Percy Plate is a web-based food cost calculator for food trucks, caterers, cottage food producers, and small restaurant owners. It lets you enter your ingredients and what you pay for them, build recipes, and instantly see the cost per serving and recommended sell price based on your target food cost percentage.

Yes. Percy Plate has a free plan that lets you create up to 10 ingredients and 5 recipes to calculate food cost. A paid subscription ($14.99/month or $119.99/year) unlocks unlimited ingredients and recipes plus inventory tracking, revenue reporting, menu engineering, Prime Cost, AI invoice scanning, FDA nutrition facts labels, FDA ingredient labels, and label printing.

How does Percy Plate calculate food cost?

You enter each ingredient, the unit you buy it in (lb, oz, gallon, etc.), and what you pay per unit. When you build a recipe, Percy Plate converts the recipe quantities to your purchase units, calculates the cost of each ingredient used, and divides by the number of servings to give you a cost per serving. It also shows the food cost percentage and a suggested sell price.

Can Percy Plate generate nutrition facts labels?

Yes. Percy Plate can look up nutrition data from the USDA FoodData Central database for each ingredient, then automatically calculate the per-serving nutrition for a recipe. It generates an FDA-format Nutrition Facts panel that can be printed directly to thermal labels (Brother, Dymo, Zebra) or Avery sheet labels in sizes 2x4 inch and 3.33x4 inch.

Can Percy Plate generate an ingredient list label?

Yes. Percy Plate generates an FDA-compliant ingredient label that lists ingredients by weight (heaviest first), automatically detects the top 9 FDA allergens, and includes your business name and net weight. Labels can be printed to thermal printers or Avery sheet labels.

What label printers work with Percy Plate?

Percy Plate supports thermal label printers including Brother QL series (DK-1202 2x4 inch labels), Dymo LabelWriter (30334 and similar), and Zebra desktop printers. It also supports Avery 5163 (2x4 inch) and Avery 5164 (3.33x4 inch) sheet labels for standard desktop printers.

Who is Percy Plate designed for?

Percy Plate is designed for small food business owners including food truck operators, cottage food producers, caterers, small restaurant owners, and anyone who sells homemade or prepared food and needs to track ingredient costs, price their menu, and produce product labels.

Does Percy Plate work on mobile?

Yes. Percy Plate is a web application that works on any device with a modern browser, including phones and tablets. You can look up ingredient costs, update recipe quantities, and check your food cost percentage from anywhere.

How do you calculate food cost percentage?

Food cost percentage = (ingredient cost per serving ÷ menu price) × 100. For example, if your ingredients cost $3.50 and you sell the dish for $12.00, your food cost percentage is 29.2%. Most food businesses target 28–35%. To set a price from a target, divide ingredient cost by your target: $3.50 ÷ 0.30 = $11.67 suggested price at 30% food cost.

What is a good food cost percentage for a small food business or bakery?

Most food businesses target a food cost percentage between 28% and 35%. Bakeries and cottage food producers often achieve lower food cost percentages (20–28%) because flour, sugar, and butter are inexpensive relative to retail prices. Full-service restaurants tend to run 30–35%. The right target depends on your labor costs, overhead, and pricing power in your market.

How do I calculate the cost per serving of a recipe?

Add up the ingredient cost for the full batch, then divide by the number of servings. For each ingredient, multiply the quantity used by the cost per unit (converting units as needed). For example: 8 oz flour at $0.89/lb = $0.89 ÷ 16 × 8 = $0.44. Sum all ingredient costs, then divide by servings. Percy Plate does this calculation automatically once you enter your ingredient prices and recipe quantities.

How does yield percentage affect recipe costing?

Yield percentage accounts for trim loss, cooking shrinkage, and waste. If you buy 1 lb of chicken but only 0.75 lb is usable after trimming, your yield is 75%. To get accurate food costs, divide the as-purchased cost by the yield percentage: $4.00/lb ÷ 0.75 = $5.33 per usable pound. Percy Plate lets you set a yield percentage (AP to EP) on any ingredient so your recipe costs reflect what you actually use.

What is the best recipe costing software for a small food business?

The best recipe costing software for a small food business depends on your needs. Percy Plate ($14.99/month) is built specifically for cottage food producers, food trucks, caterers, and small restaurants — it includes recipe costing, menu pricing, FDA ingredient labels, nutrition facts labels, inventory tracking, and revenue reporting. Competitors like meez start at $24/month and scale to $199/month. Square and Toast do not include recipe costing natively.

Is there free recipe costing software for home bakers or cottage food businesses?

