True Cost per Serving
Your recipe cost should include everything it takes to make it
MenuCost works out the real cost per serving: ingredients, packaging, staff time and overhead, in one number. Not an estimate. The actual cost.
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All four layers counted. This margin is one you can rely on.
Example from MenuCost's demo kitchen.
Why this matters
A cost built from ingredients alone isn't a cost. It's an undercount.
Getting an item to a customer also takes someone's time, a cup and lid to serve it in, and a share of your rent, utilities and equipment. None of that stops costing money just because it wasn't counted. Here's a café's iced caramel latte, selling for SAR 18.
Ingredients only
The number most cafés price from.
True cost per serving
Barista 5 min SAR 1.67, cup, lid and sleeve SAR 0.85, overhead SAR 1.40.
The gap between what you think you make and what you really make is filled by labour, packaging and overhead that never made it into the number. True cost per serving closes it.
Illustrative example: barista at SAR 20 an hour.
Four cost layers. One total. Calculated automatically.
Ingredients, the base
Add ingredients with amounts. MenuCost scales each to the quantity per serving from your batch size, and recalculates when a supplier price changes.
Packaging, the cost of serving it
Attach cups, lids, boxes, bags and labels to each recipe. Each pulls its unit cost from your library, so it's never invisible in your margin.
Labour, the time it takes
Enter prep time and the staff role. MenuCost applies that role's hourly rate. If several roles work on a recipe, each gets its own time entry.
Overhead, the cost of running the business
Enter your monthly fixed costs, such as rent, utilities, equipment and subscriptions, and your expected monthly output. MenuCost spreads them across every item you make.
Scales to any batch size
Making 100 instead of 12? Change the batch size and every cost adjusts. The cost per unit stays accurate however much you make.
What changes when every cost is in the number
A margin you can trust
With all four layers in, the margin you see is the one your business earns.
Pricing on complete information
No more underpricing from a partial cost you didn't know was partial.
The real winners revealed
Two items priced alike can earn very different margins once labour and packaging count.
Always current
A supplier increase, new packaging or a pay rise: update once and every recipe recalculates.
Do I need all four layers, or can I start with ingredients?
Start with ingredients and add the other layers over time. MenuCost totals whatever you've entered, so even a partial cost is useful. But every layer you leave out understates your cost, and the closer you get to all four, the more you can trust your margin.
How is overhead per item worked out?
Add up your fixed monthly costs, such as rent, utilities, equipment, insurance and subscriptions, and divide by the number of items you make in a month. MenuCost does this for you in Overhead Cost Allocation and adds the result to every recipe.
What if different recipes use different packaging?
Each recipe has its own packaging. A takeaway coffee gets a cup, lid and sleeve; a boxed cake gets a pastry box and ribbon. Each cost comes from the unit price in your library.
Can I see true cost across my whole menu?
Yes. Menu Profitability Analysis shows the true cost, price and margin of every item side by side, so healthy, borderline and repricing candidates stand out.
Are the margin and price calculated automatically?
Yes. Enter a selling price and MenuCost works out gross profit and margin straight away. Enter the margin you want and MenuCost shows the minimum price needed to hit it, based on the true cost per serving.
The four layers, in detail
Cost your recipes with every cost included
One complete number for every item, so your margins are real.
- No card needed
- Set up in minutes
- Unlimited recipes