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🍱 Business
Food Cost Calculator
Calculate food cost percentage for restaurants and food businesses. Work out profit margins per dish.
About This Food Cost Calculator
This food cost calculator helps cafés, restaurants and home cooks work out the cost and profit margin of a dish. Enter the ingredient cost, your menu or sale price and labour per dish, and it shows the food cost percentage and gross profit. Keeping food cost in a healthy range is key to running a profitable kitchen.
This is general business information only, not financial advice. Most hospitality businesses aim for a food cost of around 28–35% of the menu price, but the right target depends on your venue, overheads and pricing.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a good food cost percentage?+
Many cafés and restaurants aim for a food cost of about 28–35% of the menu price, leaving enough margin to cover labour, overheads and profit.
How do I price a dish?+
Add up the ingredient cost, then divide by your target food cost percentage. For example, $5 of ingredients at a 30% food cost suggests a menu price near $16.50.
Should I include labour in food cost?+
Labour is separate from ingredient cost, but factoring it in per dish gives a fuller picture of how profitable each item is.