Why a spreadsheet cost price is always out of date
In an average hospitality business, 28 to 32 cents of every euro in turnover goes to purchasing, while roughly 3 cents of net profit remains at the bottom line. At those margins, a cost price that's six months old isn't administrative sloppiness, it's a direct loss: an ingredient that became 20 percent more expensive and appears in ten dishes can eat your entire profit without anyone noticing. Updating it manually takes about half an hour per dish, so in practice it simply doesn't happen.
How the calculation works
For each recipe line, the quantity is converted to the ingredient's base unit, for example from a 6-kilo box to a price per gram. That price comes from the most recently processed invoice or price agreement with the supplier you buy that product from. Semi-finished products count as their own sub-recipes, including their yield after preparation, so a sauce that reduces isn't calculated using its pre-reduction weight. What KitchenOps never does is estimate a price: if a purchase price is missing, the system flags it as a gap instead of filling it in with an average.
From cost price to selling price
Once the cost price is accurate, you see the margin in euros and the food cost percentage for each dish, along with the recommended selling price based on the target percentage you've set. If the dish also sells through your till, actual sales data is added, so you see not just what a dish earns per plate, but also what it has contributed over the whole month.
Price increases you wouldn't otherwise notice
Every processed invoice is compared to the previous price of the same item. If something becomes more expensive, you get an alert along with the dishes that consequently fall below your target margin. That way you don't have to go digging, and you know what needs attention that same week, rather than at the end of the month.
Frequently asked questions
How do you calculate the cost price of a dish?
Add up the cost price of all ingredients in the recipe, converting each quantity to the unit you purchase in. A recipe that uses 180 grams from a 6-kilo box costing 54 euros works out to 9 euros per kilo, so 1.62 euros for that line. In KitchenOps this conversion happens automatically, including for packaging and per-piece weights.
What's a good food cost percentage?
In most restaurants, food cost runs between 25 and 35 percent of the selling price excluding VAT, depending on the type of business and the dish. More important than the average is which dishes are far off the mark, and you'll only spot those once your cost prices are up to date.
Do I have to re-enter all my recipes?
No. We take over your existing recipes from PDF, Word, or even a photo of a recipe folder. A complete menu is usually set up in an afternoon, with cost prices immediately linked to your current purchase prices.
Does this work without a link to my supplier?
Yes. You can email or photograph invoices from any supplier, after which they're read line by line and matched to your ingredients. For Bidfood, this happens fully automatically through the daily price list.
Updated: 2026-08-09