Here's what I wish someone had told me years ago: popular dishes can secretly drain your profits. I've watched countless restaurant owners cling to crowd favorites that cost more to make than they bring in. Daily food cost tracking reveals the brutal truth about which dishes deserve to stay.
Check these 3 warning signals daily
You don't need to recalculate every dish every day. Watch for these red flags:
- Food cost above 35%: The dish burns through too many expensive ingredients
- Declining sales: Less than 5% of your total sales
- Customer complaints about price: Guests hesitate or ask about cheaper options
⚠️ Watch out:
Popular dishes can still kill your margins. A dish that makes up 20% of your sales but runs 40% food cost is eating your profits alive.
The 35% rule in practice
If a dish consistently hits above 35% food cost, you've got three moves:
- Raise the price: Usually your best bet if customers love it
- Tweak the recipe: Swap expensive ingredients or trim portions slightly
- Cut it from the menu: If neither option saves the dish
💡 Example:
Your beef tenderloin shows these numbers:
- Ingredient costs: €15.50
- Selling price: €38.00 (€34.86 excl. VAT)
- Food cost: 44.5%
- Sales: 8 portions per week
Loss per portion: €4.50. Annual damage: €1,872.
The permanent removal decision
From analyzing actual purchasing data across different restaurant types, I've seen dishes that should've been axed months earlier. Remove a dish if it hits all three criteria:
- Food cost above 35% even after price bumps or recipe changes
- Sales below 3% of total revenue
- No unique appeal: You've got similar dishes that actually make money
💡 Example decision:
A pasta dish showing:
- Food cost: 38% (too high)
- Sales: 2% of revenue (too low)
- You have 4 other profitable pasta options
Decision: remove immediately.
Test a price increase first
Before you axe a dish, try bumping the price by €2-3. Track for exactly 2 weeks:
- Sales volume change: What's the percentage drop?
- Customer reactions: Complaints or do they just order alternatives?
- Food cost improvement: Did you hit below 33%?
If sales drop less than 20% and food cost drops under 33%, keep the higher price. Simple math.
💡 Price increase calculation:
Before: €28.00 → 20 portions/week → €560 revenue
After: €31.00 → 17 portions/week → €527 revenue
15% fewer sales, but food cost drops from 36% to 29%. Net profit increases.
Replace with profitable alternatives
Don't just remove dishes - replace them strategically:
- Repurpose ingredients in a different, profitable dish
- Add seasonal options with cheaper, fresh ingredients
- Adapt your top performer with slight variations
Tools like KitchenNmbrs show you instantly which dishes actually make money, so you can test replacements without spreadsheet headaches.
How do you decide systematically? (step by step)
Calculate the current food cost of all dishes
Update all ingredient prices to current purchase prices. Calculate the food cost percentage for each dish: (ingredient costs / selling price excl. VAT) × 100. Mark all dishes above 35% food cost.
Analyze sales figures from the past month
Count how many portions of each dish you've sold. Calculate the percentage of your total sales per dish. Dishes below 3% of your total sales are candidates for removal.
Test a price increase of €2-3 first
For dishes with high food cost but reasonable sales: increase the price by €2-3 and measure for 2 weeks. If sales drop by less than 20% and your food cost comes under 33%, keep the new price.
Permanently remove with 3 red flags
If a dish still sits above 35% food cost after a price increase, makes up less than 3% of your sales, and you have similar alternatives: remove it from the menu and replace it with a profitable alternative.
✨ Pro tip
Track your top 8 dishes every Tuesday morning for food cost percentage. If any dish hits above 35% for 3 consecutive weeks, that's your immediate priority to fix or remove.
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
What if an unprofitable dish is extremely popular with guests?
Test a €2-3 price increase first. Popular dishes often handle higher prices without major sales drops. If you lose less than 20% of sales, you've fixed the problem without removing the dish.
Can I temporarily remove a dish instead of permanently cutting it?
Absolutely - especially useful for seasonal ingredients that become too expensive. Bring the dish back once ingredient prices drop or when you find cheaper substitutes that maintain quality.
What if my chef objects to removing their signature dish?
Show them the actual numbers: monthly losses, food cost percentage, and sales data. Ask if they can modify the recipe to hit under 33% food cost or justify a price increase that maintains quality.
📚 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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