Food cost calculator
What does the ingredient basket cost per saleable portion after the entered losses?
A teaching example in the units shown below.
These authored example inputs illustrate the calculation. Replace them with your own documented amounts, periods and rates; they are not measured industry averages or available offers.
Portions after ingredient preparation, before separate finished-portion waste.
Separate loss after preparation; do not count the same loss again in ingredient yield.
Price retained before the costs excluded from this ingredients-only tool.
Greater than zero through 100%. This is your planning target, not an industry recommendation.
Your entered scenario
Starting exampleCalculation updated using the entered assumptions.
- Batch ingredient cost
- $19.00
- Ingredients-only remainder per portion
- $5.89
- Ingredients-only remainder / price
- 73.6%
- Ingredient share at target price
- 30.0%
| Ingredient | Purchase quantity | Unit | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ingredient A | 5.000 | lb | $15.00 |
| Ingredient B | 2.000 | lb | $4.00 |
Formula and interpretation
Purchased quantity = usable quantity ÷ preparation yield
Ingredient cost = purchased quantity × purchase unit cost
Saleable portions = prepared portions × (1 − finished-portion waste)
Target price = ingredient cost per saleable portion ÷ target food-cost share
To reproduce the worked example, choose Hypothetical arithmetic example under Starting example. Business presets have their own inputs; compare the selected values before applying the result.
Preparation yield converts an as-purchased ingredient into usable quantity. Finished-portion waste is a separate loss after the recipe is prepared.
Quantity and unit cost must use the same physical unit. Fractional expected portions are retained during calculation.
Worked example: four usable pounds of Ingredient A at 80% preparation yield require five purchased pounds, costing $15 at $3 per pound. Ingredient B adds $4. After 10% finished-portion waste, the $19 batch has nine saleable portions: about $2.11 ingredient cost each, or 26.4% of an $8 sale.
At a selected 30% ingredient-cost target the exact calculation gives about $7.04 per portion. The Juice Bar case also has labor, packaging and operating commitments; a price that covers ingredients alone can still fail to cover the business.
Definitions and sources
These references support definitions and calculation boundaries, not the selected amounts. Worked examples below use the hypothetical arithmetic inputs. A selected business preset has its own roster, cost allocation and evidence; its results can differ without a formula error.
- Food Buying Guide: preparation yield — U.S. Department of Agriculture. Supports as-purchased versus prepared-quantity conversion. No USDA meal standard or yield value is applied to the restaurant example. Accessed October 4, 2026.
Continue with a related calculation
Connect the calculation to a complete operating plan
Review startup uses, staffing, annual results and input evidence alongside the relevant worksheets. A single calculation does not replace local quotes or a dated cash schedule.
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