Per-Meal Cost & Profitability Tracker
Analyze the true cost and profitability of a single meal by factoring in ingredients, labor, and overhead. This tool is essential for accurate pricing and cost control in high-volume catering environments.
Accurately price your services to win competitive contracts while ensuring profitability on every meal served.
Pinpoint the exact cost of ingredients, labor, and overhead for each meal to identify and control expenses.
Analyze the profitability of different menu items to design cost-effective, appealing menus for large-scale operations.
Results
Enter values and click Calculate to see results
Understanding Per-Meal Costing
In institutional and contract catering, profitability hinges on understanding the full cost of every single meal served. It's not enough to know your food cost; you must also accurately allocate labor and overhead to each plate. Labor cost per meal is the price of the kitchen staff's time to prepare one meal, while overhead per meal includes a small slice of rent, utilities, and administrative costs.
By combining these three components, you arrive at the 'true cost' of a meal. Comparing this to the selling price reveals your actual profit margin, allowing you to make data-driven decisions for bidding on contracts and designing menus.
Frequently Asked Questions
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