Free tool · Food cost
Food cost calculator
What a dish costs you, what it should sell for, and what is left after Swiggy or Zomato.
What goes into one plate and what you pay for it. Example prices are only a starting point.
At ₹320, ingredients take 32.1% of every sale.
The share of the menu price you want ingredients to take. Lower means more profit on every plate. Pick the number you are aiming for.
2.1 points above your 30% target.
Not sure yet? Book a quick call, no charge. What the audit covers
An estimate, not a statement. Zomato charges commission on food plus packaging; Swiggy charges it on the bill including GST, so pick the platform above. Your payout annexure is the final word.
The food cost formula
Food cost % = ingredients in one serving ÷ selling price × 100
Selling price = ingredients in one serving ÷ target food cost %
Food cost % = (opening stock + purchases − closing stock) ÷ food sales × 100
Worked example: 150 g of paneer at ₹400 a kg, 180 g of gravy at ₹120 a kg, 30 g of butter and cream at ₹500 a kg and 10 g of spices at ₹600 a kg make a plate cost of ₹102.60. At ₹320 that is a 32.1% food cost; at a 30% target the price would be ₹342. On Swiggy or Zomato the customer also pays ₹15 for packaging, so the bill is ₹335. At 20% commission on that, ₹67 of commission and ₹12.06 of GST on it come off, the payout is ₹255.94, and ₹153.34 is left after ingredients.
Food cost questions
For one dish, food cost % is the cost of the ingredients in one serving divided by the selling price, times 100. For a whole month, it is opening stock plus purchases minus closing stock, divided by food sales, times 100.
Divide the plate cost by your target food cost percentage. With ₹102.60 of ingredients and a 30% target, the price is ₹102.60 ÷ 0.30 = ₹342.
There is no single right number. It depends on the dish, your prices, and your rent and staff costs. Set a target for each category and check every dish against it.
No. The packaging charge is paid by the customer on top of the menu price and comes back to you in the payout, though Swiggy and Zomato charge commission on it. The boxes you buy are a cost of their own: track them separately, not inside food cost %.
Usually waste, portions that drift from the recipe, trimming loss that was not counted, or purchase prices that have gone up since the recipe was costed.