To cost a daily special that hits your target gross profit, work backwards from your GP percentage: calculate the total ingredient cost per portion, then divide that cost by (1 − your target GP as a decimal) to get the ex-VAT selling price. For a dish costing £2.80 at a 70% GP target, that's £2.80 ÷ 0.30 = £9.33 ex-VAT, which becomes £11.20 on the menu once you add 20% VAT.
That single formula is the backbone of every profitable specials board. The rest is discipline: costing accurately, updating for volatile prices, and pricing to a number the customer will actually pay. Here's the full process.
Gross profit percentage is the portion of your selling price left after food cost. Most UK kitchens work to:
Specials give you a chance to run a blended GP. A low-GP hero protein special can be balanced by high-GP sides and puddings elsewhere on the board. Decide your target for the specials category as a whole, then set individual dish targets around it.
This is where most specials lose money. A special is often built from surplus stock, a supplier deal, or a chef's whim — and gets scribbled on the board without a proper costing. Do it properly:
1. List every component, including garnish, oil, seasoning, and sauce.
2. Use pack price ÷ pack quantity to get a unit cost (cost per gram, per ml, per unit).
3. Multiply by the exact quantity used in one portion.
4. Add it all up for a true plate cost.
Worked example — pan-fried sea bass special:
| Ingredient | Pack price | Pack size | Used per portion | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sea bass fillet | £24.00 | 2 kg | 160 g | £1.92 |
| New potatoes | £6.50 | 5 kg | 180 g | £0.23 |
| Samphire | £4.20 | 500 g | 40 g | £0.34 |
| Butter, lemon, herbs | — | — | — | £0.35 |
| Oil, seasoning | — | — | — | £0.12 |
| Total plate cost | | | | £2.96 |
Raw pack price is not the same as usable cost. A whole fish, a side of beef, or a case of vegetables loses weight in trimming, peeling, and cooking. Ignore this and your costings will run 15–30% light.
Apply a yield percentage:
For specials built from off-cuts or trim, yield actually works in your favour — you're using product you've already paid for. Just make sure you're valuing it at its real cost, not zero, or you'll build habits that break when the deal ends.
Once you have a true plate cost, price it:
Selling price (ex-VAT) = Plate cost ÷ (1 − target GP)
For the sea bass at £2.96 plate cost and a 70% target:
Rounding up slightly improves your GP; rounding down erodes it. Always check what the rounded price does to your actual GP:
Actual GP % = (ex-VAT price − plate cost) ÷ ex-VAT price × 100
At £12.50 menu price, ex-VAT is £10.42, so GP = (£10.42 − £2.96) ÷ £10.42 = 71.6%. Comfortably on target.
UK hospitality food is standard-rated at 20% VAT. Your GP is always calculated on the ex-VAT figure, never the menu price. A common and costly mistake is calculating GP on the VAT-inclusive price, which flatters your margin by roughly 20% and hides losses. Menu price is what the customer pays; ex-VAT is what your GP maths uses.
The formula gives you a floor, not a ceiling. Before it goes on the board:
The whole point of a specials board is agility. Prices on fish, game, and seasonal produce move weekly, sometimes daily. A special that hit 70% GP last Tuesday can slip to 58% by Friday if your supplier's fish price jumps. Build a five-minute re-costing habit whenever delivery prices change, and adjust the board price the same day.
A specials board should be your highest-margin, most flexible profit driver — but only if every dish is costed to a real number and priced to a real GP target. Get the plate cost right, apply yields, use the ex-VAT formula, add VAT, and re-cost whenever prices shift. Do that daily and your board stops being a gamble and starts being your best margin tool.
If you'd rather not run these numbers by hand every service, try the free food cost calculator at getprepsheet.com/calculator to price a dish to your target GP in seconds — and grab the ready-made Excel costing templates in the shop to keep your whole specials board costed and consistent.