Guide · Food cost %
Food cost percentage: formula, calculator and good targets
What food cost % means, how to calculate it, what a healthy number looks like, and how to set a menu price from it — with a free calculator.
Food cost % calculator
Food cost % = ingredient cost ÷ selling price × 100. Don’t know your plate cost yet? Use the recipe calculator below to add up each ingredient.
What is food cost percentage?
Food cost percentage is the share of a dish’s selling price that goes on ingredients. If a plate sells for $12 and its ingredients cost $3.20, about 27% of every sale pays for food. The rest has to cover staff, rent, energy, packaging and your profit.
It is the single most useful number for pricing food, because it lets you compare a $4 cookie and a $28 steak on the same scale.
The food cost percentage formula
Food cost % = ingredient cost per serving ÷ selling price × 100
Example: a pasta dish costs $3.20 in ingredients and sells for $12.00. $3.20 ÷ $12.00 × 100 = 26.7% food cost, leaving $8.80 gross profit per plate.
To find a price from a target, flip the formula: selling price = ingredient cost ÷ target %. For a 30% target: $3.20 ÷ 0.30 = $10.67.
What is a good food cost percentage?
There is no single right number. A higher food cost % can work for a dish that sells in volume or needs little prep; a lower one is needed when labour, rent or delivery fees are high. Pick a target, then keep every dish close to it.
- •Full-service restaurants: usually 28–35%
- •Quick service and food trucks: around 25–32%
- •Cafés and coffee shops: drinks often 15–25%, food 28–35%
- •Bakeries: often 25–35%; custom cakes much lower, because labour is the main cost
- •Fine dining and premium cuts: can run 35–40% when prices carry it
Menu-level vs. per-dish food cost
Your overall (actual) food cost for a period is: (opening stock + purchases − closing stock) ÷ food sales × 100. That tells you how the business did, including waste and over-portioning.
Per-dish (theoretical) food cost is what this page calculates: what each dish should cost when it is made to the recipe. If your actual number is well above the theoretical one, look for waste, portion sizes or prices that have gone up.
How to lower your food cost percentage
- •Re-cost dishes when supplier prices change — most margin loss comes from old prices
- •Account for trim and waste on meat, fish and vegetables
- •Standardise portions with scoops, scales and recipe cards
- •Raise the price of dishes that are over target, or swap one expensive ingredient
- •Promote dishes with a low food cost % and high profit per plate
Don’t know your plate cost? Work it out here
Chicken alfredo pasta
Enter your price to see food cost % and profit.
The app keeps your ingredient prices. When butter goes up, every dish that uses it updates — no re-typing.
Track food cost % for every dish with the free app:
- ✓Live food cost % and profit while you build a dish
- ✓Green, yellow and red status against your own target
- ✓Update an ingredient price once — every dish recalculates
Common questions
How do I calculate food cost percentage?+
Divide the ingredient cost of one serving by its selling price and multiply by 100. $3.20 ÷ $12.00 × 100 = 26.7%.
What is the ideal food cost percentage for a restaurant?+
Most restaurants aim for 28–35%. The right target depends on your labour, rent and price level.
How do I price a dish from food cost percentage?+
Divide the cost per serving by your target as a decimal. A $3.00 plate at a 30% target should sell for at least $10.00.
Should food cost % include packaging?+
For takeaway, delivery and bakery boxes, yes — include packaging so the price covers it. In the CostMyDish app you can add packaging as an ingredient.
Ready to cost your next dish?
Download CostMyDish free on iPhone or Android. Type what you’re making, add ingredients with what you paid, and see your cost and a selling price in about 2 minutes.
Free plan: 5 dishes and 20 ingredients. No credit card.
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