Food cost and menu price calculator

What is food cost percentage?

Food cost percentage is the share of a dish's menu price that goes on its ingredients. If a plate of tehari costs you Tk 108 in ingredients and sells for Tk 270, its food cost is 40 percent.

Rent, staff, electricity and your own profit all come out of the other 60 percent. That is why the percentage matters more than the ingredient bill on its own.

What food cost should a restaurant aim for?

There is no single right number. A common rule of thumb in restaurants is around 30 percent, but it changes with the dish:

• Meat dishes such as kacchi, tehari and kala bhuna usually run higher, because meat is the most expensive thing in the kitchen.
• Tea, coffee, soft drinks, fuchka and other snacks usually run lower.
• Rice, dal and bread cost little and bring the average down.

What matters is the menu as a whole. A biryani house can live with a high food cost on its main dish if drinks, sides and desserts balance it out.

How do you price a dish from its food cost?

Divide the cost per plate by your target food cost. For a plate that costs Tk 108 at a 40 percent target, 108 divided by 0.40 is Tk 270.

1. Add up everything that goes into one batch: meat, rice, oil, spices and the gas to cook it.
2. Divide by the number of plates the batch really gives you, after tasting and spills.
3. Divide that cost per plate by your target, for example 0.30 for 30 percent.
4. Round to a price that reads well on the menu, and compare it with similar places nearby.

How often should you check your prices?

Whenever an ingredient you use a lot changes price, and at least every few months. Meat, oil and onion prices move often in Bangladesh, and a dish that made money in spring can lose it by winter.

With a free QR code menu, changing a price takes seconds and every table sees it at once, so there is no reason to keep selling at last year's price.