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Food cost calculator: your food cost ratio in one minute
Actual food cost for a period is calculated as follows: opening stock, plus purchases, minus closing stock, divided by food sales excluding VAT for the same period. Enter your four figures: the calculation runs in your browser, no sign-up, and nothing is sent.
Calculate your food cost
The formula
Cost of food consumed = opening stock + purchases − closing stock
Actual food cost % = cost of food consumed ÷ food sales excl. VAT × 100
Everything is counted excluding VAT and for food only: drinks have their own purchases, stock and margin, and are tracked separately. INSEE defines the cost of goods sold in the same way: purchases and incidental costs, plus opening stock, minus closing stock.
The prefilled example
| Line | Calculation | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Opening stock | Stock count of 30 September | €3,600 |
| Food purchases | October invoices | €12,900 |
| Closing stock | Stock count of 31 October | €3,100 |
| Cost of food consumed | 3,600 + 12,900 − 3,100 | €13,400 |
| Food sales excl. VAT | POS, excluding drinks | €42,000 |
| Actual food cost % | 13,400 ÷ 42,000 | 31.9% |
Reading the result
A food cost figure only makes sense when compared: with the previous month, with another site, and above all with theoretical food cost, the one the recipe cards give for the dishes actually sold. The gap between the two points to waste, over-generous portions, purchase prices that have moved or a badly timed stocktake.
Without an opening and closing stocktake, the calculation only measures purchases divided by sales: it tracks deliveries, not consumption. The food cost guide covers the stocktake, the cut-off and how to trace the gap; the recipe card gives the theoretical figure. To add labour cost, go to the prime cost calculator.