Yes. Percy Plate has a free plan that includes recipe food cost calculation and menu pricing suggestions. The free plan lets you create up to 10 ingredients and 5 recipes. For unlimited recipes, FDA labels, nutrition facts, and inventory tracking, the paid plan is $14.99/month or $119.99/year. No credit card is required to start.

How do I price homemade baked goods to make a profit?

Start with your ingredient cost per batch, then divide by the number of units to get ingredient cost per item. Add packaging (boxes, bags, labels) as a per-unit cost. Then set a target food cost percentage — most cottage food bakers aim for 25–35% — and divide your total ingredient cost by that percentage to get a minimum price. For example: $0.85 ingredient cost per cookie ÷ 0.30 = $2.83 minimum price at 30% food cost. Factor in your time and overhead to ensure you are actually profitable, not just covering ingredients.

What are the labeling requirements for cottage food products?

Most states require cottage food labels to include: (1) the product name, (2) your name and home address, (3) a list of ingredients in descending order by weight, (4) a disclosure statement such as 'Made in a home kitchen not inspected by the state or local health department,' and (5) allergen declarations for any of the 9 major FDA allergens present. Some states also require net weight. Requirements vary by state — check your state's cottage food law for specifics. Nutrition Facts panels are generally not required for cottage food operations below a certain revenue threshold.

Do I need a nutrition facts label on my cottage food products?

Most cottage food producers are exempt from FDA Nutrition Facts label requirements under the small business exemption (fewer than 100 full-time employees and fewer than 100,000 units sold annually). However, you must still list ingredients in descending order by weight and declare all major allergens. Some states impose additional requirements. When in doubt, check your state's cottage food law and the FDA's small business labeling exemptions.

What allergens must I disclose on a homemade food label?

FDA requires disclosure of 9 major food allergens: milk, eggs, fish, shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, soybeans, and sesame. These must be declared on all food labels, including cottage food products — even if a full Nutrition Facts panel is not required. The standard format is a 'Contains:' statement after the ingredient list, for example: 'Contains: Wheat, Eggs, Milk.' Percy Plate detects all 9 allergens automatically from your ingredient names.

How do I create a nutrition facts label for homemade food?

To create a Nutrition Facts label for homemade food: (1) look up the nutrition data for each ingredient using the USDA FoodData Central database, (2) calculate the per-serving amounts for calories, fat, carbohydrates, protein, sodium, and other nutrients, (3) format the panel according to FDA guidelines with serving size, servings per container, and daily value percentages. Percy Plate automates this — it looks up USDA nutrition data for your ingredients, calculates per-serving totals, and generates a print-ready FDA-format Nutrition Facts label for thermal or sheet labels.

How do I list ingredients in the correct order on a food label?

FDA regulations require ingredients to be listed in descending order by weight — the ingredient present in the greatest amount by weight must appear first. For example, if your muffin contains more flour than sugar, flour must be listed first. Sub-ingredients (like those in a chocolate chip) must be listed in parentheses immediately after the component. Percy Plate sorts ingredients automatically by weight when generating your label.

What information is required on a homemade food product label?

A complete homemade food label generally requires: (1) the name of the food, (2) the net quantity (weight or count), (3) an ingredient list in descending order by weight, (4) allergen declarations for all 9 major FDA allergens, (5) your business name and address, and (6) for cottage food specifically, a state-required disclosure statement such as 'Made in a home kitchen not inspected by the state health department.' Nutrition Facts panels are usually optional for small cottage food producers below certain revenue thresholds.

By Heidi Macomber · July 13, 2026 (updated July 28, 2026)

Free Food Cost Spreadsheet Template (And Why You Will Outgrow It)

A food cost spreadsheet helps you track recipe costs, calculate food cost percentages, and price your menu. This guide gives you a free template structure, explains how to set it up, and shows you where spreadsheets hit their limit -- and what to do when they do.

The Free Food Cost Spreadsheet Template

If you want to build your own food cost spreadsheet, here is the structure that works. You need three tabs: Ingredients, Recipes, and Menu Pricing.

Tab 1: Ingredients

This is your master price list. Every ingredient you buy goes here.

Column	What to Enter	Example
Ingredient Name	Name	All-Purpose Flour
Supplier	Where you buy it	Restaurant Depot
Package Size	How much you buy	25 lb bag
Package Cost	What you paid	$13.75
Cost Per Ounce	Package Cost / (Package Size x 16)	$0.034/oz
Cost Per Cup	Cost Per Ounce x 4.5	$0.155
Yield %	Edible portion after prep	100% (no waste)
Adjusted Cost/Cup	Cost Per Cup / Yield %	$0.155
Last Updated	Date of last price check	2026-07-01

Tab 2: Recipes

Each recipe gets its own section.

