Are you considering reducing your restaurant visits in times of energy crisis and inflation?
If yes, then the following ratio is interesting for you – the so-called food cost percentage. That is the value of food costs to revenue expressed as a percentage.
For example, if a restaurant charges 10 euros for a burger and the restaurant pays 3 euros for the ingredients of that burger, then its food cost percentage is 30 per cent.
That means, provided you know how to do it, you have the choice to eat the burger for 3 euros at home or 10 euros at the restaurant. (Of course, the time required is missing in this price comparison. The burger at home is cheaper, but you have to prepare it yourself. Here we only look at the costs.)
So what's the food cost percentage in reality?
A little internet research revealed that the average food cost percentage in most restaurants is between 25 and 40 per cent.
With beverages, it is a bit different:
Non-alcoholic beverage: 10 – 30 per cent
Wine: 30 – 50
Beer: 30 – 35
Liquor: 10 – 20
Mixed drinks: 5 – 25
The rule of thumb that results from these numbers is that going to a restaurant is three to four times more expensive than cooking at home.
Will knowing this increase or decrease your restaurant visits in the future?
Onwards,
Johannes Eber
photo on top: My last vacation in Italy has confirmed it once again: you eat excellently in almost every restaurant. For example, in the Ristorante Pizzeria Lago Argentato, where I took this photo, on 24 July 2022, of a table that a family had left a few minutes earlier.
sources:
https://www.touchbistro.com/blog/how-to-calculate-food-cost-percentage/#subheading-2
https://pos.toasttab.com/blog/on-the-line/how-to-calculate-food-cost-percentage
https://smallbusiness.chron.com/percentage-should-restaurant-spend-payroll-24851.html
https://upserve.com/restaurant-insider/4-things-know-food-cost-percentage/