Tools
Menu price calculator from food cost.
You get a dish's selling price by dividing the ingredient cost per portion by the food cost you want, then adding VAT. A portion costing 3.17 EUR at a 30% food cost needs 10.57 EUR excluding VAT, or 11.94 EUR on the menu. Enter your own numbers, everything is calculated in your browser.
Purchase cost of all ingredients in one portion, excluding VAT.
The share of the price excluding VAT the ingredients may take.
Food 13%, all drinks 25%, coffee included (VAT Act, Zakon o PDV-u, Article 38).
Dish price
- Menu price incl. 13% VAT
- 11,94 €
- Selling price excl. VAT
- 10,57 €
- Margin per portion
- 7,40 €
- 70,0% of the price excl. VAT
Not sure what a portion costs? Work it out in the food cost calculator or from the recipe costing template.
How a dish's price is calculated
Start from the portion cost and the food cost you want. The first two formulas give the price, the third shows what you keep:
- Price excl. VAT = ingredient cost per portion / target food cost x 100
- Price incl. VAT = price excl. VAT x 1.13 for food, x 1.25 for drinks
- Margin = price excl. VAT - ingredient cost per portion
Always apply the target food cost to the price excluding VAT and add VAT at the end. In hospitality, food and desserts are taxed at 13% (VAT Act, Zakon o PDV-u, Article 38(3)(l)), and drinks, coffee included, at 25% (Article 38(1)).
Example: tagliatelle with salmon
The first dish in our recipe costing template costs 3.17 EUR per portion. You want a food cost of 30%.
- Price excl. VAT: 3.17 EUR / 30 x 100 = 10.57 EUR
- Price incl. VAT: 10.57 EUR x 1.13 = 11.94 EUR
- Margin per portion: 10.57 EUR - 3.17 EUR = 7.40 EUR, or 70% of the price excluding VAT
Put 12.00 EUR or more on the menu. At 11.90 EUR the food cost would be 30.1%, above the target.
Frequently asked questions
How do I calculate a dish's selling price?
Divide the ingredient cost per portion by the target food cost and multiply by 100. That is the price excluding VAT. Multiply it by 1.13 for food or by 1.25 for drinks and you have the menu price. A portion costing 3.17 EUR at a 30% target gives 11.94 EUR including VAT.
What food cost should I target?
For most dishes in a restaurant, aim below 30%. From 30% to 35% is borderline and worth tracking weekly, and above 35% the dish bleeds margin. Brunch and desserts realistically sustain a lower food cost, while seafood specialities and quality proteins run higher.
How do I price a drink?
The same way as a dish, only with 25% VAT: multiply the price excluding VAT by 1.25. You need a recipe for drinks and beverages too, because the Croatian Hospitality Act requires one for every dish, drink and beverage (Article 10(1)(4)).
Why is the target food cost applied to the price excluding VAT?
Because VAT is not the venue's revenue. Apply a 30% target to the price including VAT and the dish's real food cost will be 33.9%, not 30%.
What next
The calculator handles one dish. Patrono tracks the whole menu.
In Patrono every dish has a recipe, and the margin follows purchase prices without manual recalculation. Every week the Overview shows how many dishes run a food cost above target and which dish needs a new price.