Restaurant food cost %, edible yield, and menu pricing formulas

Account for prep trim yield AND period waste in kitchen costing

1. Edible Portion (EP) Cost: Buying salmon at $12.00/lb As-Purchased (AP) with an 80% fillet yield (20% skin/bone trim) means your TRUE Edible Portion cost is $12.00 / 0.80 = $15.00/lb! Pricing a 0.5 lb fillet ($7.50) + $2.10 garnish = $9.60 plate cost at a 30% Target Food Cost requires MenuPrice = $9.60 / 0.30 = $32.00.

2. Actual Period Food Cost %: At month-end, COGS = BeginningInventory + Purchases - EndingInventory. Comparing Actual Food Cost % against Ideal Recipe % highlights a variance to investigate; it does not identify its cause.

Period Food Cost % and yield-adjusted menu price formulas

Parenthesize (BegInv + Purchases - EndInv) in the numerator before dividing by FoodSales.

=ROUND((A2 + B2 - C2) / D2, 4)

Target menu price from AP cost, trim yield %, portion size, and sides

Divides total yield-adjusted plate cost by TargetFoodCostPct (H2).

=ROUND((((E2 / F2) * 0.5) + G2) / H2, 2)

Additional worked calculation

Using the initial example inputs:

=ROUND(E2 / F2, 2)

Inputs and interpretation

Use positive sales, yield in (0,1], and a positive target food-cost fraction. The example portion is 0.5 lb. Inventory and purchases must use consistent cost valuation and any relevant transfer/meal adjustments. A variance from recipe cost does not establish waste or theft; pricing, sales mix and counts also matter. This target price does not cover all labor, overhead or taxes.

Further reading

• Microsoft Support — ROUND function