Tools
Food cost calculator per dish.
Enter ingredients, gross quantity per portion (including trimming waste) and supplier price per unit. The calculator computes cost per portion, food cost percentage and margin in real time. Everything stays in the browser, nothing is sent to the server.
Cost per portion: 0,40 €
Cost per portion: 0,17 €
Cost per portion: 0,96 €
Enter ingredient purchase prices excluding VAT.
Tagliatelle al burro
Ingredient cost per portion
1,53 €
Food 13%, all drinks 25%, coffee included (VAT Act, Zakon o PDV-u, Article 38).
Price excl. VAT: 11,42 €
Food cost
13,4%
HealthyMargin
9,89 €
86,6% of the price excl. VAT
Guidelines
- Below 30% is healthy for most dishes on a restaurant menu.
- 30% to 35% is borderline, worth tracking weekly.
- Above 35% the dish bleeds margin. Reconsider the portion or price.
Guidelines are a reference, not a rule. Brunch and desserts realistically sustain a lower food cost, while seafood specialities and quality proteins run higher.
Know what a portion costs and need the price? The menu price calculator works the other way round: from the portion cost and a target food cost it gives the price excluding and including VAT.
How food cost is calculated
Divide the ingredient cost per portion by the selling price excluding VAT and multiply by 100. The ingredient cost per portion is the sum of the costs of all ingredients in the recipe: quantity times purchase price excluding VAT.
- Price excl. VAT = menu price / 1.13 for food, / 1.25 for drinks
- Food cost % = ingredient cost per portion / price excl. VAT x 100
- Margin = price excl. VAT - ingredient cost per portion
VAT is not the venue's revenue, so food cost is calculated on the price without it. Preparing and serving food and desserts is taxed at 13% (VAT Act, Zakon o PDV-u, Article 38(3)(l)), and drinks, coffee included, at 25% (Article 38(1)).
Example: tagliatelle al burro
The calculator opens with this dish. The purchase prices are an example, excluding VAT. Take yours from your supplier invoices.
- Pasta: 180 g x 2.20 EUR/kg = 0.40 EUR
- Butter: 20 g x 8.50 EUR/kg = 0.17 EUR
- Parmesan: 30 g x 32.00 EUR/kg = 0.96 EUR
The sum is the ingredient cost per portion, 1.53 EUR. The menu says 12.90 EUR. VAT on food is 13%, so the price excluding VAT is 12.90 EUR / 1.13 = 11.42 EUR. The food cost is 1.53 EUR / 11.42 EUR x 100 = 13.4%, and the margin 9.89 EUR per portion.
Had you divided 1.53 EUR by 12.90 EUR, the dish would look more profitable than it is.
Frequently asked questions
How is food cost calculated?
Divide the ingredient cost per portion by the selling price excluding VAT and multiply by 100. A portion costing 1.53 EUR at a price of 11.42 EUR excluding VAT has a food cost of 13.4%.
Is food cost calculated on the price with or without VAT?
Without VAT, because VAT is not the venue's revenue. Divide the menu price by 1.13 for food and desserts or by 1.25 for drinks (VAT Act, Article 38). Enter ingredient purchase prices excluding VAT as well.
What is a good food cost?
For most dishes in a restaurant, below 30% is healthy. From 30% to 35% is borderline and worth tracking weekly, and above 35% the dish bleeds margin. It is a reference, not a rule: brunch and desserts realistically sustain a lower food cost, while seafood specialities and quality proteins run higher.
How do I work out a dish's price from food cost?
Divide the ingredient cost per portion by the target food cost and multiply by 100, then add VAT. A portion costing 3.17 EUR at a 30% target needs 10.57 EUR excluding VAT, or 11.94 EUR including 13% VAT. The menu price calculator does this for you.
How do I calculate food cost for a set menu that includes a drink?
Separate the food from the drink. When one fixed price covers both, the Croatian Tax Administration (Porezna uprava) requires food and desserts to be separated from drinks, because food is taxed at 13% and drinks at 25% VAT (opinion of 3 February 2020). Calculate the dish's food cost on the part of the price you set for the food, excluding VAT.
What next
This calculator handles one dish. Patrono handles the whole menu.
With 30 dishes and 80 ingredients, manual per-dish calculation is not sustainable. A change in the supplier price of one ingredient should propagate to every dish that contains it, automatically.
Patrono links recipes and supplier prices. When you enter a new ingredient price, the cost and margin of every dish that uses it are recalculated, so a price change shows up across the menu.