Are you serving customers all day but barely breaking even at month's end? If you don't know which dishes are profitable, you're flying blind on revenue while profit leaks away. Many restaurants stay busy but have nothing left over, because they're actually selling their most popular dishes too cheap.
The biggest risk: you're selling at a loss
The worst thing that can happen is your most popular dish bankrupts you. The more you sell, the more money you lose.
💡 Example:
Restaurant De Kroeg sells 150 hamburgers per week for €16.50. They think this is their goldmine.
- Selling price excl. VAT: €15.14
- Ingredient costs: €6.80
- Food cost: 45%
Loss per hamburger: €1.50. Per year: €11,700 loss!
Without knowing what dishes actually cost, you make these choices blindly:
- Which dishes do you push extra?
- What do you feature prominently on the menu?
- Which daily specials do you create?
- What do you promote on social media?
Risk 2: You're missing opportunities for more profit
On the flip side, you're leaving money on the table by not pushing profitable dishes enough.
💡 Example:
The same restaurant also has a carpaccio on the menu that almost nobody orders:
- Selling price excl. VAT: €16.51
- Ingredient costs: €4.20
- Food cost: 25%
Profit per portion: €4.80 extra compared to the hamburger!
If you know that carpaccio brings in much more, you can:
- Feature it more prominently on the menu
- Have your staff recommend it
- Make it a daily special
- Promote it on Instagram
Risk 3: Raising prices without strategy
Without insight into margins, you raise prices randomly. That can backfire badly.
⚠️ Watch out:
Many entrepreneurs raise all prices by the same percentage. But a dish with 45% food cost needs more of a price increase than one with 25% food cost.
Without knowing which dishes are the problem:
- You raise profitable dishes unnecessarily (customers leave)
- You raise loss-makers too little (problem remains)
- You lose customers on the wrong dishes
Risk 4: Suppliers determine your profit
Suppliers regularly raise their prices. If you don't know what this means for your margins, you'll be surprised by worse results. I've seen this mistake cost the average restaurant EUR 200-400 per month in lost profits - money that simply evaporates without owners realizing why their bottom line keeps shrinking.
💡 Example:
Your supplier raises beef from €24/kg to €28/kg (+17%).
- Your steak (200g) used to cost €4.80 in meat
- Now it costs €5.60 in meat
- Your food cost rises from 30% to 35%
You earn €0.80 less per steak, without even noticing.
Risk 5: You miss seasons and trends
Ingredient prices fluctuate constantly. Asparagus in May is cheap, in October it's expensive. Without tracking this you miss opportunities and fall into costly traps.
- You make daily specials with expensive seasonal ingredients
- You miss opportunities with cheap seasonal products
- You keep dishes on the menu too long
- You plan menus without considering costs
The solution: know what each dish delivers
The only way to avoid these risks is to know what each dish really costs and delivers.
This means:
- Record all ingredients per dish
- Keep track of current purchase prices
- Calculate food cost per dish
- Update regularly when prices change
With a food cost calculator you immediately see which dishes are winners and which are losers. That way you can steer toward profitability instead of just revenue.
How do you get a grip on your profitability per dish?
Make a list of your top 10 dishes
Start with your 10 best-selling dishes. These have the biggest impact on your total profit. Grab your POS system and see which dishes go over the counter most often.
Calculate the cost price per dish
Add up all the ingredients that go on the plate. Don't forget the garnish, sauces, oil and butter. Work out what one portion costs in ingredients.
Calculate the food cost percentage
Divide the ingredient costs by your selling price excluding VAT and multiply by 100. Anything above 35% is suspicious and deserves attention.
Identify winners and losers
Make two lists: dishes under 30% food cost (winners) and above 35% food cost (losers). Focus first on fixing the losers.
Update your prices regularly
Check at least monthly whether suppliers have raised prices. Update your cost prices and recalculate your food cost. That way you won't lose money without realizing it.
✨ Pro tip
Calculate the exact profit margin on your 5 most popular dishes within the next 72 hours. If even one of them has a food cost above 35%, you're bleeding money with every order.
Calculate this yourself?
In the KitchenNmbrs app you can do this in just a few clicks. 7 days free, no credit card.
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Frequently asked questions
How often should I check my food cost?
Check your top 10 dishes every month. Suppliers regularly raise prices, and you don't want to be surprised by worse margins. Weekly checks during volatile periods like inflation spikes can save you hundreds of euros.
What's an acceptable food cost percentage?
For most restaurants, a healthy food cost is between 28% and 35%. Anything above 35% usually means you're not earning enough on that dish.
Should I remove loss-making dishes from the menu?
Not necessarily. Try raising the price or adjusting the portion size first. Sometimes loss-makers are needed to bring customers in, but you should know exactly how much they're costing you.
What if my competitor is cheaper?
First check whether your competitor is actually making a profit. Many businesses sell below cost without realizing it. Focus on value, not just price - you can't survive long-term by losing money on every sale.
📚 Sources consulted
- EU Verordening 852/2004 — Levensmiddelenhygiëne (2004) — Official source
- EU Verordening 853/2004 — Hygiënevoorschriften voor levensmiddelen van dierlijke oorsprong (2004) — Official source
- EU Verordening 1169/2011 — Voedselinformatie aan consumenten (2011) — Official source
- NVWA — Hygiënecode voor de horeca (2024) — Official source
- NVWA — Allergenen in voedsel (2024) — Official source
- Codex Alimentarius — International Food Standards (2024) — Official source
- FSA — Safer food, better business (HACCP) (2024) — Official source
- BVL — Lebensmittelhygiene (HACCP) (2024) — Official source
- Warenwetbesluit Bereiding en behandeling van levensmiddelen (2024) — Official source
- WHO — Foodborne diseases estimates (2024) — Official source
Food Standards Agency (FSA) — https://www.food.gov.uk
The HACCP standards shown in this application are for informational purposes only. KitchenNmbrs does not guarantee that displayed values are current or complete. Always consult the FSA or your local authority for the latest regulations.
Written by
Jeffrey Smit
Founder & CEO of KitchenNmbrs
Jeffrey Smit built KitchenNmbrs from 8 years of hands-on experience as kitchen manager at 1NUL8 Group in Rotterdam. His mission: give every restaurant owner control over food cost.
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