Recipe costing and food cost for restaurants

What a portion costs, before it goes on the menu.

mnjam.mnjam is recipe costing software for restaurants: you enter purchase prices and yield, and food cost, cost per portion, selling price and contribution margin I are shown straight away.

Sign up for free

Sign up for free, core features stay free. Costing is included from the Standard plan. Prices are on the Plans page.

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What you see in costing

The costing belongs to one of your own recipes. It shows the food cost of the recipe quantity, the cost per portion, the net selling price based on the target food cost you enter, the gross selling price from the tax rate you also enter, and the contribution margin I per portion.

In the app, the contribution margin I is the net selling price minus the food cost per portion. Staff and operating costs are not included in it. This is stated next to the selling price calculation.

Each ingredient line shows the recipe quantity, the linked purchase item, the purchase quantity, the cost of the line and its share of the total. On the line, you choose the costing ingredient, the purchase item, the quantity basis and the yield profile. A line without a price or without a permitted unit stays open. The total and selling price are then not filled with a substitute value.

Purchase prices, items and yield

Under purchase prices, you create a supplier, then a purchase item, then the price per unit. You enter a new price as a new price version. The older version is kept with the date from which it applied.

You maintain the yield as a yield profile, directly or with several stages, and assign it to the line. On the same line, you choose the quantity basis. For a ready-to-eat quantity, the costing calculates the purchase quantity from the yield. If the line already contains the purchase quantity, that is the quantity of the price.

The costing only converts units if the conversion is stored unambiguously and is permitted. If it is missing, or if there is more than one possible conversion, the line stays open.

How it works in the app

The recipe costs overview lists your own recipes. Each one is prepared or still to be prepared. You prepare the costing or open it. The button for managing purchase data takes you to suppliers, items and prices.

On each recipe, you switch between the tabs for current costing, variants, versions and report. The current costing uses the prices and links in effect now. Saved versions stay unchanged as a historical record.

You start with one of your own recipes that has ingredients, units and a number of portions. You can first take over a public recipe into your account as your own copy. The copy counts as one of your own recipes. The public recipe stays unchanged. How many own recipes the account can create is on the Recipe management page.

In the recipe's costing, you link each ingredient to a purchase item, set the quantity basis and, if needed, the yield profile. As long as a line is open, the cost basis is not complete. You can only save a complete version once the calculation adds up.

You enter the target food cost in the target food cost field, in %. You enter the tax rate in the VAT field, in %. With the button to calculate the selling price, you read the net selling price, gross selling price and contribution margin I. Saving as a variant keeps the pair of target rate and tax rate. Saving a version records the calculation. Updating the recipe version takes over new original quantities.

If you change the recipe later, you take over the new original quantities into the costing. Links that clearly match the ingredient are kept. Versions already saved stay unchanged.

The quantity display on the recipe page is a separate process. Scaling the recipe display does not change the cost basis.

Variants, versions and PDF

A variant stores a name, a target food cost and a tax rate. It changes neither the recipe nor the purchase prices. Standard includes one active variant per recipe. Further active variants need Premium.

You save a version from the current calculation. Without target food cost and tax rate, the version stores only the food cost. With both values, it also stores the selling prices. A correction is a new version. Historical values are not recalculated.

In the report, you export the costing as a PDF if your access allows it, or open the print view of the same report. The PDF contains the key figures of the calculation and the lines with recipe quantity, purchase, yield, share and cost.

Demo without an account

Without logging in, you calculate a fixed sample recipe in the costing demo. The calculation runs in the browser. Entries are not saved. You cannot add further ingredients or create your own recipe there.

In the sample, you change quantities, purchase prices, the number of portions and the yield of the potatoes. You choose the target food cost and the tax rate from fixed lists in the demo. In your account, you enter both values yourself. The demo is not advice on which rate applies to your sales.

The same calculation as in the account gives cost per portion, net selling price and contribution margin I. If you change only the number of portions in the demo, the food cost of the recipe quantity stays the same and the cost per portion changes. A different purchase price changes the total and the cost per portion. A different target rate changes the selling price and contribution margin I, not the food cost.

