How Do You Calculate Portion Cost? (With Examples)
5-minute read · Prepared by the Orderly team
What is portion cost?
Portion cost is the total cost of the ingredients you use to prepare a single item. A menu price set without knowing it is just a guess — and when prices rise, that guess turns into a loss.
Step-by-step calculation
- 1. Write the recipe. How many grams/milliliters of each ingredient does the item use?
- 2. Find the unit price. Convert the ingredient's purchase price to the unit used (price per kg to price per gram).
- 3. Add waste. Onions shrink when peeled, meat shrinks when cooked. Put a realistic waste percentage on each ingredient.
- 4. Add it up. Add up the cost of all ingredients including waste: that's your portion cost.
Example: a burger
| Ingredient | Quantity | Waste | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ground beef (620 ₺/kg) | 120 g | %8 | 80,35 ₺ |
| Burger bun | 1 pc | %2 | 12,24 ₺ |
| Cheddar (540 ₺/kg) | 20 g | %3 | 11,12 ₺ |
| Greens, sauce, packaging | — | — | 14,50 ₺ |
| Portion cost | ≈ 118 ₺ |
If your target food cost percentage is 30%, the suggested selling price is: 118 ÷ 0.30 ≈ 393 ₺. Don't forget to factor in meal card commissions and VAT too.
The real challenge: keeping it up to date
The calculation isn't done once and for all; it goes stale every time an ingredient price changes. The practical solution is to track costs with a system, not by hand. In Orderly, when you enter a purchase invoice, the unit cost is updated using the weighted average and the cost of every recipe using that ingredient is recalculated automatically. You can track profit amount and percentage by product in a single table.
Frequently asked questions
A common target in the industry is 25–35%; it varies by segment. What matters is knowing your ratio and spotting products where it slips.
Measure it over a short period: compare the quantity you buy with the usable quantity. In Orderly, a separate waste percentage is entered for each recipe ingredient and factored in automatically.
With option-based recipes. In Orderly, each extra is defined with its own weight and waste; when selected, it's deducted from stock and added to the cost.
If you'd rather try than read
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