Revenue looks great until you pay suppliers. Food cost percentage (ingredient cost ÷ food sales) tells you if your menu pricing and portion control still work. For fast food, aim to know this weekly — not at year-end.
Simple formula
Food Cost % = (Opening inventory + Purchases − Closing inventory) ÷ Food sales × 100. Target ranges vary by concept — burgers and fries often land 28–35% if operations are tight. Drift above your baseline means theft, waste, or wrong pricing.
How POS helps
- Recipe cards per menu item with ingredient quantities
- Theoretical usage vs actual stock variance reports
- Top sellers ranked by profit, not just revenue
- Deal and discount impact on margin visible before you launch promos
EatsDesk ties menu sales to inventory consumption so managers see which items erode margin — and which modifiers (extra cheese, drinks) save the ticket.