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How Much Can a Kebab Van Earn in a Day?

by Steve O'Neil
(Hampshire)

Black kebab van serving customers at a UK event

Black kebab van serving customers at a UK event

What is a typical daily earning for a kebab van?

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Aug 07, 2026
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by: MobCater

Good question, Steve, and it is the one nearly everyone asks before they commit. The honest answer is that daily takings for a kebab van swing wildly depending on where and when you trade, so anyone who quotes you a single magic figure is guessing.

From my own experience, a quiet roadside or small industrial pitch might bring in somewhere around £40 to £70 on a slow day. A prime spot on a busy weekend, a good town centre late night pitch, or a well attended event is a completely different story, and I have seen kebab and burger vans take £500 to £700 or more in a single trading session. A kebab van in particular earns most of its money in the evenings and at weekends, near pubs, clubs and events, so your best days are rarely the same as a nine to five coffee round.

The number that really matters is not your takings, it is what you keep. Food cost is usually the biggest slice, and I aim to keep mine to roughly a third of the selling price, which leaves room for the pitch fee, gas, insurance, stock and your own wages. A £500 day sounds brilliant until you take off a £90 pitch fee, your food cost and your running costs, so always work back to your real profit rather than the headline figure.

A couple of practical things to keep in mind. Keep a proper float, around £60 in mixed change, and never mix it in with your daily takings or your figures will never add up. And if you plan to trade after eleven at night, which is where a lot of kebab money is made, you will usually need a late night refreshment licence from your council on top of your street trading licence.

If you want to sanity check the numbers before you buy anything, the pricing calculator and daily sales tracker in the app let you plug in your own costs and see what a realistic day actually looks like for your menu.

Best of luck

David

Disclaimer: These figures come from my own experience and vary hugely by pitch, season and menu, so treat them as a guide rather than a promise. If you plan to trade after 11pm you will usually need a late night refreshment licence, so check with your local council before you start.

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