Getting your pricing wrong quietly erodes profit — here’s how to calculate it properly.
Cost every ingredient precisely. Break each dish down to the exact cost per portion, including small items like sauces and garnishes that are easy to overlook.
Include more than just ingredients. Packaging, a share of labour, and overheads (rent, utilities) all need to be reflected in your target margin, not just raw food cost.
Understand your food cost percentage. Most UK restaurants and takeaways aim for a food cost of roughly 28-35% of the selling price, though this varies by cuisine and business model.
Factor in commission separately. If a dish is sold through a commission-charging marketplace, that cost needs to be accounted for in addition to food cost — many businesses under-price for this.
Review prices regularly. Ingredient costs change; menu prices reviewed only once a year often lag behind rising costs and quietly shrink your margin.
Price combos and sides carefully. Bundled items should still individually contribute a healthy margin — a “deal” that loses money on volume isn’t a good deal for the business.
Use real sales data. Your EPOS system’s sales reports show actual item-level performance, which is far more reliable than assumptions when reviewing prices.
Moving orders to a commission-free channel with CholoEAT directly improves the margin on every dish, without changing a single price. See pricing and packages.
