Food-cost percentage tells you how much of a menu price goes to ingredients. Keep it in a healthy range and the rest of the price covers labor, overhead and profit.
The formula
Food cost % = (ingredient cost ÷ menu price) × 100.
A dish that costs $4.50 in ingredients and sells for $18.00 has a food cost of 25% ($4.50 ÷ $18.00 × 100). A quarter of the price is food; the rest covers everything else.
Pricing from a target percentage
Turn the formula around to price a dish: menu price = ingredient cost ÷ target food-cost %. At a 30% target, a $4.50 dish should sell for about $15.00 ($4.50 ÷ 0.30). Our free food cost calculator works both directions.
Healthy targets for caterers
- Plated dinners & full-service — 28–35%.
- Buffets & drop-off — 25–32%, where volume offsets a thinner per-plate margin.
- Canapés & bar snacks — often under 25%.
- Weddings & premium events — 30–38%, where presentation and staffing justify a higher food spend.
Why per-dish math doesn't scale
Calculating one dish is easy; costing a 15-dish menu across a 200-guest event, every time a supplier price changes, is not. That's the case for costing recipes automatically: set your price book once, and food cost and margin appear on every dish and every event without a calculator.
Do all of this in one app
Savrsoft costs recipes, plans menus, sends proposals, tracks stock and shows your profit on every event — with a 14-day free trial.
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