Roles and permissions

mnjam.mnjam does not assign roles for costing. Who sets the target food cost, who maintains the yield and who only reads the quantities is a decision in your business.

Each person gets their own login. Which areas they see in staff, rota, temperature checks and tasks, you set in the company account. There is no separate permission line there just for costing.

Purchase prices, the calculation, the versions, the PDF and one active variant per recipe are included in the account's plan from Standard. Several active variants per recipe are included in Premium.

Who it suits

In a restaurant, you save a version before the menu applies. When a new purchase price comes in, you enter it and save a new version. The old version stays as it is.

In a hotel, à la carte and a larger meal use the same recipe. You change the displayed quantity on the recipe page. The costing calculates with the original quantities until you change them yourself. Several properties are locations in one company account, with no extra charge per location.

In canteens and contract catering, you change the number of portions. The cost per portion stays the same as long as the recipe, yield and purchase price stay the same. You save a second target food cost for the same recipe as a further active variant. For this, you need Premium.

In catering, the scaled display is the list for production. You read the purchase quantity with yield in the costing. Stock, goods receipt, stocktake and order lists are inventory, included in Premium, and not part of this calculation.

At the bar, you create the house drink as your own recipe and calculate it with purchase price and yield like any other recipe. The demo stays with the fixed sample and shows the process, not your menu.

Plans and limits

In the free account, you search recipes, save favourites, scale quantities and create up to 5 own recipes. Costing, purchase prices, versions, PDF and variants are not included.

From Standard: purchase prices, yield, cost per portion, selling price based on target food cost, contribution margin I, saved versions, export as PDF, one active costing variant per recipe, up to 100 own recipes. Standard covers one company account with up to 20 active staff plus the owner.

Premium adds several active costing variants per recipe. The limit in Premium is on the Plans page. Premium covers one company account with up to 50 active staff plus the owner. Inventory is also Premium.

More than 50 active staff: Custom, on request via Contact. All locations of your company in one company account, with no extra charge per location.

You sign up for free, without a credit card. You then book Standard or Premium in the app under Profile, then Plan, by card or SEPA direct debit. Euro prices and the full comparison are only on the Plans page.

Existing personal subscriptions continue on their terms. Company plans belong to the company, not to a person.

What this feature does not do

Costing calculates one recipe. It does not combine several dishes into one overall result. It does not show which other recipes a new purchase price also affects.

It does not keep stock. A new purchase price is not a goods receipt.

It does not overwrite saved versions. The scaled recipe display does not change the cost basis.

If information is missing, the result stays open. The demo stores nothing and does not replace the account.

First steps

Sign up for free. Open the costing demo and change a price or the yield to see the key figures. Then reset the sample.

When it is time for your own dishes, book Standard or Premium under Profile, then Plan. Create your own recipe or take over a public template.

Maintain supplier, item, price and yield. Link each line. Enter the target food cost and tax rate. Save the version and export the report as a PDF.

On your next purchase, you enter the new price and, if the selling price changes, save a new version. You leave the old one as it is.

Questions

Frequently asked questions

What does costing show?

Food cost, cost per portion, selling price based on your target food cost and contribution margin I, from your purchase prices and your yield.

Can I try it without an account?

Yes. The costing demo calculates a sample recipe in the browser. Entries are not saved.

What does costing cost?

It is included from the Standard plan. Prices are on the Plans page. You can use the demo without an account. Sign up for free, core features stay free.

What is not included in the free account?

Purchase prices, cost per portion, selling price, contribution margin I, versions, PDF and variants. Included are search, favourites, scaling and up to 5 own recipes.

How many variants can I save?

In Standard, one active variant per recipe. In Premium, several active variants per recipe.

Does scaling a recipe change the costing?

No. The quantity display leaves the cost basis unchanged. Saved versions remain.

What happens if a unit is missing?

The line stays open. No amount is filled in.

Does every person in the business see the costing?

Each person has their own login. The feature is included in the plan from Standard. What someone sees in staff, rota, temperature and tasks, you set in the company account.

Does it work on a phone?

Yes. You use mnjam.mnjam in the browser, also on your phone.