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Menu price calculator: from food cost to menu price

From the supplier's invoice to the price on your menu, for every dish and every drink. With the right VAT for the UK and Ireland, and your GP worked out for you.

Work out my prices
  • Free, no sign-up
  • Stays in your browser
  • Costing sheet to print

The calculator

Price your food and drinks

Type what the ingredients cost. The calculator shows you the price for your menu, already rounded up. Add your current price to see if it's enough.

How you work it out

Where do you sell?

UK: 20% VAT on food and drinks eaten in. This sets the VAT on your prices.

Food cost % (GP): Target Food 30%, Hot drinks & juice 25%, Soft drinks & alcohol 20% · round up to .50

My menu

Tap a dish to edit it. Add your current price to see if it's enough.

  1. Dish 1

    As it is on your menu.

    What is it?

    This sets the VAT and your target.

    What do the ingredients cost?

    Type what you buy and how much of it goes into the recipe. We work out the rest.

    1. Bought
      In the recipe

      Costs in the recipe: 9.20

    2. Bought
      In the recipe

      Costs in the recipe: 8.01

    3. Bought
      In the recipe

      Costs in the recipe: 4.80

    4. Bought
      In the recipe

      Costs in the recipe: 1.91

    5. Bought
      In the recipe

      Costs in the recipe: 2.28

    6. Bought
      In the recipe

      Costs in the recipe: 3.20

    All ingredients: 29.40

    How many plates do the quantities above make?

    Oil, butter, salt, spices you don't list one by one. Often 3 to 5%.

    Most food you buy has 0% VAT in the UK, so type your prices as they are on the invoice. Drinks you buy in, like soft drinks and alcohol, carry 20% VAT: type those prices without VAT.

    Only for takeaway: cup, box, lid. Otherwise leave it empty.

    Then you see if it's enough.

    Your price: Full English Breakfast

    Menu price

    12.50

    instead of 12.12 · rounded up to .50 · Amounts in £

    Food costWhat the ingredients for one portion cost.
    3.03
    Price without VATWhat you keep from the menu price.
    10.42
    VAT 20%
    2.08
    Food cost percentageHow much of the price without VAT goes on ingredients. GP is the rest. Target 30%.
    29.1%
    Gross profit per portionWhat's left for staff, rent and profit.
    7.39

    Multiplier 3.44 on the price without VAT = 4.13 on the menu price

    Goes into the app as: 12.50

    Rules of thumb, not tax advice. Use your real purchase prices.

All worked out?

A4 with all dishes and recipes. In the print window you can also save it as a PDF.

Add your prices to momoscreen

Your dishes go into the app with name and price: on your QR menu and your printed menu. Free, no subscription.

You check everything before it's saved. New dishes are added, nothing is replaced. Food costs and recipes stay in this browser.

New prices ready? With the free menu maker you print your new menu right away.

Saved automatically in this browser. Nothing goes to a server.

The price staircase

How a delivery becomes a menu price

Every menu price is built in six steps. Here with the Full English Breakfast at Café Lina in Bristol, from the supplier's invoice to the line on the menu.

The sum in one sentence

Food cost divided by your target food cost, then VAT on top, then round up.

Food cost per portion

Food cost is what the ingredients for one portion cost. You work it out from the recipe: purchase price divided by the quantity you bought, times the quantity in the recipe. For vegetables, add the waste: mushroom stalks and bruised bits are about 10%. Butter for the toast, oil, salt and pepper hardly anyone lists one by one, so add a few percent for them. Then divide by the number of portions. If you're VAT registered, use purchase prices without VAT.

Food cost % and GP

Food cost % says how much of the price without VAT goes on ingredients. In the UK most people talk about GP, gross profit in percent: it's the other side of the same number. 30% food cost is 70% GP, and that 70% pays for staff, rent, energy and your profit. Rule of thumb, not a rule: food usually sits at 25 to 35% food cost, so 65 to 75% GP. Drinks cost less.

