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.
$66.00 per portion after a 10% waste allowance. At a 30% target the menu price should be $220.00, against your current 249. That is a food cost of 26.51%.
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
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 · United States · 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.