Menu Profitability Analysis
See every item's margin, by category, by cost, by profit
The Profitability tab shows every item's cost, price, profit, food cost and margin, grouped by category and sortable by any column. Know which items carry your menu and which need attention.
- No card needed
- Updates automatically
- Unlimited recipes
| Classic Beef BurgerMain course | 11.4% | 85.4% |
| Lamb KoftaMain course | 21.6% | 78.6% |
| Saffron Basmati RiceMain course | 25.8% | 68.2% |
| Classic HummusStarters | 22.9% | 63.8% |
| Grilled Chicken SaladSalads | 33.7% | 59.5% |
Example menu. Green below 30% food cost, amber close to a 35% target.
Why this matters
One recipe gives you a cost. The whole menu gives you a picture.
Cost recipes one at a time and each number is accurate, but it sits on its own. You know the burger costs SAR 8.04 and the salad SAR 12.97. What you can't see is how they compare. Side by side, the difference is obvious.
Classic Beef Burger
Food cost 11.4%, healthy.
Grilled Chicken Salad
Food cost 33.7%, close to a 35% target.
The Profitability tab puts every item side by side, ranked and colour-coded, and updates whenever a recipe or ingredient cost changes. No manual maths.
Example from MenuCost's demo restaurant.
Three things the Profitability tab shows you at once
Category summary cards
Each part of your menu, such as main course, starters, salads and desserts, gets a card with its item count, average margin and average food cost, colour-coded so the strongest and weakest stand out.
A sortable item table
Every active item with its cost per serving, selling price, profit, food cost % and margin. Click any column header to sort, and colour-coded food cost badges flag problem items.
A suggestions panel
MenuCost reads your numbers and points out what matters, such as your best category or items that may need repricing. It updates as your data changes.
What changes when you can see every item's margin
Categories at a glance
Know which part of your menu carries the most profit without reading every row.
Sort however you want
Highest food cost first, or best margin first. One click reorders everything.
Problems flagged early
Colour-coded badges show items drifting toward your target before they become a problem.
Insight that comes to you
The suggestions panel surfaces what the numbers mean, so you don't have to interpret a table.
What's the difference between food cost % and margin?
Food cost % is the share of the selling price spent on what goes into the item. Margin is the share left as profit after the full true cost, including labour and overhead. Because margin also covers labour and overhead, the two don't simply add up to 100%. The gap between them is your labour and overhead. Common food cost targets for main courses are roughly 25% to 35%.
What decides the colour of a food cost badge?
Badges are colour-coded against the target food cost you set in your account: green when an item is comfortably within it, amber when it's getting close, red when it's over. Change your target and every badge updates right away.
Can I sort the table by any column?
Yes. Click a column header to sort ascending, and again for descending. Sort by food cost to find your most expensive items, or by margin to see your best performers.
What does the suggestions panel show?
It reads your profitability numbers and surfaces the most useful observation, such as your best-performing category, a category drifting above target, or an item pulling down a strong category. It updates as your data changes.
Does the Profitability tab use all four cost layers?
Yes. Each item's cost is its full true cost per serving: ingredients, packaging, labour and overhead. The profit and margin you see reflect what the item really costs to make.
Start knowing which items actually make you money
Every item's margin, ranked and colour-coded, in one view.
- No card needed
- Set up in minutes
- Unlimited recipes