Vol. XXXI · The Professional Kitchen Plate 5 of 11food cost, food cost percentage, plate cost, menu price, pricing, margin, contribution margin, gross profit, costing, target percentage, prime cost, labour, restaurant economicsTF

Food Cost.

A steak that costs 10.7 to plate and sells for 30 runs at 36 % food cost. A mushroom risotto costing 1.5 and selling for 16 runs at 9 % — and earns more per plate.

Plate cost is the sum of every ingredient on the plate at its edible-portion cost (XXXI.4) — protein, garnish, sauce, oil for cooking, even the butter on the bread. Food cost percentage = plate cost ÷ menu price (before tax). Restaurants commonly target about 25–35 % overall: of each sale, roughly a third pays for food, about a third for labour, and the rest for rent, energy, equipment, waste, marketing and profit (the margins in restaurants are thin, often under 10 %). To price a new dish to a target, divide its plate cost by the target percentage: a plate costing 3 at a 30 % target sells for 10.

Percentages are not the whole story. The money that pays the bills is the contribution margin — price minus plate cost — in currency, not per cent. A high-cost dish like a steak may run at a high percentage yet bring in more per plate than a cheap dish at a low percentage; a menu priced only by percentage overcharges for cheap dishes and undercharges for expensive ones. So kitchens watch both, and use menu engineering (XXXI.8) to see which dishes earn their place. Costs must be updated when prices change; a dish costed last year may be losing money now. The workshop costs a plate.

Below: the plate cost of the dish you choose (ingredient grams × illustrative prices, ¤ per kg), the food cost percentage at the menu price you choose, the price needed for a 30 % target, and the contribution margin per plate.

What you will learn
Workshop
Plates (grams, raw): steak frites — ribeye 250, potato 300, oil 30, butter 15, salt 3; salmon — salmon 180, rice 80, broccoli 120, butter 20, lemon 30; mushroom risotto — short-grain rice 90, mushroom 120, butter 25, cream 30, onion 50; chicken curry — chicken thigh 200, onion 100, tomato 100, coconut milk 80, rice 80. Illustrative prices per kg (¤), the course's price table. Exact: food cost % = cost ÷ price; price for target = cost ÷ target.

Percent and pounds — both

The steak frites costs about 10.68 ¤ to plate; at 30 ¤ it runs at 36 % food cost and contributes 19.3 ¤. The mushroom risotto costs 1.50 ¤; at 16 ¤ it runs at only 9 % and contributes 14.5 ¤. By percentage the risotto is the star; by money per plate the steak earns more — which is why kitchens judge dishes on both, and why cheap dishes often subsidise expensive ones on a menu.

Costing a plate: list every component by weight as served, including cooking fat and garnish; convert to edible-portion cost per kg (XXXI.4); multiply and add; add a small allowance (often 2–5 %) for seasoning, oil and waste; record the date. Price: plate cost ÷ target %, then adjust for what guests will pay and what competitors charge. Review costs whenever a major price moves, and check actual food cost monthly — opening stock + purchases − closing stock, ÷ food sales — against the theoretical; a gap means waste, over-portioning or theft.

At the stove

Cost a dinner you cook at home from your receipts, gram by gram. What would you have to charge at a 30 % food cost?

The food cost percentage became a standard measure with the growth of hotel and chain restaurants in the twentieth century; the "one-third food, one-third labour, one-third overheads and profit" rule of thumb is old, but rising rents and wages have squeezed the profit share in most cities.

Terms

Plate cost
The cost of everything on the plate.
Food cost %
Plate cost ÷ menu price.
Contribution margin
Price minus plate cost, in money.
Actual food cost
Stock used ÷ food sales over a period.
Food cost % = plate cost ÷ price; typical targets 25–35 %. Price to a target: cost ÷ target. But watch the contribution margin in money too: a high-percentage steak can earn more per plate than a cheap risotto.

Sources

  1. A teaching value chosen for the course: the right order of magnitude and shape, not a measurement of a particular food.