Pizza food cost and margin calculator
Food cost is what the dough, sauce, cheese, toppings and box cost you for one pie; the food cost ratio is that figure against the menu price. In the US the menu price is already pre-tax, since sales tax is added at the register, so the math is direct. The example below, a 14-inch cheese pie with one topping, lands around 23%.
Pepperoni, sausage, vegetables…
Box, liner, cups of sauce.
As printed, before sales tax.
Food cost
$4.12
Food cost ratio
22.9%
Against the menu price
Gross margin
$13.88
77.1% of the price
Multiplier
× 4.4
Menu price ÷ food cost
- Flour
- $0.30
- Sauce
- $0.47
- Cheese
- $1.75
- Toppings
- $1
- Packaging
- $0.60
- Total food cost
- $4.12
The other way round: what should I charge?
Suggested menu price
$14.70
Before sales tax
The defaults are an example, not a benchmark: about 9.5 oz of flour for a 14-inch dough ball, 5 oz of sauce, 8 oz of low-moisture mozzarella and one topping. Replace them with your own recipe and your own supplier invoices; cheese prices in particular move every month.
Sales tax is not part of the margin, in either direction
In most of Europe the menu price includes VAT, and forgetting to take it out flatters every margin. The US works the other way. Your menu price is before tax; sales tax is added on top at the register and passed on to your state and city. It is never your money, so leave it out of food cost entirely.
What a sensible ratio looks like
| Ratio | Multiplier | |
|---|---|---|
| Cheese and simple classics | 20% to 25% | × 4 to 5 |
| Loaded and meat pies | 28% to 33% | × 3 to 3.5 |
| Premium or seasonal specials | 33% to 38% | × 2.6 to 3 |
| Fountain drinks | 10% to 20% | × 5 to 10 |
Working ranges, not rules. A single high-ratio pie is fine if it sells the rest of the menu.
Chase the blended ratio across what actually sells, not each pie in isolation. A cheese pie quietly subsidizing a generous specialty is a normal, healthy arrangement; a specialty subsidizing nothing is not.
What this deliberately leaves out
Labor, rent, utilities, waste, card fees and the commission on an app order. Food cost is one line, not profitability: a pie with a lovely 23% food cost sold through an app at 30% commission is a different business entirely.