How to build the selling price of a dish, step by step

A dish price is built in four steps: ingredient cost, a share of fixed costs per cover, the desired margin, and finally the consumption tax applicable in your country, which should always be checked with your accountant since it varies by rate and product category.

1. Ingredient cost

This is the sum of each ingredient's cost for the quantity used in the standard recipe, including minor components like oil, salt and seasoning, which are often forgotten but add up over time.

2. The fixed-cost share per cover

Rent, utilities, front-of-house staff and depreciation do not depend on a single dish but must be covered by all dishes sold. If monthly fixed costs are €18,000 and the venue serves 2,000 covers a month on average, the fixed share per cover is €9. This should be distributed across dishes in proportion to their weight on the menu, not applied identically to a starter and a main.

3. The desired margin

Margin is not a whim: it must cover unforeseen events (waste, returns, supplier price changes) and generate the profit that makes the business sustainable. It should be calculated in absolute cash per dish, not just as a percentage, for the same reason seen with contribution margin.

4. Consumption tax

The tax applicable to food and beverage sales varies from country to country and, often, by product category within the same country. It must always be added on top of the base price calculated in the previous three steps, and checked with your accountant or tax advisor before printing the menu, since an error here affects every single sale.

Psychological rounding

A price calculated at €15.00 often stays at €15.00 or drops to €14.90 in the customer's perception, since they tend to read only the first digit. A price of €15.40 rounded up to €15.50 is almost unnoticeable to the customer but adds up real margin across every sale in the month. Rounding should always go up when the calculation lands in between, never down out of habit.

To quickly calculate a dish's food cost and to test different price scenarios, use Klyra's free tools: /strumenti/calcolo-food-cost and /strumenti/prezzo-menu.