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 percentage, and margin, grouped by category and sortable by any column. Know exactly which items are carrying your menu and which ones need attention.
WHY THIS MATTERS
Costing one recipe tells you its cost. The Profitability tab shows you the whole picture
When you cost recipes one at a time, each number is accurate, but it sits on its own. You know the classic beef burger costs SAR 8.04. You know the grilled chicken salad costs SAR 12.97. What you can't see from single recipes is how those two compare, which category is actually performing best, or whether your food cost is trending the right way overall.
The Profitability tab puts every item together in one ranked, sortable view. Category cards show the average margin and food cost for each part of your menu. The item table shows cost, price, profit, food cost percentage, and margin for every item, side by side. A suggestions panel points out what the numbers are telling you. Everything updates on its own whenever a recipe or ingredient cost changes.
Example: A restaurant's main course category has 3 items averaging 77.4% margin and 19.6% food cost. Starters average 63.8% margin at 22.9% food cost. Salads average 59.5% margin at 33.7% food cost, flagged in amber since that's approaching the 35% threshold. The suggestions panel points this out directly: "Main course is your best category, with 77.4% average margin." The category cards make that comparison visible in seconds, with no manual maths.
Menu profitability analysis gives you a clear view of every item's margin, so you can focus on what's actually working and fix what isn't.
HOW IT WORKS
Three things the Profitability tab shows you at once
Category summary cards: your menu's performance by section
Each category on your menu (main course, starters, salads, desserts, and so on) gets its own card showing the number of items, average margin, and average food cost. The food cost badge is colour coded: green when healthy, amber when getting close to your threshold. At a glance, you can see which category is strongest and which needs a look.
Sortable item table: every number for every item
Below the category cards, every active menu item is listed with six columns: item name and category, cost per serving, selling price, profit, food cost percentage, and margin. Click any column header to sort by it. The food cost badge is colour coded so problem items stand out without reading every row. Margin values in green show your strongest performers right away.
Suggestions panel: what the data is telling you
The suggestions panel reads your profitability numbers and points out the most useful insight, which category is performing best, which items might need repricing, or where your food cost is trending above target. It updates on its own as your data changes, so it always reflects where your menu stands today, not a note that goes stale.
REAL EXAMPLE
What your menu profitability view looks like
A restaurant's full menu: category cards, an item table with food cost badges and margin values, a colour key, and the live suggestions panel.
The table sorted by margin, highest first, shows the classic beef burger at 85.4% margin and 11.4% food cost as the standout. The grilled chicken salad's food cost badge sits at amber, 33.7%, not critical, but close to the threshold. The suggestions panel names main course as the strongest category. All of this in one view, with no need to open a single recipe.
WHAT YOU GET
What changes when you can see every item's margin
- Category performance at a glance. Summary cards for each menu section show average margin and food cost with colour-coded badges. You know which part of your menu is carrying the most profit without reading through every item.
- Every number for every item, sortable however you want. Cost, price, profit, food cost percentage, and margin, all visible for every item in one table. Sort by food cost to find your most expensive items. Sort by margin to see your best performers. One click reorders everything.
- Food cost badges flag items before they become problems. The colour-coded badge on each row, green for healthy, amber for close to threshold, red for over target, means you spot problem items the moment you open the tab, without calculating anything yourself.
- Suggestions that read your data for you. The suggestions panel points out your best-performing category and surfaces useful observations from your numbers, so the insight comes to you instead of sitting buried in a table you'd have to interpret yourself.
QUESTIONS
Food cost percentage is the share of the selling price that goes toward making the item. A 20% food cost means 20% of the revenue covers production. Margin is the flip side, an 80% margin means 80% of revenue stays as gross profit. They always move in opposite directions: a lower food cost means a higher margin. MenuCost shows both, since different operators use different conventions. Most GCC F&B operators aim for a 25% to 35% food cost on main course items.
It's based on the target food cost threshold you set in your account. Green means the item is at or below your target. Amber means it's within 15% above target, close but not yet a problem. Red means it's over target. The colour key at the bottom of the table explains this. You can change your target any time and every badge updates right away.
Yes. Click a column header once to sort ascending, click again for descending. The arrow next to each header shows the current sort direction. Sort by food cost descending to see your highest-cost items first. Sort by margin descending to see your most profitable items first.
It reads your profitability numbers and surfaces the most useful observation, for example naming your best-performing category, flagging a category whose food cost is trending above target, or pointing out when one item is dragging down an otherwise strong category average. It updates on its own as your data changes, so it always reflects where your menu stands right now.
It uses the true cost per serving for each item, which includes all four layers: ingredients, labour, packaging, and overhead. The cost shown in the table is the complete cost from your recipe, not just ingredients. That means the food cost percentage and margin you see reflect what the item actually costs to make, not a number that leaves out labour and overhead.
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