Food cost calculator
Work out your food cost percentage for a period or a single dish, and see how much of it is food you paid for and never served.
No sign-up. Change any number and the results update as you type.
Formula: (Beginning inventory + Purchases − Ending inventory) ÷ Food sales × 100.
Plate food cost % = Ingredient cost per portion ÷ Menu price × 100. Usable yield shows what happens when part of each batch is never served.
How to calculate food cost percentage.
Food cost % = (beginning inventory + purchases − ending inventory) ÷ food sales × 100
The top half is your cost of goods sold for food: what you had at the start, plus what you bought, minus what’s still on the shelf. Leave beverages, paper goods and chemicals out, count ending inventory the same way every time, and divide by food revenue for the same dates.
For a single dish, divide the ingredient cost of one portion by the menu price. To find the price that hits a target, divide the portion cost by the target percentage.
| Operation type | Typical food cost % |
|---|---|
| Industry-wide | 28–35% |
| Full-service restaurants | 28–32% |
| Fine dining | 25–35% |
| Quick service and fast casual | 25–30% |
| Bar and beverage-focused | 18–24% |
Benchmark ranges from Owner.com’s 2026 food cost guide. Compare yourself with similar operations, and watch your own trend.
Waste is already inside your food cost.
The formula counts everything that left inventory, served or scraped into a bin. None of these gets its own line, so the problem is easy to underestimate.
Overproduction
Food cooked for service and never served. Often the same few items on the same days each week.
Prep trim
Yield lost before cooking, when trim runs above the recipe standard.
Spoilage
Product that expires or loses quality before it is used.
Plate waste
What guests leave behind: a sign of oversized portions or dishes that miss.
Compare theoretical food cost (what you should have spent, based on sales and recipe costs) with actual food cost from the formula above. In high-volume kitchens, a large share of the gap is food that was cooked and never served.
Start with the food you pay for and don’t serve.
Smaller portions and cheaper ingredients can lower the number, but guests notice. Measure what each station produces, serves and throws away, by menu item. Then plan batches from what was actually served on comparable days.
Metafoodx records the menu item, weight, temperature and destination in seconds, so your team sees what was produced, served and thrown away by item and station. UMass Amherst Dining cut overproduction by 51.7% within three months, and Pomona College cut it by 54%.
Food cost FAQs.
What is the formula for food cost percentage?
Food cost % = (beginning inventory + purchases − ending inventory) ÷ food sales × 100. Use the same dates for inventory, purchases and sales.
What is a good food cost percentage?
Most restaurants run between 28 and 35 percent. Quick service often runs lower, and fine dining varies widely. Compare yourself with similar operations and track your own trend.
Does food waste count in food cost?
Yes. The standard formula counts all food that left inventory, including overproduction, spoilage, trim and plate waste. Tracking waste separately shows how much of your food cost was never served.
What’s the difference between theoretical and actual food cost?
Theoretical food cost is what you should have spent based on sales and recipe costs. Actual food cost comes from your inventory counts. The difference, called variance, is often driven by waste, portioning and price changes.
How often should I calculate food cost percentage?
Weekly for high-volume kitchens. Monthly works for smaller operations, as long as inventory is counted the same way every time.
See where your food cost goes.
Book a 30-minute walkthrough. We’ll show you which items, stations and days drive the gap between theoretical and actual food cost.