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What is included in ingredient cost?
All ingredients used for the batch, including garnish, oil and sauces. Staff, rent and other operating expenses are outside this ingredient-only calculation.
Food Cost & Menu Pricing Calculator
Calculate ingredient cost per portion, check your menu price and explore changes in purchase prices. Free, with no account.
Hypothetical example, not a market average. All values are editable; the VAT rate is illustrative.
Your calculation
Enter portion cost and sales VAT, or complete a recipe. Results appear automatically.
- Total batch cost
- Ingredient cost per portion
- Food cost at the current price
- Ingredient contribution per portion
- Current price excluding VAT
Enter a menu price to calculate food cost and contribution.
- Reference price for your target, including VAT
- Reference price for your target, excluding VAT
Enter your own target percentage to calculate a reference price.
This reference is below your current price. It is not advice to lower your price.
Ingredient contribution is not net profit. Reference prices exclude labour, rent, utilities, fees and demand; they do not guarantee profitability.
Ingredient margin and markup
- Ingredient margin (%)
- Ingredient markup (%)
Margin = contribution ÷ net selling price × 100. Markup = contribution ÷ ingredient cost × 100; undefined at zero cost.
What if purchase prices change?
Compare with your baseline, without changing the recipe. Positive values increase purchase prices; negative values decrease them.
Applies to the total ingredient cost per portion.
- New ingredient cost per portion
- New food cost at the unchanged menu price
- Change in ingredient contribution per portion
- Price preserving the previous contribution, including VAT
- Price preserving the previous contribution, excluding VAT
The previous contribution cannot be preserved at a positive selling price in this scenario.
- New reference price for your target, including VAT
- New reference price for your target, excluding VAT
This reference is below your current price. It is not advice to lower your price.
Ingredient contribution is not net profit. Reference prices exclude labour, rent, utilities, fees and demand; they do not guarantee profitability.
How to calculate food cost—and know when to change menu prices.
An ingredient invoice changes before the menu does. See what that costs per portion and how to compare pricing decisions.
How to calculate food cost—and know when to change menu prices.How the calculation works
Ingredient cost = pack cost × usable quantity ÷ (pack quantity × yield fraction). Sum the batch and divide by portions. Net selling price = gross price ÷ (1 + VAT ÷ 100). Food cost = portion cost ÷ net selling price × 100. No intermediate rounding; currency rounding is for display only.
Margin = contribution ÷ net selling price × 100. Markup = contribution ÷ ingredient cost × 100; undefined at zero cost.
Frequently asked questions
How are preparation losses included?
Enter usable quantity after preparation, before cooking, and divide by the yield fraction once. If you already enter purchased quantity, use 100% yield. Mass, volume and pieces cannot be interchanged without extra data.
Should I use prices including VAT?
Enter the guest-facing price including sales VAT and your applicable rate. The calculator uses net sales for food cost. Purchase cost excludes recoverable input VAT; sales VAT is never used to strip purchase invoices.
Are the two scenario prices the same?
No. One preserves the previous cash contribution per portion; the other achieves your target ingredient percentage. Neither is a profitability guarantee, and a lower reference is not advice to reduce prices.
Is this the actual monthly food cost?
No. It is theoretical ingredient costing for one dish. Actual period food cost requires stock movements, inventory and matching sales records.
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