Notes on Calculating Food Costs for Recipes 4.02 Culinary Arts Rebecca Benners 2013

What are Food Costs? Food Costs – these are determined by the sum cost of all ingredients it takes to create certain product. This does not include labor or other materials. Portion control helps to prevent excessive food costs Calculating food cost helps determine if something is feasible to make and sell. Food costs are calculated using a recipe costing form

Portion Control Controlling the serving size of an item in order to regulate the cost(price) of each serving. Purchasing by specifications – purchasing exactly what is called for in purchase order that was created using recipes and forecasts of incoming customers. Following standardized recipes – adhering to the written instructions developed by a restaurant in order create a product that is consistent in size and quality. Portioning tools and equipment – everything that helps determine a portion size – these can be scoops, plates, or pans

Portion Control – Apply It What is the cost per serving? Why is cost per serving significant? How does a food service worker control portions? (At least three things…) What tools are used to control portions?

Calculating Food Costs As purchased price (AP) – the price of the item as it is purchased without any trimming (removing inedible portions of a food) Ex: 50 # of sugar for $22.00 Ex: 5 doz. Eggs for $15.00 Unit cost – this is the price of an item per unit of measure. Units of measure can be per pound, per ounce, or even per item like can or egg. Ex: 1 oz. of sugar for _____? Ex: 1 egg for _____?

Calculating Food Costs The as purchased price may be used to calculate food costs if there is no food waste due to trimming. Foods that do not have waste Flour Sugar Milk Deli meats This doesn’t work for all food though. Foods that have waste Apples Bone-in Meats Grapes The edible portions and amount of food left after trimming must be calculated to determine menu cost.

Product Yield Product yield: The amount of food left after preparation Preparation includes process like peeling, coring, de-seeding, and cooking Ex: 3 pounds of bone-in chicken breasts will yield 1.5 pounds of boneless chicken breasts. What can affect yield? Shrinkage Trim and waste Non-edible portions Poor handling and preparation As Served is the actual weight of food product that is served to customers

Product Yield Edible portion (EP) – the portion of a food item that is ready to cook or serve after trimming. What you buy isn’t always what you serve. Ex: Tomatoes –1 lb = 0.99 ready to cook/serve Potatoes –1 lb = 0.81 ready to cook Apples – 1 lb = 0.78 ready to serve, cored & peeled Romaine –1 lb = 0.64 ready to serve, after trimming Watermelon –1 lb = 0.57 ready to serve, after trimming Foodservice buyer must take into consideration AP cost, EP cost, and AS portion when determining how much to buy.

Apply It: Explain how as-purchased price and unit price differ What is product yield What factors influence product yield? What does AS stand for? What is edible portion?

Calculating the Product Yield Yield percentages – standardized percentages which represents how much edible food is left after preparation and processing are done. -Percentage is derived by dividing current product weight by original product weight http://www.chefs-resources.com/ProduceYields Chefs must be familiar with the product yields to determine the edible portions.

Determining Edible Portions Raw yield tests – determining how much food that raw food products will yield after preparation Weigh product before trimming to get the AP weight. Weigh material that was trimmed from the product to get the trim loss. Subtract trim loss from AP weight to get the yield weight Divide the yield weight by the AP weight to get the yield percentage

Determining Edible Portions Cooking loss test – a test used to determine shrinkage (the percentage of food that is lost during storage and preparation) during the food cooking. Identify the net cost and weight of the raw food product Note how many portions are produced from the product after cooking Multipy the number of portions by the portion weight when served. This gives the total weight as served Other factors can impact the reliability of these measurements (poor food handling, etc).

Calculating Food Costs – Apply it Unit Price: What is the cost per unit? 16 cans of tomato soup for $32.00 As purchased price: what is the cost per # 3 lbs. Untrimmed chicken breast for $10.57 What factors can impact product yields? What do you remove from these foods to get the edible portion?: Chicken Red peppers Onions Shell Nuts How are AP and EP amounts important to chefs? How is a cooking loss test different from raw yield test?

Costing recipe Costing form –a form utilized when determining how much a recipe will cost to produce.

Costing recipe a. Name – name of the recipe (Ex. Green beans) b. Ingredients – all of the ingredients necessary to make a product and quantity C. Quantity A B C

Costing the Recipe A. As purchased – the purchase price Or Unit purchase price – the cost of each item in the unit it is sold (ex. $1.20 per dozen of large eggs) A B C

Costing the Recipe B. Yield % - percentage left after boning and trimming; found in the book of yields C. Edible Portion – the amount that is left based on yield % B C

Costing the Recipe D. Cost per unit – cost of each item in a unit practical for your recipe (ex. $0.10 per egg because one dozen is $1.20) OR Ingredient cost – the cost of each ingredient in your recipe (ex. $0.20 for 2 eggs) D

Costing recipe E. Yield – the number of servings F. Portion – the serving size (ex. 1 cup) G. Total cost divided by the number of portions H. % of menu/selling price that accounts for the food I. Cost per portion / food cost percentage E F G H I

Costing recipe You may also see…. J. Q factor – the cost of additional items that customers might want but aren’t a part of a recipe, such as butter or jam for spreading, etc. These cost money and a percentage, called a Q factor is used to account for these things.