Culinary Math Learning Centre

Recipe Costing

An important skill for anyone in the food industry is determining the cost of ingredients to
prepare a food item and the price of items on a menu.

How to find the price of an ingredient portion

There are three basic steps to this process. The first and third are easiest, while the second
requires more thinking and can vary a bit depending on the information you have to work with.

Step 1: Calculate the FACTOR using the yield %. The factor is used to correct the As
Purchased (AP) cost to the Edible Portion (EP) cost. Because some food items require
trimming, peeling, coring, etc – for a purchased amount, the edible portion is smaller.

FACTOR = 100 ÷ Yield %

(round the factor to 3 decimal places, if necessary)

Step 2: Calculate the EDIBLE PRODUCT COST. The EP cost will be the same as the AP cost
when the yield is 100%. For any food item with a yield of less than 100%, we must correct AP
cost to account for wastage; the EP cost will always be GREATER than the AP cost when the
yield is less than 100%.

EP PRODUCT Cost: The price paid for the edible product

Formula: AP product cost x Factor = EP product cost

Example: A 10 lb bag of apples costs $5.60. The yield percentage of apples is 75%. Find
the EP product cost.
Solution: Factor = 100 ÷ Yield % = 100 ÷ 80 = 1.333
EP Cost = $5.60 x 1.333 = $7.465 for 10 lb apples

Step 3: Calculate the EP Unit Cost. In this step we convert the edible product cost above into
units that match the portion size given. In other words, we want to know the price paid per
edible unit of item. If the portion size is in grams, the EP unit cost should be in $ per gram.

Formula: Edible product cost ÷ number of units = unit cost

Round to 3 decimal places
Example: If a 20 lb bag of flour costs $10.50, what is the unit price of flour?
Solution: $10.50 ÷ 20 lb = $0.525/lb

If an item is priced by the dozen or the case, an extra step is needed to find the unit price
of an item by weight.

Example: A dozen eggs cost $4.99. What is the price per egg?
Solution: Total cost ÷ number of units = unit cost
$4.99 ÷ 12 eggs = $0.42/egg

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 Example: A case of cabbage contains 24 heads of cabbage and costs $12.50. Each head
of cabbage weighs 1 kg. What is the unit cost per g for cabbage?
Solution: $12.50/case = $12.50 ÷ 24 heads = $0.52 per head
$0.52 per head = $0.52 ÷ 1000 g = $0.0005/g

Step 4: Calculate the PORTION PRICE by multiplying the EDIBLE PORTION UNIT
COST by the PORTION SIZE. (This should be familiar — if we go the grocery store and
we see that apples cost $1.25 per kg and we buy 2 kg, we multiply 2 kg by $1.25 to
figure out the total cost). The Portion Price should be rounded to two decimal places.

EP Unit Cost Portion Size Action

Lettuce $0.0009/g 260 g $0.0009/g × 260 g = $0.23
Green onion $0.008/g 15 g $0.008/g × 15 g = $0.12
Lemon wedge $0.005 each 1/6 $0.005/g × 90 g =$0.45
 

How to find the menu price of an item

Step 1: Find the FACTOR based on the food cost % (just like above with yield %).
100 ÷ Food Cost % = Menu price factor

Step 2: Multiply the total portion cost by the menu price factor to find the menu
(or selling) price.
 
Example: If the food cost % is 40% and the total portion cost is $2.35, what should the
selling price be?

Solution: Factor = 100 ÷ 40% = 2.5

2.5 × $2.35 = $5.88 should be the selling price

*Note, ALWAYS check to see how many portions the recipe makes. If it makes multiple
portions, you will need to divide the selling price by how many portions it makes.*

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Student review only. May not be reproduced for classes. 2
Practice Problems

1. Fill in the table below and find what the selling price of the item should be:

Ingredient Yield % Factor A.P. Cost Unit Cost Portion Portion

Size Cost
Green 80% $10.00 cs (24 1/8
cabbage heads)
Zucchini 96% $14.50 cs (12 125 g
– 210 g each)
Tomatoes 80% $1.25 – L 250 mL
Olives 70% $0.89 – 170 g 20 g
Chili 100% $13.95 – 567 g 0.57 g
Stew beef 75% $6.99 – kg 180 g

Food Cost % 35% Total Recipe Cost: Menu Price:

2. The recipe below for asparagus and sundried tomato salad yields 8 portions.

Ingredient Yield % Factor A.P. Cost Unit Cost Portion Portion

Size Cost
Asparagus 60% $7.00 – kg 0.45 kg
Garlic 92% $0.65 head (8 2 cloves
cloves)
Vegetable oil 100% $10.79 – 4L 250 mL
Sun dried 85% $25.20 – kg 227 g
tomatoes in
oil
Shiitake 90% $15.37 – kg 113 g
mushrooms
Salt 100% $0.87 – kg 5g
Thyme 100% $28.50 – 453 7g
leaves, dried g

Food Cost % 35% Total Recipe Cost:

What is the cost of one portion?

What is the selling price of one portion?

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Student review only. May not be reproduced for classes. 3
Answers

1.
Ingredient Yield % Factor A.P. Cost Unit Cost Portion Size Portion
Cost
Green 80% 1.25 $10.00 cs (24 $0.521 1/8 $0.07
cabbage heads)
Zucchini 96% 1.042 $14.50 cs (12 – $0.006 125 g $0.75
210 g each)
Tomatoes 80% 1.25 $1.25 - L $0.002 250 mL $0.50
Olives 70% 1.429 $0.89 – 170 g $0.007 20 g $0.14
Chili 100% 1 $13.95 – 567 g $0.025 0.57 oz $0.01
Stew beef 75% 1.333 $6.99 - kg $0.009 180 g $1.62

Food Cost % 35% Total Recipe Cost: $3.09 Menu Price: $8.83
 
2.
Ingredient Yield % Factor A.P. Cost Unit Cost Portion Portion
Size Cost
Asparagus 60% 1.667 $7.00 - kg $11.669 0.45 kg $5.25
Garlic 92% 1.087 $0.65 head (8 $0.088 2 cloves $0.18
cloves)
Vegetable oil 100% 1 $10.79 - 4L $0.003 250 mL $0.75
Sun dried 85% 1.176 $25.20 - kg $0.030 227 g $6.81
tomatoes in
oil
Shiitake 90% 1.111 $15.37 - kg $0.017 113 g $1.92
mushrooms
Salt 100% 1 $0.87 - kg $0.001 5g $0.01
Thyme 100% 1 $28.50 – 453 g $0.063 7g $0.44
leaves, dried

Food Cost % 35% Total Recipe Cost: $15.36

Recipe cost of one portion = $15.36 ÷ 8 = $1.92
Menu price for one portion= $5.49

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Student review only. May not be reproduced for classes. 4