Food cost (share of ingredients in the price)
Enter the recipe and instantly see the cost of one portion, the food cost percentage and the right menu price.
Food cost % = (Ingredient cost ÷ Selling price) × 100Cleaning loss is included: quantity ÷ (1 − loss %) × unit price.
What does this tool do? Works out what one portion costs you and shows whether its menu price is right.
How it works
- Enter the recipe: e.g. for chicken with rice — 250 g chicken fillet (9.50 ₼/kg), 30 ml olive oil and 150 g basmati rice (example prices).
- Add each ingredient’s cleaning loss (bones, peel, fat — the part thrown away) in %: the tool works out the real portion cost — 3.54 ₼ in the example.
- Enter the menu price (18 ₼ in the example): food cost is 19.6%. If it is above your target, the tool shows what price to move to.
Recipe card
How to calculate the food cost of one portion
Recipe card, cleaning loss and how to set the menu price.
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For dishes with a known cost, see what to keep, where to fix the price, what to promote and what to remove.
Open toolFood cost in plain words
Know the logic before you calculate.
What is food cost?
It is the cost of the ingredients used in the dishes you sold. Wages, rent and utilities are not included — only what ends up on the plate.
How to count the ingredients used in a month
Stock at the start of the month
+ Bought during the month
− Returned to suppliers
= Available to use
− Stock at the end of the month
= Ingredients used this month
Food cost % = ingredients used ÷ sales × 100
Which price should you count stock at?
You bought the same item at different prices — which one counts?
“First in, first out” — recommended
What was bought first is used first and counted at its own purchase price. The most accurate method for a restaurant.
Average price
Total value of all purchases ÷ total quantity = average price. Simple, but slow to show reality when prices move fast.
Last purchase price — misleading
If prices went up, counting old stock at the new price makes food cost look higher than it is.
What is cleaning loss?
From 1 kg of chicken, after cleaning (bones, skin and fat are thrown away) about 850 g is left — a 15% loss (example). You paid for the part you throw away too, so the portion cost goes up.
Example loss rates (rough — check with your own scale)
What drives food cost: 4 factors
These factors differ in every restaurant, so food cost differs too.
Purchase price
What you pay for ingredients. This is in your hands: check the market, ask several suppliers for prices, find the same quality for less. Use what was bought first, first. Compare prices every week.
Selling price
Never set a price without a recipe and a cost calculation. First work out food cost, then set the price from your target percentage. Pricing “like the place next door” is the biggest mistake. The right way: portion cost ÷ target food cost % = selling price.
Which dishes sell most
The same menu can give a different food cost in two months — it depends on what sells more. Push the dishes that earn most; fix the price of low earners or take them off the menu. The “Menu matrix” tool helps with this.
Control in the kitchen
Following recipes, staff meals, spoiled stock, free treats, cash shortages — all must be controlled. Use what was bought first, first. Meat is the most expensive loss — start there. Count stock weekly and compare with what you expected.
DK Agency tip
Running a kitchen without knowing food cost is the most expensive mistake. Count your stock every month and use what was bought first, first.
Read full articleOCAQ Panel
Keep all recipes, get food cost calculated automatically and track your stock.