Food Cost Calculator

Work out your food cost percentage for a week or a month from your inventory counts and purchases, or for one dish from its plate cost and menu price. Set a target to see how far off you are, in points and in dollars, or what the dish should sell for.

Your numbers

Beginning food inventory

Value of food on hand at the start of the period (your last closing count).

Food purchases in the period

Food invoices only: leave out beverages, paper goods and cleaning supplies.

Ending food inventory

Food sales in the period

From your POS, for the same dates, before tax and tips.

Your target food cost

Results

Food cost percentage

—

Cost of goods sold (food): —
Food sales minus food cost: —

Food cost percentage is the share of food sales that went to the ingredients behind them. For a period, it is food cost of goods sold (beginning inventory plus purchases minus ending inventory) divided by food sales. For a single dish, it is the plate cost divided by the menu price.

Food cost formulas

Cost of goods sold (COGS): beginning inventory + purchases − ending inventory, for the same period.
Food cost percentage: COGS ÷ food sales × 100.
Food cost of one dish: plate cost ÷ menu price × 100.
Menu price from a target: plate cost ÷ target food cost. At a 30% target, a $6.30 plate sells for $21.00.
Gross profit per plate: menu price − plate cost: the dollars a dish leaves for labor, rent and profit.

How to calculate food cost percentage

Count your food inventory. Count every storage area on the same day and at the same time, valued at the latest invoice prices. This closing count becomes the next period’s beginning inventory.
Add up food purchases. Total the food invoices dated within the period. Leave out beverages, paper goods and cleaning supplies, or track them on their own lines.
Count again at the end. Repeat the count at the end of the period, the same way.
Calculate COGS. Beginning inventory plus purchases minus ending inventory.
Divide by food sales. Take food sales for the same dates from the POS, divide COGS by them and multiply by 100.

Worked examples

A month: A cafe starts the month with $4,000 of food on hand, buys $9,500 and ends with $3,500. COGS is $4,000 + $9,500 − $3,500 = $10,000. With $32,000 of food sales, food cost is $10,000 ÷ $32,000 = 31.25%. Against a 30% target that is 1.25 points, or $400, over.

One dish: A steak plate costs $6.30 in ingredients and sells for $24.00: a 26.3% food cost and $17.70 of gross profit. To hit a 30% target the same plate could sell for $21.00; at 28% it would need $22.50.

What is a good food cost percentage?

There is no single right number: it depends on the concept, the menu and how the kitchen buys. These are commonly cited ranges, not formal standards:

Concept	Typical food cost
Coffee shop or cafe	Drinks 15–25%, food 25–35%
Quick service / fast casual	About 25–30%
Casual dining	About 28–35%
Fine dining	Often 30–40%

Compare yourself with your own concept and your own trend rather than one benchmark. More in our guide to food cost percentage.

Why food cost runs higher than your recipes say

Your recipes give the food cost you should have (theoretical); your counts give the one you actually had. The gap usually comes from a few places:

Yield: recipes costed at the invoice price instead of the edible-portion price after trimming and cooking. Food yield calculator.
Trim on whole cuts: less usable meat from a cut than your costing assumes. Butcher’s yield test calculator.
Waste and spoilage: product thrown away without being logged. Food waste calculator.
Portions and prices: plates leaving the line heavier than the recipe card, or menu prices that have not kept up with invoices. Menu pricing guide.

Food cost FAQ

What is the food cost formula?

Food cost percentage = cost of goods sold ÷ food sales × 100, where cost of goods sold = beginning inventory + purchases − ending inventory for the same period. For a single dish, divide the plate cost by the menu price.

What is a good food cost percentage for a restaurant?

A commonly cited range is about 28–35% of food sales, with quick-service concepts often lower and fine dining often higher. Cafes run lower overall because drinks cost less than food. Treat these as rules of thumb and watch your own trend.

How do I calculate the food cost of a dish?

Weigh every ingredient on the plate, multiply each by its cost per unit at the edible-portion price (after trimming and cooking losses), and add them up, including garnish, sauce and oil. Divide that plate cost by the menu price for the food cost percentage.

How do I price a menu item from food cost?

Divide the plate cost by your target food cost. A $4.20 plate at a 30% target sells for $14.00; at 28% it needs $15.00. Then check the price against what guests will pay and what similar dishes sell for nearby.

Should beverages and paper goods be included in food cost?

Usually not. Most operators track food and beverage cost separately, because drinks run at very different percentages, and treat paper, packaging and cleaning supplies as their own expense lines. Whatever you choose, keep it the same every period so the numbers stay comparable.

What is the difference between food cost and cost of goods sold?

Cost of goods sold can cover everything you sell, including beverages. Food cost percentage uses only food COGS against food sales. Many restaurants report food, beverage and combined figures.

Why is my actual food cost higher than my theoretical food cost?

Theoretical cost is what your recipes say the food you sold should have cost; actual cost comes from your counts. The gap is usually waste, over-portioning, yields below what your costing assumes, unrecorded staff meals and comps, or theft. Logging waste and running yield tests shows which one it is.

How often should I calculate food cost?

Monthly at minimum, from full counts. Many kitchens also work out a weekly figure from counts of their highest-value items, so problems show up while there is still time to fix them.

Is this food cost calculator free?

Yes. It needs no sign-up, and the numbers you enter stay in your browser.

Related free tool

Yield Calculator

Turn as-purchased price into true edible-portion cost. Get yield %, trim loss and the real cost per usable pound in seconds.

Open calculator