A local caterer discovered her €8.50 quiche was actually costing €4.20 to make, not the €2.80 she calculated. She'd forgotten packaging, labor time, and overhead costs. True cost price per portion includes every expense from spices to delivery containers.
What's included in the cost price of a catering dish?
Your cost price covers everything needed to deliver that dish to customers. Ingredients are just the start - packaging, labor, and overhead make up the real cost.
💡 Example: Lasagne for 8 people
All costs for one lasagne:
- Ingredients: €12.50
- Packaging (aluminum tray): €1.20
- Labor (30 min at €18/hour): €9.00
- Overhead (gas, electricity, rent): €2.30
Total cost price: €25.00 = €3.13 per portion
Calculate ingredients precisely
List every single ingredient that goes into your dish. Those pinches of spices and drizzles of oil? They add up fast at volume.
- Main ingredients: meat, fish, vegetables according to recipe
- Base ingredients: oil, butter, flour, spices, salt
- Sauces and dressings: calculate all components separately
- Garnish: parsley, lemon, decoration
⚠️ Note:
Calculate with the actual amount after trimming loss. A kilo of raw potatoes yields about 850 grams of peeled potatoes.
Include packaging costs
Catering dishes always need containers, labels, and transport packaging. These costs often represent 5-15% of your total cost price.
- Primary packaging: containers, bags, foil
- Labels and stickers: ingredient list, allergens
- Transport packaging: boxes, bags for delivery
- Cooling elements: for chilled products
Estimate labor time realistically
Time yourself making this specific dish. Don't forget prep work, cleaning, and packaging time - a mistake that costs the average restaurant EUR 200-400 per month in underpriced menu items.
💡 Example: Time spent on quiche
For 6 quiches (48 portions):
- Making dough: 15 minutes
- Preparing filling: 20 minutes
- Baking (passive): 0 minutes
- Cooling and packaging: 10 minutes
Total: 45 minutes = 0.94 minutes per portion
Distribute overhead costs
Your kitchen has fixed costs running 24/7. Spread these expenses across all your products - typically 15-25% of direct costs works well.
- Kitchen rent: divide by monthly production
- Gas and electricity: estimate usage per dish
- Equipment depreciation: ovens, cooling, mixers
- Insurance and permits: divide across revenue
Formula for cost price per portion
Add up everything and divide by portions. Basic math that gives you the real cost per serving.
Cost price per portion = (Ingredients + Packaging + Labor + Overhead) ÷ Number of portions
💡 Example: Full calculation
Pasta salad for 20 portions:
- Ingredients: €18.50
- Packaging: €3.20
- Labor (25 min at €18/hour): €7.50
- Overhead (20% of direct costs): €5.84
€35.04 ÷ 20 = €1.75 per portion
From cost price to selling price
Your cost price sets your minimum selling price. Most caterers target 25-35% food cost. With a €1.75 cost price and 30% food cost target:
Selling price excl. VAT = €1.75 ÷ 0.30 = €5.83
Selling price incl. 9% VAT = €5.83 × 1.09 = €6.35 per portion
⚠️ Note:
Check your purchase prices regularly. Suppliers raise prices, but many caterers don't adjust their selling prices.
How do you calculate the cost price per portion? (step by step)
Gather all ingredient costs
Make a list of all ingredients with exact quantities and prices. Include small amounts too like spices, oil and salt. Calculate with prices after trimming loss.
Calculate packaging and labor
Add up the costs of containers, labels and packaging. Measure how much time you spend on preparation and packaging. Multiply by your hourly rate.
Add overhead and divide by portions
Add 15-25% overhead for rent, energy and equipment. Add up all costs and divide by the number of portions for your cost price per portion.
✨ Pro tip
Check ingredient costs on your 3 highest-volume dishes every 2 weeks. Small price increases compound quickly across your best-sellers.
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
Should I include VAT in my cost price calculation?
No, always calculate excluding VAT. You buy ingredients often without VAT or can offset VAT. For your margin you compare cost price to selling price excluding VAT.
How do I calculate labor time if I make multiple dishes at once?
Divide the time proportionally. If you spend 2 hours on 3 different dishes, estimate per dish how much attention it needed and divide the time accordingly.
What's a normal food cost for catering dishes?
For catering, food cost runs between 25-35%. This is slightly higher than restaurants because you don't have service staff, but you do have packaging and transport.
Should I include delivery costs in the cost price?
You usually charge delivery costs separately as a service. In your cost price you do include the extra packaging and cooling elements needed for transport.
📚 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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