Recipe costing
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Key takeaway: Varastiq costs recipes the way a kitchen actually works: from the pack you buy to the unit you cook with, with trim yield, prep recipes that roll into dishes, and modifiers. Because prices come from your captured invoices, recipe costs stay current without anyone re-typing a spreadsheet.
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 makes recipe costing hard?
Three conversions, every line: pack price to unit price (a $42 case of 10 lb is $4.20 a pound), purchase unit to recipe unit (pounds to ounces, gallons to cups), and raw weight to usable weight (yield). Do any of them wrong, or forget to update the price, and the recipe cost is wrong. Multiply that by sauces used in six dishes and the errors compound.
Try the full math, including yield and sub-recipes, in the free recipe cost calculator.
How does recipe costing work in Varastiq?
- Set up units and costing once. Connect the pack you buy to the unit you use. Varastiq handles the conversion from then on.
- Account for yield. A whole fish, a case of romaine or a brisket doesn't land on the plate at its purchased weight. Yield turns as-purchased cost into the true cost of what you serve. The yield calculator shows how.
- Build prep recipes. Sauces, stocks, dressings and doughs are costed per batch. Their cost per unit flows into every dish that uses them.
- Build dishes from ingredients and preps. Each dish's cost becomes its live plate cost.
- Price modifiers. See how extras and substitutions change a dish's cost.
- Count prep builds. In the count, you can count prepped items as builds, so batches on the shelf are valued correctly.
How do I get my recipes into Varastiq?
You don't have to start from a blank page. Upload your menu on See your menu and Vara reads every dish, drafts recipes for a dozen and prices what it can from typical prices. You correct quantities to match your kitchen, add an invoice, and the estimates become your real costs.
How does recipe costing feed food cost?
Recipe costs × items sold = theoretical food cost, the amount you should have spent if every plate matched its recipe. Compare it with actual food cost from counts and invoices, and the gap is your variance. More in theoretical vs actual food cost.
Who is this for?
Chefs and kitchen managers who own the recipes, and owners who want menu prices based on real costs.
When it's not the right fit: if you need a full culinary-team recipe library with allergen publishing and nutrition, a dedicated recipe-management tool may suit you better alongside or instead of Varastiq.
Frequently asked questions
How does Varastiq handle different units?
You connect the pack you buy to the unit you use once, such as a 40 lb case to ounces, and Varastiq converts from then on.
Can I cost sauces and other prep recipes?
Yes. Prep recipes are costed per batch, and their cost flows into every dish that uses them.
Does Varastiq account for trim and cooking loss?
Yes. Yield adjusts the as-purchased cost to the true cost of the usable product.
Do recipe costs update when prices change?
Yes. Captured invoices update ingredient prices, and every recipe that uses those ingredients re-costs.
Can Varastiq import my existing menu?
You can upload a menu as a PDF or photos on See your menu, and Vara drafts recipes for you to review.