Ingredient Price Increase Menu Price Calculator

Shows what a supplier price increase does to a menu item's plate cost, food cost percentage and monthly gross profit, and the new menu price needed to protect margin, for owners and chefs repricing under inflation.

Your estimate

New plate cost after the increase...

Food cost percentage if you hold the price...

Menu price needed under your strategy...

Monthly gross profit at risk if you hold the price...

Estimates only. Assumptions are listed below, and you can change every input.

When a supplier raises prices, the instinct is to either absorb it quietly or push the whole increase straight onto the menu. Both can be wrong. Absorbing it erodes gross profit on every plate, while a blunt price hike can overshoot if only part of the plate got more expensive. The useful question is exactly how much of this item's cost moved and what price change, if any, brings the item back to where you want it.

The estimator starts from your current plate cost and menu price. It applies the percentage increase to the share of the plate cost that is actually affected, giving a new plate cost and the food cost percentage you would run if you left the price alone. You then choose a strategy: hold the same food cost percentage, which scales the price up proportionally, or hold the same gross profit dollars per plate, which passes through only the cost increase itself. The monthly figure shows how much gross profit is on the line if you do nothing.

How to use this tool

Enter the item's current plate cost and menu price, then the percentage increase your supplier announced.
If only some ingredients went up, estimate what share of the plate cost those ingredients represent and enter it; leave 100 if the whole plate is affected.
Add monthly sales volume, pick whether you want to hold food cost percentage or hold gross profit dollars, and compare the resulting price with what your guests will accept.

What the math assumes

The percentage increase applies only to the share of plate cost you mark as affected; the rest of the plate cost stays flat.
Holding food cost percentage means the new price equals the new plate cost divided by your current food cost percentage; holding gross profit dollars means the new price rises by exactly the cost increase per plate.
Monthly gross profit at risk is the cost increase per plate multiplied by plates sold per month, and assumes sales volume does not change.
No allowance is made for the demand effect of a higher price; the tool shows the arithmetic, not a forecast of how guests will react.
Figures are pre-tax US dollars and cover food cost only; labor and overhead changes are not included.

Frequently asked questions

Which strategy should I choose, hold the percentage or hold the dollars?

Holding gross profit dollars gives the smaller price increase and keeps the cash contribution of the item unchanged. Holding food cost percentage raises the price more and protects your blended food cost target. Many operators hold dollars on price-sensitive items and hold percentage on signature dishes.

What if I do not know the exact share of plate cost that is affected?

Cost the recipe once and look at what the affected ingredients add up to as a fraction of the total. If protein is $3.00 of a $5.00 plate cost, the share is 60. A rough estimate is far better than assuming the whole plate went up.

Can I use this for a price decrease?

Yes. Enter a negative percentage and the tool shows the lower plate cost, the improved food cost percentage and a negative amount at risk, which is the extra gross profit you keep if you hold the price.

Should I raise the price on every item by the same percentage?

Usually not. Items with different cost structures are hit differently by the same supplier increase. Running the calculator per item tells you where the real pressure is and where a small change, or none at all, is enough.

Link to this toolhttps://platecostr.com/tools/ingredient-price-increase/

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