Practical, no-nonsense guides to costing, pricing and running a tighter kitchen. Free — and they pair with the food-cost calculator and the recipe tool.
The short answer: forecast tomorrow's covers by averaging the same weekday from the last four to six weeks, adjust that number for trend, weather, events,…
2026-07-31Food cost & GPThe formula is simple: Cost per gram (or ml) = ex-VAT pack price ÷ total grams (or ml) in the pack Everything else in this article is about getting those…
2026-07-29Recipe scalingShort answer: Cost the entire batch, divide that total by the finished, strained, cooled yield — not the volume of liquid you started with — to get a cost…
2026-07-27Menu pricingShort answer: work backwards from what you actually keep. On a standard-rated hot food order, a VAT-registered UK restaurant keeps roughly menu price × (1…
2026-07-25Food cost & GPTo cost a bulk buffet menu and hit a target gross profit (GP), work out the total ingredient cost per head, then divide that cost by your target food cost…
2026-07-23Food cost & GPTo cost a daily special that hits your target gross profit, work backwards from your GP percentage: calculate the total ingredient cost per portion, then…
2026-07-21Tools & comparisonsYour food cost variance is the gap between what your food should have cost (ideal) and what it actually cost (actual), expressed as a percentage or pound…
2026-07-19DrinksTo cost a cocktail, add up the exact cost of every ingredient in the pour — spirits, mixers, garnish, ice loss and consumables — then divide by your…
2026-07-17GuidesThe fastest way to keep recipe costs accurate when supplier prices fluctuate is to cost by unit price (cost per gram, per ml, per each) rather than pack…
2026-07-15Food cost & GPA standardised recipe card is a written document that specifies exactly how to produce a menu item every single time — the same ingredients, quantities,…
2026-07-13CateringFor 50 guests, plan on roughly 1.2–1.5kg of food per person across a full meal — but that headline number hides the detail that actually keeps you from…
2026-07-11Recipe scalingBuild your batch prep schedule by working backward from service, grouping tasks by equipment and station, and assigning every prep item a specific owner,…
2026-07-09Food cost & GPTo calculate your labour cost percentage, divide your total labour cost for a period by your total revenue for the same period, then multiply by 100:…
2026-07-07Stock & wasteThe fastest way to cut food waste and recover lost profit is to measure what you throw away before you try to fix it. Most kitchens waste 4–10% of the…
2026-07-05GuidesThe fastest way to build a mise en place prep list for a busy shift is to work backward from your menu: list every dish, break each one into its prep…
2026-07-03Stock & wasteThe short answer: yield percentage = (usable weight after prep ÷ purchased weight) × 100. To find the true cost of what you actually serve, divide the…
2026-07-01Stock & wasteTo set par levels for kitchen prep, calculate the average amount of each prepped item you use per service, add a safety buffer based on shelf life and…
2026-06-28DrinksTo price a coffee shop drink correctly, add up the cost of every ingredient in the cup, divide that cost by your target cost percentage (usually 20–25%…
2026-06-27Stock & wasteTo work out your actual food cost percentage, you count and value your inventory at the start and end of a period, add what you bought in between, and…
2026-06-27CateringTo price a catering job per head in the UK, divide your total costs (food, labour, overheads) by the number of guests, then add your profit margin. As a…
2026-06-27Prep & kitchenA kitchen prep sheet is a daily checklist that tells your team exactly what to prepare, how much, and in what order before service begins. To write one,…
2026-06-26Food cost & GPTo cost a recipe in a UK kitchen, add up the cost of every ingredient at the exact quantity used, divide by the number of portions it yields, and you have…
2026-06-26Recipe scalingTo scale a recipe, multiply every ingredient by a conversion factor (new yield ÷ original yield). But that simple math is where most people stop — and…
2026-06-26Menu pricingThe fastest way to find low-margin dishes is to calculate two numbers for every menu item: its contribution margin (menu price minus food cost) and its…
2026-06-26Stock & wasteYour actual food cost percentage is calculated with one core formula: (Opening Stock + Purchases − Closing Stock) ÷ Food Sales × 100 That number — not…
2026-06-26DrinksTo price a sandwich or coffee profitably in a UK cafe, work out your food cost per item, divide it by your target food cost percentage (usually 25–35%),…
2026-06-26Tools & comparisonsIf you run a small UK kitchen or food truck and can't justify MarketMan's or Toast's monthly fees, the best free food costing options are Google Sheets…
2026-06-26Tools & comparisonsFor most small UK cafes and restaurants, a free calculator or spreadsheet is genuinely enough to get started — if you run fewer than about 30 menu items,…
2026-06-26BakingTo price a cake in the UK, add up your ingredient costs, add your overheads (energy, packaging, equipment wear), multiply your labour hours by an hourly…
2026-06-25Food cost & GPA free recipe costing template for UK kitchens is simply a spreadsheet that lists each ingredient, its purchase cost, the quantity used in a recipe, and…
2026-06-25CateringTo price catering per head in the UK, add up your food cost per person, then multiply by 3 to 4 to cover overheads, labour, and profit. As a working rule,…
2026-06-25Food cost & GPTo calculate gross profit on food in the UK, work from the VAT-exclusive selling price, subtract your ingredient cost, then divide that figure by the net…
2026-06-25Food cost & GPFood cost percentage is the cost of ingredients in a dish divided by its menu price, multiplied by 100. The formula is simple: Food Cost % = (Cost of…
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