Closing your restaurant without checking food costs is like driving blindfolded down a winding mountain road. Most owners lock up after counting the register and checking revenue, but they skip the margins completely. You can weave a quick food cost check into your closing routine - takes just 10 minutes daily.
Why food cost belongs in your daily closing
You close out every day. Count the register, check your revenue, maybe count some inventory. But do you also check if your dishes are still profitable? Probably not.
The problem: suppliers quietly bump their prices. Your menu stays the same. Before you know it, you're bleeding money on your most popular dishes.
⚠️ Heads up:
A 15% price increase from your meat supplier can push your food cost from 30% to 35%. On an annual basis, this can cost you thousands of euros.
The 10-minute food cost check
Add these checks to your normal closing routine:
- Check 1: Which 3 dishes did you sell the most of today?
- Check 2: What do the ingredients for those dishes cost right now?
- Check 3: Does your food cost still hit your target?
This takes 10 minutes max. But it prevents you from selling at a loss for weeks on end.
💡 Example daily check:
Sold today: 25× steak, 18× salmon, 15× pasta.
Quick check steak (€32.00 menu price):
- Steak 200g: €6.40
- Vegetables + side: €2.10
- Sauce + butter: €1.20
Total ingredients: €9.70
Food cost: €9.70 / €29.36 (excl. VAT) = 33.0%
Weekly deeper review
Daily you check your bestsellers. Weekly you dig deeper:
- Check all dishes sold more than 10 times per week
- Compare purchase prices with last month
- Calculate the impact of price changes on an annual basis
This is one of the most common blind spots in kitchen management - owners think they're profitable until they run the numbers weekly. Then they discover their signature dish has been losing money for months.
💡 Impact calculation:
Steak became €0.50 more expensive per portion:
- Sales: 25 per day × 6 days = 150 per week
- Per year: 150 × 52 = 7,800 portions
- Extra costs: 7,800 × €0.50 = €3,900 per year
Digital vs. manual review
You can do this manually with a calculator and notebook. Gets time-consuming and error-prone quickly though.
Many entrepreneurs use food cost calculators to:
- Track ingredient prices by supplier
- Automatically calculate food cost per dish
- Quickly see which dishes exceed their target
The advantage: you immediately see the impact of price changes across all your dishes.
Warning signs to watch for
These signals mean your food cost is getting out of hand:
- Food cost above 35%: Too high for most restaurants
- Increase of 3+ percentage points: Investigate the cause
- Large differences between dishes: Some 25%, others 40%
⚠️ Heads up:
A food cost of 40% often means you're running at a loss on that dish. Action needed: raise the price or adjust the recipe.
Actions for high food cost
If your food cost is too high, you have three options:
- Raise menu price: Simplest, but may scare off customers
- Adjust recipe: Smaller portions or cheaper ingredients
- Switch supplier: Find better purchase prices
💡 Example price adjustment:
Steak has 33% food cost, you want 30%:
New price = €9.70 / 0.30 = €32.33 excl. VAT
Incl. VAT: €32.33 × 1.09 = €35.24
From €32.00 to €35.24 = €3.24 increase
How do you link your closing routine to a food cost check?
Identify your daily bestsellers
Check your POS system to see which 3 dishes you sold the most of today. Note the number of portions per dish.
Calculate ingredient costs
For each bestselling dish, add up all ingredient costs: main ingredient, vegetables, sauce, side, oil, butter. Everything that goes on the plate.
Check the food cost percentage
Divide the ingredient costs by the selling price excl. VAT and multiply by 100. Above 35% is usually too high for restaurants.
Note deviations and trends
Write down if a dish exceeds your target. Keep track of whether food cost is rising compared to last week.
Plan action for next day
Decide whether you need to adjust prices, modify recipes, or find other suppliers. Schedule this for the next business day.
✨ Pro tip
Run a quick 2-minute food cost spot-check on your top 3 dishes from the past 48 hours during your nightly cash count. If any dish creeps above 33%, flag it for immediate review tomorrow morning.
Calculate this yourself?
In the KitchenNmbrs app you can do this in just a few clicks. 7 days free, no credit card.
Was this article helpful?
Frequently asked questions
How much time does a daily food cost check take?
Around 10 minutes per day max. You only check your 3 best-selling dishes. A more detailed review happens weekly.
What food cost percentage is normal for restaurants?
Between 28% and 35% is standard for most restaurants. Above 35% you often lose money, below 25% your prices may be too high.
Do I need to check every dish every day?
No, focus daily on your 3-5 best-selling dishes. Those account for 80% of your profitability. Check other dishes weekly.
What if my food cost suddenly rises?
First check if your supplier has raised prices. Calculate the annual impact and decide if you need to adjust your menu price or modify the recipe.
Should I check food costs during busy service periods?
Never during service - it disrupts your flow and creates errors. Always do this during your closing routine when you can focus properly.
How do I handle seasonal ingredient price fluctuations?
Track your costs weekly during peak seasons like summer produce or holiday meats. Adjust portions or switch to seasonal alternatives rather than absorbing huge cost swings.
What's the biggest mistake restaurants make with daily cost tracking?
They track revenue religiously but ignore costs until month-end. By then, they've already sold hundreds of portions at a loss and can't recover that money.
📚 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.
Automate your daily kitchen controls
Manual controls take time and miss errors. KitchenNmbrs automates temperature logging, inventory management, and HACCP checks. Try it free for 14 days.
Start free trial →