How Much to Charge for a Coffee Cart at an Event
Mobile coffee carts typically charge $8–$15 per guest for a two-hour service window with a minimum of roughly $600–$1,200 depending on market, or $250–$450 per service hour for open-bar-style corporate events. Travel beyond a base radius, a generator when the venue has no power, specialty drinks and alternative milks, custom branded cups, and a second barista are all quoted as separate lines on top.
The two pricing models
- Per guest — $8–$15 per head, two-hour window, for weddings and private parties
- Per service hour — $250–$450/hr for corporate lobbies and activations
- Minimum — roughly $600–$1,200 depending on market
- Overtime — per half hour, at or above your hourly rate
What gets added on top
- Travel — mileage or a zone fee beyond your base radius
- Generator — venues without accessible power, priced as equipment
- Specialty drinks — matcha, syrups, oat and almond milk
- Custom branding — logo cups or sleeves, a favorite corporate upsell
- Second barista — over roughly 100 guests, or a tight window
The minimum is doing most of the work
Load, drive, set up, serve, tear down, clean — only one of those six shrinks when the guest list does. A minimum sized to the whole day, not just the service window, is what makes a 40-guest booking worth taking at all.
Corporate pays more and pays slower
An office activation is a bigger number and a longer wait. Quote it hourly, ask for the PO number at booking, and send net terms. The premium’s real, but so is the 30-day lag, and pricing that doesn’t account for the wait is pricing that leaves you short in a slow month.
Quote the branding, always
A logo on a cup is nearly free for you and highly visible to a marketing team. It’s about the easiest upsell in mobile coffee, and it should be a line on every corporate quote, whether or not they ask.
Frequently asked questions
Per guest or per hour?
Per guest for weddings and parties, where the headcount is known and drinks are finite. Per hour for corporate activations, where a lobby full of people will keep ordering for as long as the cart is open and per-guest math stops meaning anything.
Should I ever charge per drink?
Only for a public-facing pop-up where guests pay you directly. For a hosted event, per-drink pricing hands the client an uncapped bill they'll resent and hands you an afternoon of counting cups instead of making coffee.
What's a fair minimum?
Whatever covers loading, driving, setup, two hours of service, teardown, and cleaning — usually the equivalent of 60–80 guests. The cart doesn't get meaningfully cheaper to run for a small event, so the minimum is what keeps small bookings from being unpaid labor.
How much should overtime cost?
Price it per half hour at or above your hourly rate and quote it up front. Events run long constantly, and the operator who hasn't set this number in advance ends up serving an extra hour for free.