Food cost calculator
Find the food cost percentage of a dish or a whole month, and the menu price you need for the food cost you want. Made for UAE prices with 5% VAT.
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The food cost formula
Food cost percentage shows how much of each dirham of food sales is spent on ingredients.
Food cost % = ingredient cost ÷ menu price without VAT × 100
For a whole month, use what you actually used up, not what you bought:
Food cost % = (opening stock + purchases − closing stock) ÷ food sales × 100
To set a price from a target food cost, turn the formula around:
Menu price without VAT = ingredient cost ÷ target food cost %
VAT in the UAE
Menu prices in the UAE usually include 5% VAT. That 5% belongs to the government, so take it out before you calculate. A dish priced at AED 68 brings in AED 64.76 before VAT. With AED 18 of ingredients, its food cost is 27.8%, not 26.5%.
What is a good food cost percentage?
Many full-service restaurants aim for roughly 28 to 35 percent. Fine dining, steakhouses and seafood often run higher because the ingredients cost more, and cafés and pizza places often run lower. Watch your own trend month by month, and look at each dish's profit in dirhams as well, because a dish with a higher percentage can still earn more per plate.
From food cost to a better menu
Food cost tells you what each dish costs. To decide which dishes to push, fix or remove, combine it with sales in the menu engineering calculator. Kolshi Menu adds the part sales can't show: which dishes guests look at and skip, and which add-ons they take.
Food cost questions
How do you calculate food cost percentage?
Divide the ingredient cost of a dish by its menu price without VAT and multiply by 100. For a month, divide opening stock plus purchases minus closing stock by food sales.
Should food cost include VAT?
Use the menu price without VAT. In the UAE that means dividing a VAT-inclusive price by 1.05 first.
Why use opening and closing stock for a month?
Purchases alone include food still sitting in your stores. Counting stock at the start and end shows what was actually used to make the food you sold.
Is a low food cost always better?
No. A dish with a higher food cost can still earn more dirhams per plate. Compare profit per dish too, which the menu engineering calculator does.