Farm Delivery Minimum Order Calculator
Set a delivery minimum from your cost per stop, the fee you charge, and product margin, and see whether raising the fee or the minimum closes the gap.
Free · no account · works on mobile · embeddable
Best for farms delivering produce boxes, eggs, meat, or milk to homes and businesses. Updated .
Your delivery numbers
Minimum order
Two ways to close a gap
Contribution per stop = order x margin % + fee minus stop cost. Break-even order = (stop cost minus fee) ÷ margin %. Target order = (stop cost minus fee + target) ÷ margin %. Planning figures; they ignore sales tax and any fee your payment processor takes on the delivery charge.
About the farm delivery minimum order calculator
A $5 delivery fee on a $10 order loses money on every stop; the same fee on a $60 order is fine. The delivery minimum is what keeps the small orders from eating the route. This calculator takes your true cost per stop, the fee you charge, and the gross margin on what you sell, then returns the order value at which a stop breaks even and the order value that delivers the contribution you want from each stop. It also shows what your current average order contributes, and the two ways to close a gap expressed as numbers: the fee that would do it at today's basket, or the minimum that would do it at today's fee.
Use the farm delivery fee calculator first to get an honest cost per stop, then bring that number here.
Contribution per stop
Each stop earns the product margin on the order plus the delivery fee, and costs the vehicle, labor, and extras of getting there. Contribution per stop = order value x gross margin % + delivery fee minus cost per stop. Gross margin here is what is left of each product dollar after the cost of the product itself, calculated on the selling price the way Penn State Extension describes for retail farm markets. Setting contribution to zero and solving for order value gives the break-even order = (cost per stop minus fee) ÷ margin %; adding the profit you want per stop gives the target order.
Raise the fee or raise the minimum
Both fix the same problem. A higher fee recovers cost from every customer, including the ones with big baskets who were already profitable; a higher minimum pushes small orders to grow or to pick up instead. The calculator shows the fee that would hit the target at your current average order and the minimum that would hit it at your current fee, plus the order value at which free delivery breaks even, since free delivery above a threshold is a common way to present a minimum. Which lever to pull is a customer question, not a math question, and the tool leaves it to you. The figures ignore sales tax and any processor fee taken on the delivery charge, and they are not tax or accounting advice.
Worked example
A stop costs $9.50, the delivery fee is $5.00, product gross margin is 35%, the target is $6.00 of contribution per stop, and the average order is $42. The fee covers 52.6% of the stop, leaving $4.50 for product margin to cover, so the break-even order is $12.86 and the minimum order for a $6.00 contribution is $30.00. The $42 average order earns $14.70 of product margin and contributes $10.20 per stop after delivery cost, which meets the target. If the average order stayed at $42, a fee of just $0.80 would still hit the target, and no fee at all ($0.00) would still break even. With free delivery, a stop breaks even at a $27.14 order and hits the target at $44.29.
Sources
- Penn State Extension, The economics of a transport and/or delivery business. Separates variable running costs (fuel, tires, labor, repairs) from fixed ownership costs and defines the break-even point as the level where total deliveries equal total costs. Accessed Sep 4, 2026.
- Penn State Extension, Retail farm market pricing. Gross margin is expressed as a percentage of the selling price, not a markup on cost: a $1.00 cost sold at $1.25 is a 20% gross margin. Accessed Sep 4, 2026.
This calculator gives planning estimates from the numbers you enter. It is not accounting, tax, veterinary, or legal advice. Replace the defaults with your own farm records whenever you have them.
Frequently asked questions
How do I set a minimum order for farm delivery?
Find your cost per stop, subtract the fee you charge, and divide by your product gross margin. That is the break-even order. Add the profit you want from each stop before dividing to get a working minimum. At a $9.50 stop, $5 fee, and 35% margin, break-even is $12.86 and a $6 target gives $30.
Should I charge a delivery fee or set a minimum order?
Most farms do both: a modest fee plus a minimum, or free delivery above a threshold. A fee recovers cost from every order; a minimum stops the tiny orders that no fee can rescue. The calculator shows what each lever has to be to reach the same contribution.
What is a reasonable minimum for free delivery?
The order value where product margin alone covers the stop, plus your target profit. At a $9.50 stop and 35% margin that is $27.14 to break even and $44.29 for a $6 contribution. Many farms round to a clean number like $40 or $50.
What gross margin should I use?
Your product margin on the selling price: (price minus product cost) ÷ price, averaged across what a typical order contains. Produce boxes often sit between 30 and 50%; eggs and meat vary widely. Use the farm product pricing calculator to check individual items.
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