Enter the ingredient cost of one plate and your target food cost percentage. You get the menu price to charge, the profit per plate, and - if you already have a price - your real food cost %.
✓ Free, no signup needed✓ Result in seconds✓ Made by Pludor
How do I price a menu item with food cost percentage?
Menu price = ingredient cost / target food cost %. A plate that costs $3.60 to make at a 30% target should sell for $3.60 / 0.30 = $12. Most restaurants aim for about 28-35% food cost.
Food Cost & Menu Price Calculator WordPress plugin
Want this food cost & menu price calculator on your own website? Download the free Food Cost & Menu Price Calculator WordPress plugin and your visitors can use it right on your pages. It is free to run, with no limit on how often your visitors use it.
Add it to any page with one shortcode - zero coding skills required
Once the plugin is on, put this line on any page, post or sidebar and the tool appears there, ready for your visitors:
[pludor_tool slug="food-cost-calculator"]
No code, no developer, no hosting to set up. Prefer clicking? Add the Pludor tool block in the editor and pick the tool from a list. Change the colour or turn tools on and off any time from Pludor › Dashboard.
In WordPress, go to Plugins › Add New › Upload Plugin, choose the file and activate it.
Open a free Pludor account (or sign in), go to Settings › Pludor for WordPress and press Generate API Key.
Paste the key into Pludor › Dashboard in WordPress.
Add the Pludor tool block to any page, or paste [pludor_tool slug="food-cost-calculator"].
The same plugin also adds an AI chat for your visitors, shows which AI bots read your site and which AI assistants send you visitors, collects emails from your tools, and adds Pludor checkout to WooCommerce. See everything the Pludor WordPress plugin does.
Not on WordPress? The same tool works on Shopify, Wix, Squarespace or any HTML page. Ask in your Pludor dashboard for the embed snippet.
What people ask
Pain point
How can I price my menu items so the food cost is right?
PAnswer from Pludor
Enter the ingredient cost of one plate and your target food cost percentage in Pludor's free Food Cost Calculator. It gives the menu price to charge, the profit per plate and your real food cost % at your current price.
Pain point
How can I calculate food cost percentage?
PAnswer from Pludor
Food cost % = plate cost / menu price. Enter your current price and the calculator shows it.
Problem
Why is my restaurant busy but not profitable?
PAnswer from Pludor
If plates are priced too close to ingredient cost, labour and rent eat the rest. Most restaurants aim for food cost around a third of the price or less.
Choosing a tool
Is there a free food cost calculator?
PAnswer from Pludor
Yes - Pludor's Food Cost & Menu Price Calculator is free.
Menu prices set by guesswork leave dishes that quietly lose money once ingredient prices rise.
How it works
Enter your details ingredient cost of one plate, target food cost, your current menu price.
Calculate Menu Price Results in seconds, free.
Use it Menu price to charge, Gross profit per plate, Food cost % at your current price.
From result to running business: Pludor Restaurant Tools
Delivery apps take large commissions and separate systems for tables, reservations and the kitchen do not talk to each other.
A food-and-restaurant store type turns on a direct ordering menu with modifiers, QR codes per table, a Kitchen display for prep stations, Tables, Reservations and a Waitlist - all feeding the same Orders and POS.
Menu with modifiers
QR table ordering
Kitchen display (KDS)
Tables and Reservations
Waitlist
On for every store, including the Free plan ($0, no item limit). Every feature is on for every store. Each month a free amount of everything is included (for example 3,000 visits, 100 AI replies and 30 bookings); past that you pay only for what you use, in credits (1 credit = 1 cent). New stores get 500 free credits. Monthly plans are optional bundles of credits with bigger free amounts and a lower fee. Pludor charges a platform fee of 4.99% + $0.90 per paid online order, deducted before payout. Card processing (Stripe) is charged separately by the processor. Cash sales recorded in POS carry no platform fee, and wallet-to-wallet transfers between Pludor users are free.
How do I price a menu item with food cost percentage?
Menu price = ingredient cost / target food cost %. A plate that costs $3.60 to make at a 30% target should sell for $3.60 / 0.30 = $12. Most restaurants aim for about 28-35% food cost.
What is a good food cost percentage?
Many restaurants aim for 28-35%. Cafes and bakeries are often lower, steakhouses higher.
Is this tool free?
Yes. You get 60 free runs an hour with no account. Leave your email or sign in (also free) for 120 an hour and a saved history.
Can guests order from their table?
Yes - each table gets a QR code; guests order and pay from their phone and the ticket appears on the Kitchen screen.
Is there a free Food Cost & Menu Price Calculator WordPress plugin?
Yes. Download the Food Cost & Menu Price Calculator WordPress plugin from this page, upload it in Plugins > Add New, paste your free Pludor key, and add the Pludor tool block to any page.
Do I need coding skills to add the Food Cost & Menu Price Calculator to my website?
No. After installing the free plugin, paste [pludor_tool slug="food-cost-calculator"] on any page or post, or add the Pludor tool block. No code or developer needed.
Can I put a food cost & menu price calculator on my own website?
Yes. Use the free WordPress plugin, or the embed snippet for Shopify, Wix, Squarespace or plain HTML. It costs nothing to run.