% of expected spend on a Saturday peak date.
- Friday–Sunday at 80% and Weekday or off-peak at 60% of the Saturday peak minimum.
Your menu prices and past events are the best guide to the average spend, and your booking history to how much each kind of date can carry. The minimum covers food and beverage only. Whether tax, service charge and gratuity count toward it is for your contract to say.
Worked example
A space for 150 guests, $100 a guest and a 80% minimum, using the starting assumptions:
How it was worked out
- Expected spend: 150 guests × $100 per guest = $15,000.
- Saturday peak minimum: $15,000 × 80% = $12,000.
- Friday–Sunday minimum: $12,000 × 80% = $9,600.
- Weekday or off-peak minimum: $12,000 × 60% = $7,200.
| Date type | % of Saturday peak | Minimum | Per guest |
|---|---|---|---|
| Saturday peak | 100% | $12,000 | $80 |
| Friday–Sunday | 80% | $9,600 | $64 |
| Weekday or off-peak | 60% | $7,200 | $48 |
Expected guests fill 75% of the space’s capacity of 200.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a food and beverage minimum?
- A food and beverage (F&B) minimum is the least a client agrees to spend on food and drink at your venue for an event. If their final F&B bill comes to less, the contract usually charges the difference, but the exact wording is up to you and your contract.
- How do I work out the minimum for a space?
- Multiply the guests you expect by the average F&B spend per guest to get the expected spend, then take a percentage of it. That percentage is your choice: a higher one protects more revenue, a lower one is easier to sell. This calculator starts at 80% as a placeholder, not a recommendation.
- Why does the minimum change by date?
- Dates that book first can usually carry a higher minimum than slow ones. The calculator takes the Saturday peak minimum as the base and applies a percentage for Friday–Sunday and for weekday or off-peak dates. The starting percentages are placeholders. Use your own booking history to set them.
- Is the minimum charged before or after tax and service charge?
- That is a contract decision and this calculator does not model it. The minimum here is a food and beverage figure only. Say clearly in your contract whether taxes, service charges and gratuities count toward it.
- Does the calculator use real market averages?
- No. It has no market data. Every starting number is an editable placeholder, and the right average spend per guest is the one in your own past events or your menu pricing.
- Is anything I type sent to VenueDirector?
- Your numbers stay in your browser, which also remembers them for next time. We count anonymous events such as “a result was exported”, without your inputs or anything that identifies you. Your inputs and email are stored only if you ask us to email your results.
Related articles
- What is a food and beverage minimum, and how to set one
A food and beverage minimum is the least a client must spend on catering to book your space. How to set one from expected spend, with a worked example.