Free tool

Food Cost Calculator

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.

Estimate one menu item

Use your menu price, ingredient cost, and expected monthly units to estimate item-level food-cost performance.

Food cost estimate

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.

How the food cost estimate works

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.

  • Food cost percentage is ingredient cost divided by menu price, expressed as a percentage.
  • Contribution margin is the menu price left after subtracting ingredient cost.
  • Monthly ingredient gross profit estimate multiplies contribution margin by the supplied monthly units.
  • Target menu price uses the ingredient cost and target food-cost percentage to show a price at that target.

This is an ingredient-only estimate. It excludes labor, rent, taxes, fees, waste, 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.

Need to analyze your full menu?

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.

Frequently asked questions

What is food cost percentage?

Food cost percentage is ingredient cost divided by menu price, expressed as a percentage.

What does the monthly ingredient gross-profit estimate include?

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.

Is my data uploaded?

No. The calculation runs in your browser and the page sends no calculator request.