Food cost calculator
Work out the cost, food cost % and margin on any dish in about 60 seconds. Free, no sign-up, and it works on your phone in the kitchen.
Cost a dish to the cent
Add your ingredients, set the servings and the sale price. The numbers update as you type.
- $Used$0.00
- $Used$0.00
- $Used$0.00
Volume measures assume the density of water (1 mL = 1 g). Real ingredients differ. Chefy lets you set densities and custom units per ingredient, so every costing is exact.
This dish
liveMenu price
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Plate cost (COGS)
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per serve
Food cost %
—The food cost formula, explained
Food cost percentage is the share of a dish's selling price that goes on ingredients. There are two ways to work it out: per plate when you are pricing a single dish, and across a period when you want the true figure for the whole kitchen.
Per plate
Food cost % = (Ingredient cost ÷ Selling price) × 100
Use the ex GST selling price so the percentage reflects money you actually keep. This is the formula the calculator above runs for you.
Over a period
Food cost % = ((Opening inventory + Purchases − Closing inventory) ÷ Food sales) × 100
The stocktake version. Because it starts from what actually left the shelves, it also captures the waste, spillage and staff meals that plate costing misses.
Worked example: beef burger at $25.00 ex GST
- Beef patty
- $3.20
- Brioche bun
- $1.10
- Cheese, sauce and toppings
- $1.90
- Chips, per serve
- $1.30
- Total ingredient cost
- $7.50
Food cost % = ($7.50 ÷ $25.00) × 100 = 30%
Gross profit is $25.00 − $7.50 = $17.50 a serve, a 70% gross margin before labour and overheads.
What is a good food cost percentage?
Most venues land between 28% and 35%. Lower is not automatically better: fine dining carries a higher food cost and earns it back in the selling price, while quick service keeps it lean and relies on volume. Set a target per dish, not one number for the whole menu.
- Quick service and takeaway
- 25% to 30%
- Cafes and casual dining
- 28% to 32%
- Pubs and bistros
- 30% to 35%
- Fine dining
- 32% to 38%
How do you calculate food cost from a stocktake?
Take your opening inventory value, add purchases for the period, subtract closing inventory, then divide by food sales for the same period and multiply by 100. If you opened the month with $8,000 of stock, bought $22,000 and closed with $7,000, you used $23,000 of food. Against $70,000 of food sales that is a 32.9% food cost.
Should food cost include GST?
Work with ex GST numbers on both sides of the formula. Most fresh food is GST free on supplier invoices, but your menu prices usually include GST, so dividing by the GST inclusive price makes food cost look better than it really is. Strip GST from the selling price first: a $27.50 menu price is $25.00 ex GST.
Why is my food cost percentage too high?
Usually one of four things: supplier prices have moved since the dish was costed, portions have drifted from the spec, trim and waste are not in the costing, or the menu price has not kept up. Re-cost the dish at today's prices first, that is the most common cause, then check portions against the recipe.
How often should I update my food costs?
Every time a supplier price changes, which in practice is weekly for fresh produce and meat. Costing by hand, most venues manage it quarterly at best, so margins drift between updates. Costing software closes that gap: change a supplier price and every recipe that uses it re-costs automatically.
The formula is the easy part. Keeping it current is the work.
Every input in that formula moves: supplier prices change weekly, portions drift, menus rotate. Chefy holds the formula against every recipe on your menu, so when you change a supplier price, every recipe that uses that ingredient re-costs automatically and the margin you see is the margin you are making.
See how Chefy keeps food cost currentA calculator gives you one number. Chefy keeps it true.
This tool costs one dish at the prices you type in, today. The moment a supplier price moves, that number is stale and you are back here re-typing. Chefy costs every dish and drink automatically and re-costs the lot the instant a price changes, so the margin you see is always the margin you are making.
✕ With a calculator
- One dish at a time, by hand
- Costs go stale the day a price moves
- No link to what actually sells
- Nothing carries across to your menu
✓ With Chefy
- Every dish and drink costed automatically
- Re-costs live the moment a price changes
- Square sales tied to cost, item by item
- Your whole menu costed and engineered
From one dish to your whole menu
Build costed recipes once
Enter a recipe once with nested preps and Chefy costs it from live supplier prices, with no re-typing.
Prices update themselves
When a supplier price changes, Chefy cascades it through every recipe and menu item instantly.
Catch margin slips early
Set a target margin per dish and get an alert the moment one slips below it.
Engineer the whole menu
See cost, price and contribution margin on every item side by side, and re-price on real numbers.
A calculator is a moment. Chefy is the operating system for margin.
Chefy turns one-off sums into a living model of your margin: recipe and menu costs, stock counts and Square sales on one platform, across the kitchen and the bar. Start free on your first venue.
What a calculator can't do
Recipe engineering
Nested sub-recipes, batches and unit conversions, all costed end to end.
Learn moreLive costing
Dish and drink costs that update the moment a supplier price changes.
Learn moreMenu management
Cost, price and contribution margin on every item, with menu engineering.
Learn moreWastage
Record waste and see it costed, so leakage shows up in your margins.
Learn moreSuppliers
Supplier price history feeding every recipe automatically.
Learn moreAnalytics & alerts
Real-time margin alerts the moment a dish breaches its target.
Learn moreAll features
See all featuresFood cost calculator FAQ
What is a good food cost percentage?
Most hospitality venues aim for a food cost between 28 and 35%, though it varies by concept. A lower percentage means you keep more of each sale, but portion size and quality matter just as much as the number.
How do you calculate food cost?
Add up the cost of every ingredient in a dish, divide by the number of servings to get the cost per serve, then divide that by the sale price and multiply by 100 for the food cost percentage.
What is the food cost formula?
Food cost percentage equals the ingredient cost divided by the sale price, multiplied by 100. This calculator works it out for you as you type.
What is contribution margin?
Contribution margin is the sale price of a dish minus its ingredient cost. It is what each sale contributes toward your labour, overheads and profit.
How is this different from Chefy?
This is a single-dish calculator at the prices you type in. Chefy costs your entire menu automatically from live supplier prices, re-costs every recipe when a price changes, and tracks margin across the whole venue.
Cost your whole menu, not just one dish
See Chefy cost your real menu from live supplier prices in a quick demo.