Understanding Ingredient Costs of a Recipe – MealSuite

Viewing Ingredient Costs of a Recipe
- Viewing Recipe Costs on the Recipe Listing Screen
How is an Ingredient Cost in a Recipe Calculated?
- Example 1
- Example 2
Adjusting Ingredient Costs of a Recipe
Identifying and Troubleshooting Recipe Cost Issues
FAQs
- My recipes also includes labor costs. I want to know more about labor costs.

Viewing Ingredient Costs of a Recipe

When you open a recipe, the ingredient costs for the recipe's estimated serving size is displayed at the top left of recipe screen as per screenshot below.

The estimated serving size cost is the sum of the individual ingredient costs.* The individual ingredient costs can be viewed in the ingredient breakdown window (second screenshot below), which is opened by clicking the Cost link. The vendor product that is currently selected for an ingredient, along with the vendor product's pack price, is also listed.

Note: For an ingredient with an edible portion (i.e., meat), the food cost is based on the "as purchased" amount and not the edible portion (i.e., the edible portion does not change the cost).

If any ingredient in the recipe does not have a selected vendor product, then the system estimates the cost of that ingredient. For a recipe based on an estimated cost of an ingredient, when you open the Ingredient Breakdown window (by clicking the Cost link; explained above), the ingredient with an estimated cost displays the "estimated cost" icon:

Viewing Recipe Costs on the Recipe Listing Screen

To view costs for recipes on the Recipe listing screen, add the Food Cost column (see, Setting Preferred Columns on the Recipes Listing Screen).

*An ingredient is considered an individual food item or a prepared food. See About Ingredients and Prepared Foods (i.e., Food Items).

How is an Ingredient Cost in a Recipe Calculated?

The cost of an ingredient is calculated as follows:

The first calculation is to determine the price per gram by dividing the pack price by the total grams in the pack.
The second calculation is to multiply the price per gram by the weight/serving of the ingredient in the recipe's estimated serving size. The estimated serving size can be viewed by clicking the scale icon for the Estimated Serving Size of an open recipe (screenshots in examples below).

Note: For an ingredient with an edible portion (i.e., meat), the cost is based on the "as purchased" amount and not the edible portion (i.e., the edible portion does not change the cost).

Example 1

Example 2

Adjusting Ingredient Costs of a Recipe

The following factors determine the ingredient costs of a recipe, and as such can be adjusted.

The estimated serving size of a recipe is the sum of the edible portion (EP) amount of each ingredient divided by the serving number. You can lower the estimated serving size by either increasing the serving numbers (i.e., more servings against the existing ingredient amounts decreases the estimated serving size), or decreasing the ingredient amounts. (i.e., less ingredient amounts against the existing servings decreases the estimated serving size).
The vendor product that is currently linked to an ingredient affects the recipe cost. You can view the vendor product selected for each ingredient by clicking the Cost link to open the Ingredient Breakdown window. If wanting to select a different vendor product for the ingredient, see Favouring a Verified Vendor Product.

Identifying and Troubleshooting Recipe Cost Issues

When you review a recipe, you may notice that its cost is higher or lower than it should be for the portion size that you had entered for the recipe.

In the example below, the portion size for the recipe "Penne Pasta w/Sausage" is 250 ml, but the cost is $1.95 cents, which you know is too high. When you identify a recipe cost that is too high for a recipe portion size, refer to the Troubleshooting Steps below.

Troubleshooting Step 1: Compare the Estimated Serving Size Against the Portion Size

The recipe cost is based on the estimated serving size for the recipe. If the estimated serving size is grossly mismatched compared to the portion size, it most likely indicates that an ingredient portion is not correct for the recipe.

In the example below, the portion size is 250 ml; however the Estimated Serving Size is 310.15 g (10.94 oz), which is too high for a single serving.

Clicking the scale icon () for the Estimated Serving Size brings up the Estimated Serving Size pop-up (screenshot below), which lists each ingredient and its weight/serving amount in the estimated serving size. In the example below, the weight/serving amount for the ingredient "Sausage, Pork" is 189.20 grams, which is too much, and as such will need to be adjusted (as explained below).

To adjust an ingredient amount, open the Ingredients and Preparation section, and click the edit icon () of the ingredient to be adjusted (first screenshot below). The Edit Ingredient pop-up appears (second screenshot below) for you to make the adjustment.

Note that if the ingredient is a SUoM (special unit of measure), such as "Slice" or "Each", then click the edit icon () to display the Special Unit of Measure pop-up (screenshot below), where the amount can be adjusted.

After making the adjustments, to show the updated cost on the recipe slide-out panel, click the Save button.

Troubleshooting Step 2: Check the Serving Number in the Yield Field

If the ingredient amounts appear to be correct (as per above), then you can check the serving number in the Yield field, which is displayed in the Recipe Information section of an open recipe, as indicated below.

The recipe cost is based on the Estimated Serving Size for the recipe (click here for more information). If the servings were inadvertently adjusted for the recipe directly in the Yield field, then it updates the Estimated Serving Size using the existing ingredient amounts (i.e., the ingredient amounts are not scaled), and as such the cost will adjust accordingly. The below examples show how the Estimated Serving Size adjusts when the serving numbers are manually updated directly in the Yield field.

To readjust the estimated serving size and the cost, enter the appropriate serving number in the Yield field.

Note: If wanting to adjust the ingredient amounts when you adjust the yield (i.e., scale the recipe by yield), see Scaling Recipe by Yield (for a "My Recipe" Only).

Troubleshooting Step 3: Check the Vendor Products Selected for the Ingredients

It could be that a vendor product selected for an ingredient has changed or that the pack price for a vendor product is not correct.

You can view the vendor products selected for the ingredients of a recipe by clicking the Cost link at the top of the recipe slide-out panel (first screenshot below), which then opens the ingredient breakdown window (second screenshot below).

Do You Need to Change the Vendor Product Selected for an Ingredient?

If it is necessary to change the vendor product selected for the ingredient, refer to the following chapter for options: Selecting Vendor Products for Food Items by Favouring.

Pack Price Incorrect for a Vendor Product?

The pack price is used to calculate an ingredient's cost in a recipe (for more information, see How Is an Ingredient Cost in a Recipe Calculated?). If the pack price is not correct, then it needs to be corrected by editing the product. Doing so depends on the following:

If your vendor is partner vendor (vendor with interface to automatically populate and update vendor products in your account), then contact the vendor to have the product price updated.
If your vendor is a non-partner vendor (i.e., vendor without interface), your account can manually update the product price.

You can determine if a vendor is an interface-enabled vendor on the Vendors screen (Procurement > Vendors & Products) via the value in the Order Guide Source column:

Manual means the vendor does not use an import interface
Electronic means the vendor has an import interface.

Vendor Product not Selected for an Ingredient (i.e., Food Item)?

If an ingredient does not have a selected vendor product, then visit the Vendor Product Selection screen (Procurement > Buying Preferences) and search for the ingredient (i.e., food item) to confirm if a No Matching Vendor Product label is displayed (screenshot below). Once confirmed, then see the following topic for resolution options: Resolving a Food Item with the "No Matching Vendor Product" Label.

FAQs

My recipes also includes labor costs. I want to know more about labor costs.

See Applying Labor Costs to Recipes.

Pack Price / (Stock Units in the Assigned Pack Size x Stock Unit Measure in Grams) = Price per Gram	Multiply Price per Gram by Weight/Serving of the Ingredient (viewable by clicking the scale icon for the Estimated Serving Size; screenshot below)	Cost of Ingredient per Serving
$58.00 / 5000 grams = 0.0116	0.0116 x 30 grams = .348	$0.348