Food cost calculator
Enter a dish's ingredients and its selling price: you get the cost of a portion, the food cost ratio, the margin and the price that meets your target.
| Ingredient | Quantity | Unit | Purchase price | Cost |
|---|
Your dish
- Food cost per portion
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- Selling price excl. VAT
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- Food cost ratio
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- Gross margin per portion
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- Mark-up multiplier
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- Price incl. VAT to meet your target
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Food cost, in two minutes
Food cost is what the ingredients on a plate cost. Set against the selling price excluding VAT, it gives the ratio that tells you whether a dish makes or loses money.
The catch: purchase prices change every week, and a sheet worked out in January means nothing by June. That's why Popote recalculates every recipe's cost with each invoice.
How do you work out a dish's food cost?
Add up the cost of each ingredient (quantity used × purchase price), then divide by the number of portions. The food cost ratio is that cost divided by the selling price excluding VAT.
What food cost ratio should you aim for?
Restaurants often aim for 25 to 35% of the selling price excluding VAT, depending on the cuisine. A dish at 40% can make sense if it brings people in, as long as you know it.
What is the mark-up multiplier?
It's the selling price excluding VAT divided by the food cost. A multiplier of 3.5 means a ratio of about 29%.
What if these sums did themselves?
In Popote, each recipe's cost follows purchase prices, labour cost follows the rota and the hygiene log fills itself in during service.