Markup multiplier: with or without VAT?

The multiplier is the same sum from the other side: 30% food cost means food cost times 3.33. That's on the price without VAT. If you use the multiplier on the menu price, the VAT is in it. For the Full English, 3.44 without VAT is the same as 4.13 on the menu price. Many guides say “times 4” and not on what. The calculator shows you both numbers.

Gross profit in cash

Gross profit is what's left per portion: price without VAT minus food cost. For the Full English that's 10.42 minus 3.03, so 7.39. From that you pay staff, rent and energy, the rest is your profit. So look at the amount too, not just the percentage: an espresso with a great GP earns you 1.79, the Full English more than four times as much.

Rounding up

Exactly it would be 12.12. Menus show round prices like 12.50 or 12.95. The calculator always rounds up, never down, so your food cost % doesn't get worse. How prices look good on a menu is in our menu design tips.

VAT

Take the VAT off first, then work out your GP

VAT is in every menu price, and you never keep it. In the UK it's 20% on everything eaten in. In Ireland food and drinks have different rates, so one multiplier for everything costs you money.

In the UK, food and drinks eaten in are all 20% VAT. That's a sixth of every menu price: of the 12.50 for the Full English, 2.08 is VAT and 10.42 is yours. So take the VAT off first by dividing by 1.2, then work out your GP. Worked out on 12.50, the breakfast looks like 24% food cost. In truth it's 29.1%.

In Ireland, food, tea, coffee and fruit juice have 9% VAT since July 2026, soft drinks, bottled water and alcohol 23%. The cake and the lemonade here both cost 1.05 and sell for 4.20. The cake leaves you 2.80, the lemonade only 2.36. At a hundred bottles a week that's €44 that goes to Revenue, not to you.

In the calculator you give every dish its type: food, hot drink or juice, soft drink or alcohol. It works out the price without VAT first and then adds the right rate. For drinks your target starts lower, 25% and 20% instead of 30%. You can change both.

Whole menu

Check your whole menu

One dish is quick to price. It gets interesting when they're all side by side: where is the price still fine, and where not any more?

Type your current price for each dish. Green means the price hits your target. Amber means tight, up to 5 percentage points over. Red means you make clearly less here than planned. With “Load example” you see Café Lina's whole menu.

Check your menu when a supplier puts prices up, when you change a recipe and when the season changes. At Café Lina, bacon and eggs got dearer, and the menu still said 11.50 for the Full English. At 12.50 it's fine again.

Not every dish has to be green. A cheap favourite that almost everyone orders can be tight if other dishes earn more. For the avocado toast, Café Lina has three options: raise the price, serve a smaller portion or swap an ingredient. What matters is that you know and decide on purpose. For your records, print a costing sheet with all dishes and recipes, also as a PDF.

Add to momoscreen

From the calculator to your menu

The new prices still have to get onto your menu. With a free momoscreen account you add names and prices to the app: to your QR menu and to a menu you can print.

Which price goes over: if your current price is green, it stays. Otherwise the calculator's new price goes. Food costs and recipes stay in your browser, momoscreen only gets names and prices. The dishes are added to your menu, nothing is replaced. If a dish is already in the app, you change its price there with “Change name or price”.

No account? That works too: type the prices into the free menu maker and print the new menu yourself.

Prices on the menu

What your menu has to show

The calculator does the sums. What guests see on your menu is set by law. The key points for menu prices, in short:

UK

  • Prices are total prices: with VAT and every charge guests have to pay, such as a set cover charge (DMCC Act 2024, s. 230).
  • A service charge has to be truly optional and clearly shown. It isn't part of your menu price or of the calculator.

Ireland

  • A notice at the entrance lists each food and soft drink with its price including VAT, plus any service, cover or minimum charge (S.I. 213/1984).
  • Licensed premises list every drink with its quantity and price inside, and put an A4 notice with 16 standard drinks at the entrance (S.I. 263/1999).

