How To Become A Food Broker: What It Is and Career Path

What is a food broker and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted expert

Kevin Buckley

The average food broker salary is $124,916. The most common degree is a bachelor's degree degree with an business major. It usually takes 2-4 years of experience to become a food broker. Food brokers with a Certified Sales Professional (CSP) certification earn more money. Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 4% and produce 63,300 job opportunities across the U.S.

What general advice would you give to a food broker?

Kevin Buckley

Professor of Practice, Sales & Marketing, University of Southern Mississippi

The biggest factor in earning potential is performance - salespeople get paid based on their ability to hit and exceed quotas through revenue generation. With a sales career, you have a lot of control over earnings. My advice is to be metrics-driven and have a plan to intentionally grow your sales skills through training, mentors, and personal development. Build a reputation for consistent over-achievement. It's also important to do research and understand typical compensation benchmarks. Some may offer higher base pay, while others offer more earnings leverage through aggressive commission/bonus structures.

ScoreFood BrokerUS Average

Salary

8.3

Avg. Salary $124,916

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

7.1

Growth rate 4%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

3.8

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.23%

Asian 5.10%

Black or African American 3.80%

Hispanic or Latino 13.99%

Unknown 3.71%

White 73.16%

Gender

female 40.91%

male 59.09%

Age - 48

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 48

Stress level

7.1

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.4

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

4.9

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a food broker

Explore food broker education requirements

Most common food broker degrees

Bachelor's

70.9 %

Associate

15.1 %

High School Diploma

8.1 %

Start to develop specific food broker skills

Skills	Percentages
Trade Shows	11.53%
Food Products	9.31%
Brokerage	8.63%
Manufacturer Lines	7.27%
Sales Presentations	5.74%

Complete relevant food broker training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New food brokers learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a food broker based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real food broker resumes.

Research food broker duties and responsibilities

Manage lines and increase sales at Sysco Spokane.
Manage Mid-Atlantic geographic trading area.
Implement all POS materials and promotions from all vendors to all levels of sales.
Read and revise planograms, resets, cut in new items, pos and returns.

Prepare your food broker resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your food broker resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a food broker resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable food broker resume templates

Build a professional food broker resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your food broker resume.