Food cost percentage, explained without spreadsheets
What food cost % actually tells you, why 28–32% isn't a universal target, and how to move it without touching prices.
Food cost percentage is the share of a dish's menu price that goes to the ingredients on the plate. Divide the plate cost by the selling price and you have it. A £4.20 plate sold at £15 runs at 28%.
Why the 28–32% rule is a myth
That range came from full-service casual dining in a different labour market. A steakhouse can be profitable at 38% because the ticket is high and labour per cover is low. A café selling coffee and pastry can be in trouble at 25% because volume is thin and rent is fixed. What matters is contribution margin in cash — the money left after ingredients — multiplied by how often the item sells.
The four levers that actually move the number
- Purchase price: the same SKU can vary 15–25% between suppliers in the same week. Compare monthly, not yearly.
- Yield and waste: trim loss, over-portioning, and spoilage are usually a bigger leak than supplier price.
- Recipe design: swapping one expensive garnish for a cheaper one of equal perceived value moves the plate cost immediately.
- Menu mix: pushing high-margin items through menu placement changes the blended food cost without changing a single recipe.
Measure the plate, then the period
Theoretical food cost comes from your recipes. Actual food cost comes from purchases plus opening stock minus closing stock, over sales. The gap between the two is your operational leak — waste, theft, comps, or portioning drift. Chasing that gap is usually more profitable than renegotiating with suppliers.
In le mezon, every recipe is costed against your uploaded supplier prices or market prices, so the theoretical number updates the moment a price list changes — no spreadsheet maintenance required.