Every month that passes without checking your food cost is money slipping through your fingers. Restaurant owners often assume they're hitting their 30% target, only to discover they've been running at 38% for months. This monthly routine keeps your actual costs aligned with your targets.
Why monthly checks are crucial
Food costs creep up silently through supplier price hikes, generous portioning by kitchen staff, and increased waste. Skip these monthly checks and you'll always be playing catch-up with yesterday's problems.
⚠️ Heads up:
A 3 percentage point rise in food cost costs €1.500 at €50.000 monthly revenue. Per year that's €18.000 less profit.
The monthly food cost calculation
You need two numbers for an accurate food cost calculation: total ingredient purchases and total revenue (excluding VAT) for the month.
Formula: Food cost % = (Total ingredient purchases / Total revenue excl. VAT) × 100
💡 Example:
January figures:
- Total ingredient purchases: €12.500
- Total revenue incl. VAT: €45.000
- Total revenue excl. VAT: €45.000 / 1.09 = €41.284
Food cost: (€12.500 / €41.284) × 100 = 30.3%
What counts as ingredient purchases
Count everything that ends up on a customer's plate. This prevents your food cost from appearing artificially low.
- Include: Meat, fish, vegetables, dairy, spices, oil, butter, sauces, garnishes
- Don't include: Cleaning supplies, napkins, packaging, beverages
- Gray areas: Bread with soup = yes, bread as a side = yes, bread for staff = no
Determining your ideal percentage
Your target food cost varies by restaurant type and overhead structure. These ranges provide a starting framework:
💡 Example target percentages:
- Fine dining: 28-32%
- Casual dining: 30-35%
- Bistro/brasserie: 28-33%
- Pizzeria: 22-28%
- Delivery/takeaway: 30-35%
Analyzing and correcting deviations
After managing kitchen operations for nearly a decade, I've learned that high food costs rarely fix themselves. Start your investigation with your highest-volume dishes.
- Check supplier prices: Have there been increases you haven't passed on yet?
- Measure portion sizes: Is your chef giving more than the recipe calls for?
- Look at waste: What went in the trash and why?
- Check for theft: Are products disappearing without a sale?
💡 Example correction:
Your food cost is 35% instead of 30%. Your revenue was €40.000 excl. VAT.
- Actual: 35% = €14.000 purchases
- Target: 30% = €12.000 purchases
- Difference: €2.000 per month = €24.000 per year
By making portions 10% smaller or raising prices 5% you can reduce this.
Tracking trends for better control
Document your monthly food cost in a simple spreadsheet. Patterns emerge quickly, and you can react before small problems become big losses.
- Rising trend: Supplier prices, larger portions, or more waste
- Falling trend: Better purchasing, tighter portioning, or less waste
- Seasonal pattern: Some ingredients are more expensive in certain months
Tools like KitchenNmbrs automate these calculations and display trends in one dashboard, eliminating manual Excel work.
How do you perform a monthly food cost check?
Gather your monthly figures
Pull from your accounting the total ingredient purchases and your total revenue from the past month. Make sure you only count ingredients, not cleaning supplies or packaging.
Calculate your actual food cost percentage
Divide your total ingredient purchases by your revenue excluding VAT and multiply by 100. For restaurants you calculate with 9% VAT: revenue incl. VAT divided by 1.09.
Compare with your target percentage
Check the difference between your actual and desired food cost. If the deviation is more than 2 percentage points, search for the cause in your best-selling dishes.
Record and analyze the trend
Write down your monthly food cost and compare it with previous months. A rising trend calls for action, a falling trend shows that your measures are working.
✨ Pro tip
Set a calendar reminder for the 5th of each month to run your food cost calculation. Compare your actual percentage against your target within 48 hours of getting your monthly figures.
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 food cost calculation?
No, always calculate with your revenue excluding VAT. For restaurants that's your revenue including VAT divided by 1.09. Otherwise your food cost looks lower than it actually is.
What if my food cost is different every month?
Fluctuations of 1-2 percentage points are normal due to seasons and supplier prices. With larger fluctuations, check your purchases, portions, and waste from that month.
How often should I adjust my target percentage?
Review your target percentage every quarter. If supplier prices rise structurally or your concept changes, adjust your target percentage to the new reality.
What do I do if my food cost is structurally too high?
Start with your 5 most popular dishes. Check if portions match your recipes and if your prices have been adjusted recently to supplier prices.
Should I count staff meals in my food cost?
No, staff meals are a personnel cost, not a food cost. Only count what you serve to paying guests. This gives you a clear picture of your profitability.
How do I handle inventory fluctuations in my monthly calculation?
Large inventory swings can skew monthly results. If you bought €3.000 extra stock in January, your food cost will look artificially high that month and low the next.
📚 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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