Put in the menu price and what goes on the plate, and see the gross profit you actually keep — worked out after VAT, the way your accounts will see it — plus the price you'd need to hit your target.
Cost per portion, excluding VAT.
Profit per portion: £10.67
Worked on the price including VAT it would wrongly read 74.3%.
Gross profit, or GP, is what's left of a dish's selling price once you take away what went into it. As a percentage it is that profit divided by the selling price. A dish that sells for £15 after VAT and costs £4.50 to make has £10.50 of GP, which is 70%. It is the share of every sale left over to pay for staff, rent, energy and, eventually, you.
The menu price includes VAT, and that VAT is never yours — it goes to HMRC. So GP is worked out on the price after VAT. Divide by the price including VAT instead and, at 20%, a dish that really makes 70% looks like 75%. It is the most common GP mistake, and it makes every dish on the menu look healthier than it is.
Markup compares the profit to the cost; GP compares it to the selling price. A dish that costs £5 and sells for £15 after VAT has a 200% markup and a 67% GP. Both are correct, but they are different numbers, and mixing them up is how a target of 70% turns into a price that is far too low.
UK operators commonly aim for around 65–70% GP on food and 70% or more on drinks, with cocktails, coffee and soft drinks usually higher. It varies with the style of venue and the dish. Your best-sellers matter most: a few points on the dish you sell two hundred times a week is worth more than the whole of a slow-moving special.
Cost the dish properly first, garnish and oil included, because small items add up. Check portion sizes against the recipe. Watch supplier prices, since a dish costed in spring is rarely right by autumn. And look at the menu as a whole: move the guest towards the dishes with the best margin rather than squeezing every one.
Take VAT off the menu price, subtract the cost of the ingredients, then divide what's left by the price after VAT and multiply by 100. For example, £18 including 20% VAT is £15; with £4.50 of ingredients the GP is £10.50, or 70%.
Without. The VAT in the menu price belongs to the tax authority, so GP is worked out on the price after VAT. Using the price including VAT overstates GP by several points.
They are two sides of the same number. Food cost % is ingredient cost divided by the price after VAT; GP % is everything else. A 30% food cost is a 70% GP.
The same way: add up the cost of each measure, the mixers and the garnish for one drink, then put in the menu price. Drinks usually carry a higher GP than food, so set your target accordingly.
Yes. US menu prices usually exclude sales tax, so choose Other and set the tax to 0. The calculator then works as a food cost and gross profit calculator on the menu price.
ShiftPlate updates recipe costs from your supplier invoices and ranks your margins by what you actually sell, so the GP on every dish stays current without a spreadsheet.