Do I add 30 percent or divide by 30 percent?

Divide. A thirty percent food cost target means cost is thirty percent of price, so a 60 rupee portion prices at 200, not 78.

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Recipe Costing Calculator

Recipe cost per portion and the menu price it implies. Dividing by the target food cost is the correct operation, and adding a markup percentage instead gives a different and wrong answer.

Also called: menu pricing calculator, food cost per portion.

Cost per portion

₹66

₹66 per portion after a 10% waste allowance. At a 30% target the menu price should be ₹220, against your current 249. That is a food cost of 26.51%.

Suggested menu price

₹220

Food cost at your current price

26.51%

Gross profit per portion

₹183

Batch cost with waste

₹528

Gap against the suggested price

-₹29

How this is calculated

Method and background

How this is calculated

Batch cost is grossed up for waste and trim, then divided by the yield. The menu price follows from dividing the portion cost by the target food cost, not from adding a markup: a thirty percent food cost means the cost is thirty percent of the price, so the price is the cost divided by 0.3, which is a multiple of 3.33 rather than 1.3. That distinction is the most common pricing error in kitchens.

cost per portion grossed up for waste, then divided by the target food cost

w: Waste allowance
t: Target food cost

Worked examples

Each of these is asserted on every build. If a change to the engine ever moved one of these answers, the build would fail before the page could print it.

a batch of eight

Total ingredient cost for the batch: ₹480
Portions the batch yields: 8
Waste and trim allowance: 10%
Target food cost: 30%
Current menu price: ₹249

Cost per portion₹66

66 divided by 0.3, not multiplied by 1.3

Open this example

no waste allowance

Total ingredient cost for the batch: ₹480
Portions the batch yields: 8
Waste and trim allowance: 0%
Target food cost: 30%
Current menu price: ₹249

Cost per portion₹60

boundary

Open this example

Method and limits

What it assumes

Consistent portioning, which in practice drifts and needs checking.

What it deliberately does not model

Ingredient prices move, so a costing more than a quarter old is unreliable.
Labour and overhead are not in the food cost percentage by convention.

Formula version 1.0.0 · definition 1.0.0 · India · Report a problem with this calculator

Frequently asked questions

Do I add 30 percent or divide by 30 percent?: Divide. A thirty percent food cost target means cost is thirty percent of price, so a 60 rupee portion prices at 200, not 78.