Food cost percentage calculator
Find out what your food really cost you over a week or a month. Enter your stock counts, what you bought and what you sold, and get your actual food cost percentage and gross profit.
Food only. Exclude drinks and service charge.
Result
- Food cost
- 30.5%
- Cost of food sold
- £6,400
- Gross profit
- 69.5%
- Cash gross profit
- £14,600
Results are estimates for planning, based only on the figures you enter. They are not financial, tax or legal advice. The calculation runs in your browser and TablePort does not save the figures you enter.
The formula
Cost of food sold = opening stock + purchases − closing stock
Food cost % = cost of food sold ÷ net food sales × 100
Use net sales, with VAT removed, and value stock at cost price. Count the same way at the start and end of the period: same day of the week, same time, before or after delivery, every time.
Worked example
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Opening stock (Monday count) | £4,200 |
| Purchases during the week | £6,100 |
| Closing stock (next Monday count) | £3,900 |
| Cost of food sold | £6,400 |
| Net food sales | £21,000 |
| Food cost % | 30.5% |
| GP % | 69.5% |
Actual versus theoretical food cost
The number above is your actual food cost. Your theoretical food cost is what you should have spent if every dish went out exactly to spec: the recipe cost of each item multiplied by how many you sold. The gap between the two is money lost to waste, over-portioning, staff meals that were not recorded, theft, supplier errors and price rises you have not passed on.
A gap of one or two points is normal. A gap of five points on £20,000 of weekly food sales is £1,000 a week leaving through the back door.
Things that distort the number
- Transfers and staff food. Record food moved to the bar or eaten by the team, or it inflates your cost.
- Big deliveries on count day. If a large delivery arrives just before or after a count, the period it lands in looks worse or better than it was.
- Credits. Supplier credit notes for short or damaged deliveries should come off purchases.
- Counting at the wrong price. Value closing stock at what you paid for it, not what it costs to replace today.
Frequently asked questions
- How do you calculate food cost percentage?
- Add opening stock to purchases, subtract closing stock to get the cost of food sold, then divide by net food sales and multiply by 100. £6,400 of food sold against £21,000 of net sales is a 30.5% food cost.
- What is a good food cost percentage for a restaurant?
- A commonly quoted rule of thumb for UK restaurants is 28% to 35% food cost, which is a 65% to 72% GP, though there is no official benchmark. Fine dining and steak-led menus often run higher, pizza and pasta concepts lower.
- Should food cost be calculated with or without VAT?
- Use sales with VAT removed. Purchases should also be the net cost to you: if you are VAT registered and reclaim input VAT, use supplier prices before VAT.
- How often should I calculate food cost?
- Weekly is the most useful rhythm for most restaurants because problems are still recent enough to investigate. Monthly is the minimum for management accounts.
- What is the difference between actual and theoretical food cost?
- Theoretical food cost is what you should have spent based on recipe costs and the items you sold. Actual food cost comes from stock counts and purchases. The difference measures waste, portioning, theft and unrecorded usage.
Let the till do the maths.
TablePort reports sales, covers and tips from every order, and the stock module costs recipes against supplier prices, so these numbers stay current.