Food Cost Formula
How do you calculate food cost percentage?
Direct answer
Food cost percentage for one item is ingredient cost divided by menu price, multiplied by 100. For a period, use beginning inventory plus purchases minus ending inventory, divided by food sales, then multiply by 100.
Key points
- Item food cost tells you whether a dish is priced correctly.
- Period food cost tells you whether the whole operation is controlled.
- The gap between ideal and actual food cost points to waste, theft, spoilage, comps, or portion drift.
What to do next
- 1For one dish, total every ingredient in the portion.
- 2Divide plate cost by menu price and multiply by 100.
- 3For a period, use inventory and purchasing data instead of recipe cost alone.