Drinks in Great Britain

  • Gin, rum, vodka and whisky are served in 25 ml or 35 ml. A notice on the premises says which (Weights and Measures (Intoxicating Liquor) Order 1988).
  • Wine by the glass comes in 125 ml, 175 ml or multiples. The sizes go on a notice or in every wine list and menu.

So a compulsory charge isn't added on top: it belongs in your menu price. How to show your drinks clearly is on the drink menu template page. Notices, cover charges and fines are in our guide to menu price display rules.

Sources and legal status

Rules as of October 2026. Not tax or legal advice: rules of thumb are experience, not duties. If in doubt, ask your accountant, HMRC or Revenue.

Questions

Questions about menu pricing

Your question isn't here? Send us an email at info@momoscreen.com.

What is food cost?

What the ingredients for one portion cost, without VAT. You work it out from the recipe: purchase price divided by the quantity you bought, times the quantity in the recipe, plus waste and small ingredients, divided by the portions. Your accounts also have a food cost for a whole month: opening stock plus purchases minus closing stock. The calculator works per dish.

What food cost % or GP should I aim for?

A rule of thumb, not a rule: food usually at 25 to 35% food cost, which is 65 to 75% GP. Drinks cost less, so their GP is higher. Your number depends on your business: a café that sells a lot of coffee sits lower than a steakhouse.

Markup multiplier: on the price with or without VAT?

Use the multiplier on the price without VAT. Then it works the same for food and drinks, whatever the VAT rate. A multiplier of 3.33 without VAT is 3.63 on the menu price for food in Ireland (9%) and 4.10 for a soft drink (23%). In the UK (20%) it's 4.00 on both. The calculator shows both numbers for every dish.

Which VAT applies to food and drinks in the UK and Ireland?

In the UK, food and drinks eaten in are 20%. In Ireland, food, hot tea and coffee and fruit juice are 9% since 1 July 2026, soft drinks, bottled water and alcohol 23%. If you show prices without tax and add it on the bill, as is usual in the US, pick “Tax added at the till”. Elsewhere, pick “Custom rate” and type your rate.

Which VAT applies to takeaway?

In the UK, hot takeaway food is 20%. Most cold takeaway food is 0%, except things like crisps, sweets, soft drinks, bottled water and alcohol. In Ireland, hot takeaway food is 9% and cold takeaway food 0%. The calculator prices for eating in. Add cups and boxes as packaging per portion.

I'm not VAT registered. How do I work out my prices?

Pick “Custom rate” and type 0. Then no VAT goes on your price. As you can't reclaim VAT on what you buy, type your purchase prices as you paid them. Whether you need to register is a question for your accountant.

Where do staff, rent and energy come in?

In the gross profit: price without VAT minus food cost. At 30% food cost, 70% of the price without VAT is left for all other costs and your profit. If your costs are high, set a lower target food cost, e.g. 28% instead of 30%.

Should I round to .50, .95 or whole pounds?

No law says so. Many places use .50 or .95, some whole pounds. Stick to one style and your menu looks calm. The calculator always rounds up, never down. How prices read well on a menu is in our menu design tips.

How often should I check my prices?

Whenever a supplier changes prices, when you change a recipe or your menu. Otherwise a look once or twice a year is enough. Your dishes stay saved in the calculator in this browser, you only type the new purchase prices.

Is anything saved or sent?

Your entries stay in your browser on this device, nothing goes to our server. Only when you tap “Add prices to momoscreen” do the names and prices of your dishes go with it. Food costs and recipes stay with you even then.

Can I put the prices straight onto my menu?

Yes, in two ways. With a free momoscreen account you add names and prices to the app, to your QR menu and to a menu you can print. The dishes are added, existing ones aren't replaced. Or you type the prices into the free menu maker and print the menu.

New prices, up to date everywhere

With the free account you change a price once in the app. Your QR menu and the screen above the counter show it automatically, and you print a fresh menu with one tap.

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