Food Hub Fee Calculator
Compare selling through a food hub, distributor, or aggregator against selling direct: net per unit, weekly profit, profit per hour, effective take rate, and the hub volume that matches direct income.
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Best for farms considering or already selling through a food hub, cooperative, aggregator, or distributor. Updated .
Your product
Through the food hub
Selling direct
Hub versus direct
Hub net per unit = hub price x (1 minus commission) minus packaging minus weekly fee ÷ units. Profit = net minus unit cost. Profit per hour = weekly profit ÷ hours. Units to match = (direct weekly profit + hub fee) ÷ hub margin before the fee. Planning estimate; it does not model payment terms or the price the hub actually resells at.
About the food hub fee calculator
A food hub sells your product to buyers you could not reach alone and keeps a share for doing it. Whether that share is fair depends on what is left per unit after commission, packaging to the hub's spec, and any delivery or pickup fee, and on how few hours the hub channel takes compared with selling direct. This calculator lays the two side by side: net per unit and profit per unit in each channel, weekly profit, profit per hour, the hub's effective take rate once every cost is counted, and the hub volume or hub price that would match your direct income.
USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service defines a regional food hub as a business or organization that actively manages the aggregation, distribution, and marketing of source-identified food products primarily from local and regional producers. The same guide profiles hubs where producers keep 60 to 85 percent of the sale price depending on the channel (about 60 to 70 percent on CSA sales, 75 to 85 percent on wholesale distribution), which is why 20 percent is the default commission here.
What the hub really takes
The commission is the visible cost. Packaging and labeling to the hub's standard, a flat delivery or pickup fee, and your hours on order sheets and drop-offs are the rest. Hub net per unit = hub price x (1 minus commission %) minus packaging per unit minus the weekly fee spread over the units. Subtracting your production cost gives profit per unit. The effective take rate is everything the channel removes from the hub price, commission plus packaging plus fee, as a share of that price, so a 20% commission can become a 27% take once the rest is counted.
Direct is not free either
Direct sales carry booth or platform fees, card fees, bags, and far more of your time per unit. Enter the direct selling cost per unit (hired help you pay only for that channel, not your own labor, which the hours capture) and the weekly hours honestly. Cornell's Marketing Channel Assessment Tool benchmarks put farmers market vendors at a median of $29 in sales per labor hour and grocery accounts at $32, with restaurants at $69; a hub that moves 300 units in four hours can beat a market that moves 120 in ten even at a lower price per unit.
Matching the channels
Units to match is (direct weekly profit + hub fee) ÷ hub margin per unit before the fee: the hub volume at which the hub channel earns the same weekly profit as your direct sales. Price to match is the hub price that would do the same at the hub volume you entered, which is a useful number to bring to a price conversation with the hub. The combined line shows both channels together, since most farms run both rather than choosing. The calculator does not read your hub agreement: payment terms, minimums, insurance and food safety requirements, and who eats unsold product are contract questions to settle separately.
Worked example
A unit costs $2.00 to produce. The hub lists it at $4.00 and keeps 20%, charges a $15 weekly pickup fee, requires $0.25 of packaging and labeling per unit, takes 300 units a week, and costs you 4 hours: the hub pays $3.20 per unit, the fee adds $0.05 per unit, net is $2.90 and profit $0.90 per unit, $960 in hub revenue, $270 profit a week, $67.50 per hour, and an effective take rate of 27.5%. Selling direct at $6.00 with $1.10 of selling cost, 120 units and 10 hours a week: net $4.90, profit $2.90 per unit, $720 in sales, $348 profit a week, $34.80 per hour. The hub would need 383 units a week to match direct weekly profit, or a hub price of $4.32 at 300 units. Both channels together earn $618 a week, $44.14 per hour.
Sources
- USDA Agricultural Marketing Service, Regional food hub resource guide. Defines a regional food hub and profiles hubs returning 80 percent of the buyer's price to the farmer, 60 to 70 percent on CSA sales and 85 percent on wholesale distribution, and 75 percent of revenue to growers with 25 percent to hub operations. Accessed Sep 4, 2026.
- Cornell University, Dyson School (Cornell Cooperative Extension), Marketing Channel Assessment Tool (MCAT) benchmark performance metrics (EB 2014-13). Median sales per marketing labor hour of $29 at farmers markets, $32 for grocery stores, and $69 for restaurants. 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 much commission does a food hub take?
Hub profiles in the USDA AMS food hub guide return 60 to 85 percent of the sale price to producers depending on the channel, so commissions or margins of 15 to 25 percent are common for wholesale-style hubs and higher for CSA-style programs. Some hubs instead buy outright at a wholesale price and resell, which works out to a similar spread.
Is selling through a food hub worth it?
When the net per unit after commission, packaging, and fees still covers your production cost with room to spare, and the hours saved versus direct selling are real. Compare profit per hour, not price per unit; in the example the hub earns $67.50 per hour against $34.80 direct despite paying $2.80 less per unit.
What is an effective take rate?
Everything the hub channel removes from the listed price as a share of that price: commission plus required packaging and labeling plus any flat fee spread over your units. A 20% commission with $0.25 packaging and a $15 weekly fee on 300 units is a 27.5% effective take on a $4.00 unit.
Does this work for a distributor or cooperative instead of a food hub?
Yes. Enter the distributor's price to you as the hub price with 0% commission, or its list price with its margin, and any per-drop or membership fee as the weekly fee. The comparison is the same.
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