Food cost calculator for Australian restaurants and cafes
Food cost is what the ingredients on one plate cost you, divided by the menu price without GST. Most Aussie venues aim for 25% to 35%. The average reported is 38%. Put in one dish below and see where yours sits.
Free tool · Food cost calculator
What does this dish really cost you?
Put in what you pay and what goes on the plate. You get your real food cost with the GST taken out, what you keep, and the price that hits your target. Two minutes, one dish.
The price on your menu.
Bones, peel, spills. 5% is fair.
Optional. Shows the real money.
Your food cost
Add your ingredients and menu price.
How do I get a true food cost number?
- Use your latest invoice. Not the price from six months ago. Suppliers move, your menu did not.
- Weigh one real plate. Not the recipe card. What the line actually sends out on a Saturday.
- Count the small stuff. Oil, sauce, garnish, the takeaway box. Ten lines of 30 cents is $3 a plate.
- Leave waste in. Trim, bones and spills are real costs. 5% is a fair start, more for seafood and fresh herbs.
Why does the GST come out?
One eleventh of every menu price belongs to the ATO. If you work out food cost on the price with GST, a 35% dish looks like 32%. That gap is how a menu that looks fine on paper still leaves you short at BAS time.
Is one dish my real food cost?
This tool shows you one plate. Your real food cost is everything you bought, less what is left in the cool room, divided by food sales, every week. Staff meals, comps and the dish nobody orders all land in that number. The food cost guide shows you how to count it and what pushes it up.
Common questions
How do you work out food cost percentage?
Add up what the ingredients on one plate cost you, then divide by the menu price without GST and times by 100. A $7 plate on a $24 menu price is $7 divided by $21.82, which is 32.1%.
What is a good food cost percentage in Australia?
Most Australian venues aim for 25% to 35%. Australian operators reported an average of 38% of turnover in the R&CA 2025 Industry Benchmarking Report.
Should food cost be worked out with or without GST?
Without. One eleventh of every menu price is GST and goes to the ATO, so it is not your money. Working it out on the GST inclusive price makes every dish look about 9% better than it is.
Related guides
- What should food cost percentage be in an Australian restaurant?
- Should I raise my menu prices?
- Why is my cafe losing money?
- Why is my restaurant busy but not profitable?
Sources: R&CA 2025 Industry Benchmarking Report (average food cost reported by Australian operators). Everything else from eleven years running Great Aunty Three.