5.6. Food Cost Tool

Food cost percentage shows how much of your sales goes to ingredient cost. It is one of the key measures for pricing and profitability. The Food cost analizi (food cost analysis) tool in Ritapos compares your actual food cost for a chosen period with your target. In this lesson you will learn to use the tool and read its results correctly.

What food cost is and how it is calculated

Cost control sources calculate food cost for a period like this (Dopson and Hayes, 2015; BC Cook Articulation Committee, 2015):

• Cost of food sold = Opening stock + Purchases - Closing stock - Adjustments (such as staff meals)
• Food cost % = Cost of food sold / Food sales x 100

Example (sample data): opening stock 85,000.00₺, purchases 120,000.00₺, closing stock 78,000.00₺, staff meals 3,000.00₺. Cost of food sold is 85,000 + 120,000 - 78,000 - 3,000 = 124,000.00₺. With food sales of 400,000.00₺, food cost is 124,000 / 400,000 x 100 = 31%.

You can also find a sale price from a target percentage (BC Cook Articulation Committee, 2015):

Sale price = Portion cost / Target food cost percentage

For a portion cost of 112.00₺ and a 30% target, the price is 112 / 0.30 = 373.33₺ (sample data).

For a quick calculation, use the food cost calculator.

How Ritapos calculates food cost

Food cost analysis does not use stock counts. It uses the product Maliyet (cost) value copied to the order line with each sale:

• Actual food cost % = Cost / Sales x 100
• Gross profit = Sales - Cost
• Profit margin % = Gross profit / Sales x 100
• Suggested revenue for the target = Cost / (Target % / 100)
• Food cost variance = Actual % - Target %

So the tool's percentage is closer to recipe-based cost. The periodic method also includes trim loss, waste and count differences. It is normal for the two to differ.

Lines marked as waste are not included. Complimentary items are included in cost and counted as 0.00₺ in sales.

Recipe cost and product cost are kept separate by design: you can freely try ingredients, quantities and trim loss in the recipe, while food cost analysis works with the Maliyet value you decided on and applied to the product (5.3. Cost Calculation).

Opening food cost analysis

Open Araçlar > Food cost analizi (tools, food cost analysis). You can also see all tools as cards on the Araçlar Kokpiti (tools cockpit) page. This page has the Ai Asistan, İşletme performansı, Menü mühendisliği, Reçete analizi, Prime cost analizi, Food cost analizi and Koltuk saati başına gelir cards. Each card lists its key metrics and has an Aracı aç (open tool) button.

The tool is part of the premium package. The user's role needs the Raporlar: Detaylı (reports: detailed) permission. Roles are covered in 8.1. Adding Users.

1. Choose a date range. The start time defaults to 04:00. To include the whole day, set the start time to 00:00.
2. Set your target food cost.
3. If needed, turn on Maliyeti tanımlı olmayanları analizden çıkar. (leave out items without a cost). This option is off when the page opens.
4. Click Rapor oluştur (create report).

Choosing a target food cost

With the Hedef food cost (target food cost) slider you can set a target between 5% and 70%. The default is 30%. Five levels appear above the slider. At the default 30%, Orta is highlighted:

• Çok düşük (very low): 20%
• Düşük (low): 25%
• Orta (medium): 30%
• Yüksek (high): 35%
• Çok yüksek (very high): 45%

The right target depends on your type of business, menu and pricing policy. Set it based on your own past data and menu.

Reading the indicators

The report shows three cards: Gerçek food cost (actual food cost), Brüt kâr (gross profit) and Hedefe göre önerilen ciro (suggested revenue for the target). Under Gerçek food cost you see Satış fiyatı (sales) and Maliyet (cost). These are the two amounts the percentage is calculated from. Under Brüt kâr you see Kâr marjı (profit margin). The cards show:

• Gerçek food cost: cost as a share of sales in the period.
• Brüt kâr and Kâr marjı: what remains after cost is taken from sales, and that amount as a share of sales.
• Hedefe göre önerilen ciro (suggested revenue for the target): the sales needed to reach the target food cost with the current ingredient cost.

Example (sample data): in one week, total cost is 42,000.00₺, sales are 150,000.00₺ and the target is 30%.

