Food cost percentage is the cost of the ingredients divided by the selling price, for one plate or for a whole period. For one plate, add up what is on it and divide by the menu price. For a period, use beginning inventory plus purchases minus ending inventory, divided by food sales.
One plate
Write down every ingredient on the plate with the quantity and the cost of that quantity. A chicken thigh that costs one dollar and twenty cents, a half cup of rice at twenty cents and sauce at thirty cents add up to one dollar seventy. If the menu price is eight dollars, the food cost percentage is one seventy divided by eight, which is about 21 percent. The numbers are made up for illustration.
Do not forget the small items. Oil, garnish, a side of pickle and the paper box add up over a month.
A whole period
Use the formula beginning inventory plus purchases minus ending inventory. That is the food you used. Divide by food sales for the same period. This number is what you actually lived with, including waste.
Yield matters
A case of whole chicken does not give you the same weight on the plate. Trimming, cooking loss and bones lower the usable amount. Cost the usable portion, not the purchase weight. A recipe card that records yield will do this for you. See how to build a recipe cost card.
Waste: where the gap lives
Compare theoretical with actual. If the gap is large, look in this order: portioning, spoilage, unrecorded comps and staff meals, and receiving errors. A scale at the station and a waste log cost little and often explain most of the gap.
Price changes
When an ingredient price changes, recompute the plates that use it. A house sauce used in six dishes can quietly raise the cost of all six. Systems that link recipes to ingredient costs do this automatically. In Zorveta One, recipe costing does exactly that.
What is a normal number
Published guidance often points to a food cost somewhere near the high twenties to mid thirties of food sales, depending on the concept [VERIFY source]. Ranges differ widely by cuisine. Your own trend is more useful than a rule of thumb.
Ten-minute routine
Pick your five best-selling plates. Cost them with current prices. Compare each with its menu price. If any is above the level you want, decide whether to change the recipe, the portion or the price. Do the next five next week.
For the bigger picture read prime cost, and see the inventory and food cost page for what the platform covers.
Food cost percentage calculator
- Food cost percentage
- Enter a price
- Margin per plate
- Enter a price
Nothing you enter is saved or sent. Example numbers are made up.