A downtown bistro owner discovers their beverage sales dropped to just 18% of total revenue – well below the typical 25-35% range for their concept. Understanding your food-to-beverage ratio reveals exactly where your profits come from and helps identify missed opportunities.
Why food/beverage ratio matters
Drinks often have higher margins than food. If you know what percentage of your revenue comes from drinks, you can steer toward more beverage sales to increase your overall profitability.
💡 Example:
Restaurant with €10,000 revenue per week:
- Food revenue: €7,500
- Beverage revenue: €2,500
Food/beverage ratio: 75% / 25%
The basic formula
The calculation is straightforward, but you need to assign all revenue correctly:
Food % = (Food revenue / Total revenue) × 100
Beverage % = (Beverage revenue / Total revenue) × 100
Always calculate with revenue excluding VAT for an accurate comparison.
What counts as food vs. beverage?
The categorization seems obvious, but there are gray areas:
- Food: all dishes, appetizers, main courses, desserts, bread
- Alcoholic beverage: wine, beer, cocktails, spirits (VAT 21%)
- Non-alcoholic beverage: soft drinks, coffee, tea, juices (VAT 9%)
⚠️ Note:
Some items are difficult to categorize. Coffee after the meal? Amuse with the wine? Choose a system and stick with it consistently – that's the kind of thing you only learn after closing your first month at a loss.
Benchmarks by restaurant type
What's a typical food/beverage ratio?
- Fine dining: 60-70% food, 30-40% beverage
- Casual dining: 70-80% food, 20-30% beverage
- Bistro/brasserie: 65-75% food, 25-35% beverage
- Casual eatery: 50-60% food, 40-50% beverage
💡 Example calculation:
Monthly figures from a bistro:
- Total revenue: €45,000 (excl. VAT)
- Food revenue: €32,400
- Beverage revenue: €12,600
Food %: (€32,400 / €45,000) × 100 = 72%
Beverage %: (€12,600 / €45,000) × 100 = 28%
This falls within the typical range for a bistro.
How you can influence the ratio
If your beverage percentage is low, you're probably missing revenue opportunities. Drinks often have 60-80% margin versus 25-35% on food.
- Train wine recommendations: staff that suggest wine increases beverage sales
- Push aperitifs/digestifs: extra drink moments before and after the meal
- Wine by the glass: lower barrier than a full bottle
- Cocktail menu: higher margin than beer/wine
Track the ratio digitally
Many POS systems can automatically split food and beverage. If you do this manually, it takes considerable time and you'll make mistakes.
Tools like KitchenNmbrs can help you track your revenue categories and automatically calculate your food/beverage ratio, so you can see how you're performing each month.
How do you calculate the food/beverage ratio? (step by step)
Gather your revenue figures by category
Pull from your POS system or accounting the total revenue, food revenue and beverage revenue for the same period (week/month). Make sure you're working with amounts excluding VAT for a fair comparison.
Calculate the food percentage
Divide your food revenue by total revenue and multiply by 100. Formula: (Food revenue / Total revenue) × 100 = Food percentage. This shows what percentage of your revenue comes from food.
Calculate the beverage percentage
Divide your beverage revenue by total revenue and multiply by 100. Formula: (Beverage revenue / Total revenue) × 100 = Beverage percentage. Food % + Beverage % should always equal 100%.
✨ Pro tip
Track your ratio weekly for 8 weeks to identify patterns – you might discover Fridays generate 40% beverage sales while Tuesdays only hit 18%. Use this data to adjust staffing and promotions accordingly.
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's a good food/beverage ratio for my restaurant?
This depends on your restaurant type. Fine dining often has 60-70% food and 30-40% beverage, while casual dining tends toward 70-80% food. Casual eateries can reach 50-50 due to their drink focus.
Should I include VAT in the calculation?
Always calculate with amounts excluding VAT. Alcoholic drinks have 21% VAT and food 9%, so including VAT distorts your actual food/beverage ratio.
How often should I check my food/beverage ratio?
Check this monthly to spot trends. Weekly shows too much fluctuation from random events, but quarterly is too infrequent to adjust if things go wrong.
What if my beverage percentage is very low?
You're likely missing revenue opportunities. Drinks have higher margins than food. Train your staff in wine recommendations, offer aperitifs, and consider a cocktail menu to boost beverage sales.
Where do I count coffee and tea - food or beverage?
Technically coffee and tea are drinks, so beverage. But if you mainly serve coffee after meals as part of the dining experience, you could count it as food. Choose a system and stay consistent.
How do I handle combo meals or prix fixe menus that include drinks?
Split the combo price proportionally based on individual item costs. If a €25 menu includes a €18 main and €7 wine, allocate 72% to food and 28% to beverage.
📚 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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