How Much Is Your Grease Trap Business Worth?
A detailed breakdown of SDE multiples, compliance revenue premiums, and valuation drivers for commercial kitchen services.
Commercial kitchen compliance demand may be affected by regulations, customer contracts, pricing, and local conditions. Grease trap, hood exhaust, and UCO businesses require a business-specific review of operations, compliance, and normalized earnings.
How Buyers Review FOG Valuation
Buyers may consider SDE, EBITDA, asset value, contracts, compliance records, route economics, and transition needs. There is no universal FOG multiple or guaranteed offer without a review.
10 Factors That Affect Your FOG Business Valuation
Scheduled Service
Review the share of customers on recurring 30-, 60-, or 90-day schedules, along with retention, pricing, and completed-service records.
Route Density
Review stops per shift, drive time, fuel use, service frequency, and dispatch practices to understand route economics.
UCO Volume
Document used-cooking-oil collection volumes, processor contracts, pricing terms, contamination controls, and customer concentration.
Facility Ownership / Permitting
Review facility permits, capacity, compliance history, disposal alternatives, tipping fees, lease or ownership terms, and required capital work.
Service Bundling
Identify which customers use trap pumping, line jetting, hood cleaning, or UCO services and how contracts, scheduling, and margins differ by service.
Customer Concentration
Heavy reliance on a single restaurant franchise group or property management company creates risk. Diverse customer bases are rewarded.
Owner Involvement
If the owner still drives a vac truck or is the only person who can sell new accounts, the multiple will be discounted for key-man risk.
Digital Compliance Tracking
Companies utilizing modern software (ServiceTitan, ServiceTrade, etc.) to auto-report manifests to municipal health inspectors are viewed as premium platforms.
Equipment Fleet
The condition, age, and maintenance records of your vacuum and jetter trucks directly impact the cash required by the buyer post-close.
Revenue Trend
Consistent year-over-year revenue and margin growth proves the business model is scalable, pulling the multiple toward the top of the range.
Factors That Increase vs. Decrease Value
| Factors a buyer may view favorably | Factors requiring further review |
|---|---|
| Documented recurring scheduled accounts | Mostly reactive, break-fix service calls |
| Bundled services (Traps + Hoods + UCO) | Single-service offering |
| Automated municipal compliance reporting | Paper manifests and manual tracking |
| Management infrastructure in place | Owner is the primary salesperson/operator |
Request an Acquisition Review
Request an acquisition review to discuss the records and operating factors that may inform a non-binding indication. This is not an appraisal or guaranteed valuation.
Request an Acquisition Review