Chapter 08
Costs and margins
Understand how ingredient matches become recipe, menu, and Price Book cost insights.
Costs are calculated from recipe quantities, unit conversion, correction/yield factors, and the active matched prices.
Start with context
Confirm the selected Price Book before comparing numbers. A recipe can have a valid cost in one project and missing prices in another because the purchasing catalogs are intentionally separate.
Recipe cost
The technical sheet can show:
- ingredient-level total;
- full recipe cost;
- cost per portion;
- pricing and margin indicators;
- missing or incompatible price status.
When a cost is missing, follow the ingredient back to its product match rather than entering an unexplained total directly.
Factors and units
A surprising cost usually comes from one of four places:
- package quantity/unit was entered incorrectly;
- recipe unit cannot be converted safely;
- correction or yield factor does not represent the purchased condition;
- the wrong Price Book or primary offer is active.
Use household-measure and density helpers only when their culinary assumptions apply to the actual ingredient.
Costs dashboard
The Costs page summarizes the current Price Book or project context, including average calculated dish cost, recipe coverage, linked prices, estimated gross margin, and highest-cost ingredients.
These summaries depend on the available matched data. A blank or partial catalog should not be interpreted as a zero-cost operation.
Menu cost
Menu analysis combines linked recipe costs. Planned dishes without technical sheets or recipes with missing prices reduce coverage. Refresh prices and resolve missing ingredients before making a final margin decision.
Good review practice
- review the observation date of important prices;
- compare alternative suppliers;
- confirm currency before presenting a quote;
- document exceptional yield factors;
- export only after the displayed context matches the client/location.