What-If Profit Simulator
See the profit impact of any change before you make it
Three sliders inside the Profitability tab model a change in ingredient costs, labour costs or selling prices, and show the impact on every item's food cost and margin straight away. Test a scenario in seconds. Decide with real numbers.
- No card needed
- Never touches live data
- Whole menu at once
| Item | Cost | Food cost | Margin |
|---|---|---|---|
| Classic Beef Burger | SAR 0.00 | 0% | 0% |
| Grilled Chicken Salad | SAR 0.00 | 0% | 0% |
| Classic Hummus | SAR 0.00 | 0% | 0% |
| Cappuccino | SAR 0.00 | 0% | 0% |
| Vegetable Sandwich | SAR 0.00 | 0% | 0% |
Example items from MenuCost's demo menu.
Why this matters
Most pricing decisions are made by feel. Test them with numbers instead.
A supplier raises prices. A new hire adds to payroll. A competitor cuts prices. The usual way is to wait for month end and find out the damage after it has happened. Here's a restaurant owner who hears chicken breast is about to rise 15%.
Grilled Chicken Salad today
Under her threshold.
With the ingredient slider at +15%
Above the threshold, before the price rise even lands.
She can act now: raise the price, trim the portion or swap an ingredient. Moving the price slider to about +11%, roughly SAR 35.50, brings the salad back under 35%.
Three sliders, one for each lever you control
Every item in the Profitability table recalculates as you move them. Use one, or all three together.
Ingredient cost, -50% to +100%
Moves ingredient and packaging costs in every recipe. Test a supplier increase before it happens, or see how much room you have before hitting your food cost limit.
Labour cost, -50% to +100%
Moves labour cost in every recipe. Check the impact of a pay rise, a new hire or a change in hours, alone or together with ingredient changes.
Selling price, -30% to +100%
Moves every item's price. Drag it up to see whether an increase covers rising costs. The floor is -30% because deeper cuts would sell most items at or below cost.
What changes when you test decisions before you make them
Every item at once
See the full menu impact of a change in one view, not recipe by recipe.
The exact increase you need
Drag the price slider until food costs return to target. That's your number.
Several pressures together
Combine ingredient, labour and price changes, the way costs really move.
Zero risk to live data
Nothing real changes. Hit reset and you're back to your live numbers.
Does moving the sliders change my real recipe costs?
No. The simulator only changes what the table shows. No recipe, ingredient price or setting is touched, and reset returns the table to your live numbers. To make a real change, update the ingredient, staff cost or overhead directly.
What exactly does each slider change?
The ingredient slider adjusts ingredient and packaging cost in every recipe, the labour slider adjusts labour cost, and the price slider adjusts every selling price. All three flow through to food cost %, profit and margin. While any slider is off 0%, the cost shown is the simulated cost.
Can I model a rise in just one ingredient?
The simulator is built for menu-wide scenarios and moves all ingredients together. For a single ingredient, like chicken breast alone, update that ingredient's price in your ingredient library and check the Profitability tab.
Why does the price slider stop at -30%?
A 30% price cut is already very aggressive; beyond that most items sell at or near cost, so the numbers stop being useful. Ingredient and labour go to -50% because cost reductions of that size, from supplier deals or efficiency gains, are realistic to model.
Where is the simulator in MenuCost?
It's a panel on the right side of the Profitability tab, next to the table. While reviewing your menu, move a slider the moment something catches your eye.
Works hand in hand with
Stop guessing. Start simulating.
Test every price and cost change before it hits your business.
- No card needed
- Set up in minutes
- Unlimited recipes