Food and Beverage Cost Calculator
Work out food, beverage, labour and prime cost percentages from one period's figures.
Prime cost
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Food cost percentage
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Beverage cost percentage
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Labour cost percentage
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Average check per cover
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Total F&B revenue
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Updates as you type. Nothing is sent anywhere — the maths runs in your browser.
Formula
Food cost % = (Cost of food sold ÷ Food revenue) × 100
Prime cost % = (Food cost + Beverage cost + Labour cost) ÷ Total F&B revenue × 100
How to read it
Food and beverage margins are lost in small increments and found the same way. The three percentages below are the ones an operator is judged on, and prime cost is the one that decides whether the outlet makes money at all. A kitchen running beautiful food cost can still be underwater once labour is counted, which is why the two are read together rather than separately.
- Food cost commonly runs 28% to 32% in a full-service operation. Beverage sits far lower, around 15% to 20%, which is why a shift in the food-to-drink mix moves the blended number on its own.
- Prime cost is the number to watch. Food and labour trade against each other: prepared products cut labour and raise food cost, and preparing in house does the reverse.
- Use cost of goods SOLD, not purchases. Buying in bulk before a quiet week will flatter or ruin a single period if you count what you bought rather than what you used.
- Average check is revenue per cover, not per table. A table of four is four covers.
Terms used here
Frequently asked
+What is a good food cost percentage?
Most full-service operations target 28% to 32%. The figure only means something against your own menu and format: a steakhouse and a pizzeria running the same percentage are performing very differently, because the cash margin per cover is not comparable.
+Why is prime cost more useful than food cost on its own?
Because food and labour move against each other. A kitchen that buys prepared stock cuts labour hours and raises food cost; one that butchers and bakes in house does the opposite. Looking at either alone rewards shifting cost sideways rather than removing it.
+Should labour cost be measured against food revenue or total revenue?
Total F&B revenue. Staff serve drinks as well as food, so charging all their cost against the food line overstates it and makes the beverage operation look more profitable than it is.