Food Cost Calculator

How to Calculate Food Cost

Food cost is what the ingredients in one portion cost you. Work it out ingredient by ingredient, then divide by the portions the recipe makes.

• Ingredient cost = price paid × amount used ÷ package size, with both amounts in the same unit.
• Cost per portion = total of the ingredient costs ÷ number of portions.
• Food cost percentage = cost per portion ÷ menu price × 100 (the per-item formula from the Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts).
• Menu price = cost per portion ÷ target food cost percentage, the same formula turned around.

The example recipe in the calculator makes 10 portions for $23.02 of ingredients, or $2.30 a portion. At a 30% food cost that portion sells for $7.67. The prices in it are an example; replace them with your own invoices.

Units convert within weight (lb, oz, kg, g) and within volume (gal, qt, pt, cup, fl oz, tbsp, tsp, l, ml) using the exact US customary definitions (NIST). Weight and volume do not convert into each other: a cup of flour and a cup of honey weigh different amounts. If you buy by the pound and measure by the cup, weigh a cup once and enter the recipe amount by weight.

Choosing a Target Food Cost Percentage

The target is the share of the price that pays for ingredients. Everything else the price has to cover comes out of the rest: wages, kitchen rent, packaging, delivery, card fees, and profit. A lower target means a higher price for the same plate.

There is no single right figure, so the calculator starts at 30% as a round number to change, not as a benchmark. Work yours out from your own costs: if labor, rent, and other costs take 55% of sales and you want 15% profit, ingredients can take the remaining 30%.

How to Price Meal Prep

A meal prep price has to cover two costs a restaurant plate does not: the container and the trip to the customer. The calculator adds both per meal, on top of the food price at your target.

With the example recipe, a $0.55 container and label and $1.25 of delivery per meal make the price $9.47 a meal. That leaves $5.37 a meal for labor, kitchen rent, and profit.

To find delivery per meal, divide what one delivery run costs by the meals on that run; the delivery cost calculator prices a courier run from two addresses. Weekly routes that drop many meals at once cost far less per meal than single deliveries; courier service for meal prep companies covers how those routes work.

Where Food Costs Hide

• Trim and waste. Enter the amount you buy, before trimming, not the amount that ends up on the plate. Bones, peels, and fat you throw away were paid for.
• Small amounts. Oil, sauces, spices, and garnishes look free per plate but add up across a batch. List them.
• Price changes. Re-enter prices from your latest invoices. A recipe costed last season can be well out of date.
• Costs outside the recipe. Kitchen rent, labor, and delivery are not food cost, but the price still has to pay for them. What a commissary kitchen costs covers the rent side; for catering, see courier service for caterers.