Live plate cost
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Key takeaway: Plate cost is what everything on one plate costs you: the main recipe, sides, sauce, garnish and packaging. In Varastiq, recorded ingredient prices flow into the recipes and dishes that use them. Review and post an invoice's ingredient matches, units and prices to keep those costs current; unmatched or missing costs need your attention.
What it's worth: one point of food cost on $1M in food sales is $10,000 a year. Varastiq helps you review item usage in reporting and large count changes while counting.
What is plate cost?
Plate cost is the total ingredient cost of one menu item as served. It's built from recipes, so it includes the protein, the starch, the sauce in its ramekin, the garnish, and the to-go box if the dish leaves the building. Plate cost ÷ menu price gives the dish's food cost %. Menu price − plate cost gives its plate margin, the dollars that dish leaves you to pay for labor, rent and profit.
Want to try it by hand first? Use the free plate cost calculator.
Why does a plate cost go stale?
Because prices move and recipe cards don't. A case of chicken thighs goes up, a produce vendor swaps pack sizes, the olive oil you use in four sauces jumps. If your costing lives in a spreadsheet someone updated in spring, your margins are fiction. Most operators find out when the month-end P&L lands, weeks after the money left.
How does live plate cost work in Varastiq?
- Invoices set the price. When you capture an invoice, Varastiq reads the line items and updates what you pay for each ingredient.
- Packs convert to the units you cook with. You connect the pack you buy (a 40 lb case) to the unit you use (an ounce), once. Varastiq does the conversion from then on.
- Preps roll up. A batch of salsa verde or a stock is costed as a prep recipe, and its cost per quart flows into every dish that uses it. See recipe costing.
- Modifiers count. Add bacon, sub fries: you can see how extras change a dish's cost.
- Dishes re-cost. Every plate that touches a changed ingredient shows its new cost and margin.
What can you do with a live plate cost?
- Re-price before it hurts. If a dish's margin slips, you can decide this week whether to adjust the price, the portion or the supplier. The menu pricing calculator shows the math.
- Choose specials with margin. Expiring product is surfaced with the dollars at risk, so you can turn it into a special that still earns.
- Compare dishes by dollars, not just percent. A steak at 38% food cost can leave more dollars than a pasta at 22%. Plate margin makes that visible.
- Ground your theoretical food cost. Live plate costs × items sold is the "should have used" number behind theoretical vs actual food cost.
Who is live plate cost for?
Owners and chefs at independent full-service restaurants and bars who set menu prices themselves, and kitchen managers who are asked "why is food cost up?" and need an answer by dish, not by month.
When it's not the right fit: if you buy everything through one commissary at fixed internal transfer prices, a live invoice-driven cost adds little.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between plate cost and recipe cost?
Recipe cost is the cost of one recipe, such as a sauce or a burger patty. Plate cost is everything on the plate as served, which can include several recipes plus garnish and packaging.
How often does Varastiq update plate cost?
Plate cost updates when the inputs change. A captured invoice with a new price re-costs every dish that uses that ingredient.
Do I have to enter every recipe myself?
No. You can upload your menu on See your menu and Vara drafts recipes for you to correct. You can also build and edit recipes inside Varastiq.
Does plate cost include packaging and garnish?
Yes, if you add them to the dish. Anything that leaves the kitchen with the plate belongs in its plate cost.
Can I see plate cost on my phone?
Yes. Varastiq runs in the Stiq app in a modern web browser, on a phone, tablet or computer.
See your own plate costs
Upload a menu and get a first estimate in about a minute, then make it yours with one invoice.