Here's what most restaurant owners don't realize: that €2.40 wine bottle actually costs you €2.84 once you factor in deposits and packaging. These hidden costs can inflate your food cost by 3-4 percentage points without you even knowing it.
Why count deposit and packaging?
Your invoice might show €2.40 per bottle of wine. But you also have:
- Deposit: €0.15 per bottle
- Crate: €3.50 (for 12 bottles)
- Pallet costs: €15.00 (for 60 bottles)
Your actual purchase price is therefore higher. If you don't account for this, your food cost looks lower than it really is.
? Example:
You buy 12 bottles of wine for €28.80 (€2.40 per bottle). On top of that you pay:
- Deposit: 12 × €0.15 = €1.80
- Crate: €3.50
Actual costs: €28.80 + €1.80 + €3.50 = €34.10 for 12 bottles = €2.84 per bottle
Different types of extra costs
Deposit: You pay per bottle/can and (usually) get it back upon return. But it does tie up your working capital.
Packaging (crates, pallets): You buy once, use many times. Spread the costs across all deliveries.
Transport costs: Sometimes per delivery, sometimes per pallet. Check your invoice carefully.
⚠️ Note:
You often get deposit back, but not always 100%. Bottles break, crates go missing. Budget for 5-10% loss on deposits.
Spreading packaging across multiple deliveries
A beer crate costs €8.50 and lasts 2 years. You get 5 crates of beer every week. How do you calculate this?
? Example calculation:
Crate: €8.50, lasts 2 years (104 weeks), 5 crates per week
- Total crates in 2 years: 5 × 104 = 520 deliveries
- Crate cost per delivery: €8.50 / 520 = €0.016
- Per bottle (24 bottles per crate): €0.016 / 24 = €0.0007
Negligibly small, but with expensive packaging it adds up fast.
Calculate actual cost price
Add up all costs and divide by the number of units you actually receive. This is one of the most common blind spots in kitchen management - operators focus on the invoice price and miss the true landed cost.
Formula:
Actual cost price = (Product price + Deposit + Packaging + Transport) / Number of units
? Complete example:
Order of champagne for New Year's reception:
- 12 bottles at €18.50 = €222.00
- Deposit: 12 × €0.25 = €3.00
- Wooden box: €15.00 (one-time)
- Transport: €12.50
Total: €252.50 / 12 bottles = €21.04 per bottle (not €18.50!)
Work it into your recipes
Always use the actual purchase price in your cost price calculation. Otherwise your food cost won't be accurate.
For products with lots of deposits (beer, soft drinks) the difference can be 10-15%. With a food cost of 30% that suddenly becomes 33-34%.
⚠️ Note:
Update your prices in your system as soon as deposits or packaging costs change. This often happens without suppliers explicitly notifying you.
Related articles
How do you calculate the actual purchase price? (step by step)
Gather all costs from your invoice
Write down the product price, deposit per unit, packaging costs and any transport costs. Also check if there are additional costs like pallet fees or administrative charges.
Add up all costs
Calculate: (Product price + Deposit + Packaging + Transport) = Total costs. For packaging that lasts longer, spread the costs across the expected number of deliveries.
Divide by number of units
Total costs / Number of bottles (or other units) = Actual purchase price per unit. This is the price you should use in your cost price calculation.
✨ Pro tip
Create a master spreadsheet with deposit rates for each supplier and update it every 6 months. Suppliers often raise deposit costs without explicit notice, and this catches 80% of changes before they hit your food cost.
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
Do I need to include deposit if I get it back?
How do I calculate packaging that lasts for years?
What if my supplier doesn't list deposit separately?
Should I track deposit losses separately in my accounting?
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
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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