What a dish costing is
It is the calculation of a dish's cost from what goes into it: each ingredient, with its quantity and purchase price, plus what is lost when trimming or cooking it. It is used for two things: setting the selling price and knowing how much you should be spending on food.
What you need
- The recipe with weights: what goes into one portion, weighed, not guessed.
- The purchase price of each ingredient: from the latest invoice and excluding VAT.
- The waste of each one: what you lose when cleaning, peeling, filleting or cooking.
The formula
Ingredient cost = quantity on the plate ÷ (1 − waste) × price per kilo
If sea bass loses 55% when filleted, to serve 180 g of fillet you need to buy 180 ÷ 0.45 = 400 g. You pay for those 400 g, not the 180.
An example: sea bass with vegetables
| Sea bass · 180 g fillet, 55% waste, €14/kg | €5.60 |
| Vegetables · 120 g, 20% waste, €3.50/kg | €0.53 |
| Oil, salt and garnish | €0.40 |
| Cost per portion | €6.53 |
From cost to selling price
Price excluding VAT = cost per portion ÷ target food cost
With a 30% target food cost: 6.53 ÷ 0.30 = €21.77 excluding VAT. With Spain's 10% hospitality VAT, €23.94: on the menu, €24. At that price, the dish's actual food cost is 29.9%.
→ The target depends on the concept: a dish that sells a lot can run above it if others make up for it.
The most common mistakes
- Ignoring waste: the dish looks cheaper than it is.
- Using prices from months ago.
- Forgetting the small things: oil, bread, sauces and garnish.
- Calculating the price with VAT included.
- Doing it once and never looking at it again.
How often to update it
Whenever the price of a main ingredient or the supplier changes, and at least at every menu change. With up-to-date costings you can compare theoretical and actual consumption and find where stock is being lost.