• Actual food cost: 42,000 / 150,000 x 100 = 28%
• Gross profit: 150,000 - 42,000 = 108,000.00₺. Profit margin: 108,000 / 150,000 x 100 = 72%
• Suggested revenue for the target: 42,000 / 0.30 = 140,000.00₺
• Food cost variance: 28 - 30 = -2 points

If the variance is within 1 point of the target, the result counts as on target. Above that it is above target, below it below target. The -2 points in the example means below target. With a total cost of 46,200.00₺, the percentage would be 30.8% and the result would count as on target.

Being below target is not always good news. If product costs are out of date, the percentage looks lower than it is.

The example in the images (Akademi demo data): date range 01.10.2026 00:00 to 09.10.2026 04:00, a 30% target and Maliyeti tanımlı olmayanları analizden çıkar. turned on. The cards show Gerçek food cost 34%, Satış fiyatı 20,020.00, Maliyet 6,904.00, Brüt kâr 13,116.00, Kâr marjı 66% and Hedefe göre önerilen ciro 23,013.33. The screen rounds percentages to whole numbers. Calculated, the percentage is 6,904 / 20,020 x 100 = 34.49 and the profit margin is 13,116 / 20,020 x 100 = 65.51. The result is more than 1 point above target.

The product groups and products table

The Gerçek ve hedef food cost (actual and target food cost) chart compares your actual percentage with the target visually. Red bars show the actual food cost and green bars show the target. The legend below the chart also includes Önceki ay (previous month).

The table below the chart has Ürün Grupları (product groups) and Ürünler (products) tabs. The columns on the products tab are Grup (group), Ürün (product), Miktar (quantity), Maliyet (cost), Satış fiyatı (sales), Gerçek food cost (actual food cost), Önerilen fiyat (suggested price) and Food cost sapması (food cost variance). Each row ends with two icon buttons.

The table shows status by row colour, not by text. Rows above target are in shades of red, rows on target have no colour and rows below target are green. In the demo example, Sezar salata, Kuzu pirzola, Somon ızgara and Izgara köfte are red. Tavuk şiş has no colour with a 0% variance. Mercimek çorbası is green with a -5% variance.

Start on the product groups tab and find the group with the largest variance. Then look at its products on the products tab. For a product with a high variance, ask:

• Is its recipe right, and has its cost been applied to the product?
• Have ingredient prices gone up since the latest invoices?
• Does the sale price need updating?

You can work out a price that fits the target with the "Sale price = Portion cost / Target percentage" formula above.

Products without a cost

A product with no cost adds to sales but not to cost, which makes the percentage look lower than it is. When you turn on Maliyeti tanımlı olmayanları analizden çıkar., these products are left out.

With the option turned off, if the analysis includes a product with no cost, an orange note appears: "Maliyeti olmayan ürünler: 1. Food cost, satış anındaki ürün alış fiyatını kullanır; oranlar düşük görünüyorsa reçete maliyetini ürüne uygulayın." (products without a cost: 1. Food cost uses the product cost at the time of sale; if percentages look low, apply the recipe cost to the product.) In the demo example, Soda is the only product with no cost, so the note shows 1.

When you switch the option on or off, the results update right away. You do not need to click Rapor oluştur again. In the demo example, Soda is included when the option is off. Satış fiyatı becomes 20,100.00 and Brüt kâr 13,196.00. Maliyet stays at 6,904.00.

This option is a short-term fix. The lasting fix is to define a cost for every product.

Reading the results correctly

• When you decide on a new cost in the recipe, move it to the product with calculate all and apply all. New sales are then recorded with that cost.
• Past sales keep the cost from the moment they were sold. Updating a cost today does not change past reports.
• Once a month, compare the tool's percentage with a periodic food cost calculation. The gap comes from trim loss, waste and count differences. Counts are covered in 5.1.5. Stock Count and waste in 5.1.6. Raw Material Waste.
• To see product popularity and contribution together, continue with 5.8. Menu Engineering Tool.

Sources

• Dopson, L. R. and Hayes, D. K. (2015). Food and Beverage Cost Control. 6th edition. Wiley. Chapter 5.
• The BC Cook Articulation Committee (2015). Basic Kitchen and Food Service Management. BCcampus. Chapters: Monthly Food Costs and The Basic Calculation of Operating Costs. Monthly Food Costs, The Basic Calculation of Operating Costs