Estimate food-cost percentage, contribution margin, monthly ingredient gross profit, and a target menu price for one menu item. It runs in your browser with no calculator request sent from the page.
Food cost percentage
26.3%
Contribution margin
$11.80
Estimated monthly ingredient gross profit
$1,652.00
Target menu price
$14.00
At a target food-cost percentage of 30.0%, the menu price would be $14.00.
Your 26.3% food cost is below your 30.0% target.
This estimate uses ingredient cost and monthly units only; it does not include labor, rent, taxes, fees, waste, or other operating costs.
Enter a menu price, ingredient cost, expected monthly units, and target food-cost percentage. The calculator uses those ingredient-only inputs to estimate the item's food-cost performance in your browser.
The worked numbers below are illustrative: ingredient cost means recipe-level ingredient cost, units mean units sold in one month, and the target is 30%. They are not a forecast of a restaurant's revenue or profit. Replace them with your invoices, yields, and POS period before making a pricing decision.
Each row applies the same formulas the calculator uses. The blended row is a weighted view of the four-item segment, so it uses total revenue and total ingredient cost rather than averaging percentages.
| Item | Price | Ingredient cost | Units / month | Food-cost % | Contribution margin | Monthly ingredient gross profit | Target price at 30% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Margherita Pizza | $16.00 | $4.20 | 140 | $4.20 ÷ $16 = 26.25% | $16 − $4.20 = $11.80 | $11.80 × 140 = $1,652.00 | $4.20 ÷ .30 = $14.00 |
| Caesar Salad | $12.00 | $2.80 | 95 | $2.80 ÷ $12 = 23.33% | $12 − $2.80 = $9.20 | $9.20 × 95 = $874.00 | $2.80 ÷ .30 = $9.33 |
| Ribeye Steak | $34.00 | $11.50 | 42 | $11.50 ÷ $34 = 33.82% | $34 − $11.50 = $22.50 | $22.50 × 42 = $945.00 | $11.50 ÷ .30 = $38.33 |
| Mushroom Risotto | $19.00 | $3.40 | 30 | $3.40 ÷ $19 = 17.89% | $19 − $3.40 = $15.60 | $15.60 × 30 = $468.00 | $3.40 ÷ .30 = $11.33 |
| Blended four-item segment | — | $1,439.00 total | 307 | $1,439 ÷ $5,378 revenue = 26.75% | $5,378 − $1,439 = $3,939 | $3,939.00 | Not one item price |
The blended calculation uses $5,378 of segment revenue (price × units) and $1,439 of ingredient cost (cost × units). Dollar outputs are rounded for display.
cost ÷ price × 100.price − cost.(price − cost) × units.cost ÷ (target % ÷ 100).A 30% target can be useful as a pricing reference, but it is not a promise that every item — or the full menu — will land at 30%. Use the target as a question to investigate, not an automatic repricing command.
Recipe-level cost is the starting input here. When you reconcile purchases with sales, also account for waste, trim, spoilage, over-portioning, comps, breakage, and shrinkage; the calculator accepts the ingredient cost you provide but does not infer those losses.
If the $4.20 Margherita recipe cost has an illustrative 8% usage loss, adjusted cost is $4.20 × 1.08 = $4.54. At a $16.00 price, that is $4.54 ÷ $16 = 28.35% rather than 26.25%. Measure the loss from your own counts; if your cost already includes historical waste, do not add it a second time.
This remains an ingredient-only estimate. It excludes labor, rent, taxes, fees, waste not included in your input, and other operating costs, so use it as a pricing input rather than a complete profit forecast.
Your inputs stay in this browser session: the calculation runs locally and this page sends no calculator request or uploaded menu data.
This calculator estimates one menu item at a time. For multiple menu items, use the full menu engineering calculator to build a Kasavana-Smith matrix and compare popularity with contribution margin.
Move from a quick calculation or comparison to the next practical step for your menu.
Food cost percentage is ingredient cost divided by menu price, expressed as a percentage.
The monthly ingredient gross-profit estimate is contribution margin multiplied by supplied monthly units. It excludes labor, rent, taxes, fees, waste, and other operating costs.
No. The calculation runs in your browser and the page sends no calculator request.