Column	What to Enter	Example
Ingredient	Linked from Tab 1	Chicken Breast
Recipe Quantity	Amount used	24 oz
Unit	Measurement	oz
Cost	Qty x Cost Per Ounce	$5.24
Ingredient	Linked from Tab 1	Long Grain Rice
Recipe Quantity	Amount used	2 cups
Unit	Measurement	cups
Cost	Qty x Cost Per Cup	$0.31

At the bottom: Total Recipe Cost and Cost Per Serving (Total / Number of Servings).

Tab 3: Menu Pricing

Column	What to Enter	Example
Menu Item	Name	Chicken Rice Bowl
Plate Cost	From Tab 2	$2.63
Menu Price	What you charge	$10.50
Food Cost %	Plate Cost / Menu Price	25.0%
Profit Per Plate	Menu Price - Plate Cost	$7.87
Target %	Your goal	28%
Status	Above/Below target	On Target

Free Downloadable Templates

Want to skip the manual setup? Download these pre-built CSV templates -- they work in Google Sheets, Excel, or any spreadsheet program:

Ingredient Cost Tracker (CSV) -- Pre-filled with 15 common ingredients and all the cost-per-unit formulas. Just update with your prices.
Recipe Costing Calculator (CSV) -- A worked example showing how to calculate plate cost and food cost percentage. Copy the pattern for your own recipes.

To use in Google Sheets: Open a new Google Sheet, then File > Import > Upload the CSV. The formulas will work automatically.

How to Set Up the Spreadsheet

Open Google Sheets or Excel. Create three tabs.
Build the Ingredients tab first. Enter every ingredient you use with current prices.
In the Recipes tab, use VLOOKUP or INDEX/MATCH to pull costs from the Ingredients tab automatically.
In Menu Pricing, reference recipe costs and calculate food cost percentage with a simple formula: =PlateCost/MenuPrice.
When a supplier price changes, update it in the Ingredients tab. Every linked recipe updates automatically -- if you set up the lookups correctly.

The Limitations of a Food Cost Spreadsheet

Spreadsheets work when you have 5-10 recipes and update prices monthly. But they break down fast as you grow:

Problem 1: Unit conversion hell. Your recipe calls for 2 cups of flour. You bought a 25 lb bag. How many cups in a pound? (Answer: about 3.9 cups.) Now do this for 40 ingredients, and update it every time a recipe changes. This is where most people give up.

Problem 2: Yield calculations. Raw chicken yields 78% after cooking. Potatoes yield 80% after peeling. If you do not factor yield into every recipe, your costs are wrong. Most spreadsheets skip this entirely.

Problem 3: Multi-recipe price updates. If you use butter in 8 recipes and butter goes up $1.00/lb, you need every recipe to update. With VLOOKUP, it works -- until someone breaks a formula or deletes a row.

Problem 4: No mobile access. You are at Restaurant Depot checking prices. Can you update your spreadsheet on your phone? Technically yes. Will you? Probably not.

Problem 5: No sales data. A spreadsheet tells you recipe cost, but not which items are selling or whether your actual food cost matches your theoretical food cost.

When to Move Beyond a Spreadsheet

You have outgrown your spreadsheet when:

You have more than 15 recipes and updating prices takes more than an hour
You are not updating ingredient costs because it is too tedious
You cannot calculate actual vs theoretical food cost
You want to see profitability by menu item alongside sales data
You have multiple people who need access

At that point, dedicated food cost software is not a luxury -- it is the difference between knowing your numbers and guessing.

What Percy Plate Does That a Spreadsheet Cannot

Percy Plate was built specifically for food trucks, caterers, cottage food operators, and small restaurants who have outgrown spreadsheets but cannot justify $300+/month enterprise software.

Built-in unit conversions. Enter 2 cups, it knows that is 9 oz of flour. Enter 3 tablespoons, it knows that is 1.5 oz of oil.
Automatic yield adjustments. Raw-to-cooked yield percentages are built in.
Instant price ripple. Update butter from $4.99 to $5.49, and every recipe using butter recalculates immediately.
Recipe scaling. Need to serve 200 instead of 4? One click.
Revenue tracking. Connect your sales data to see actual vs theoretical food cost variance.
Mobile-friendly. Check and update prices from your phone at the supplier.

Try it free at percyplate.com -- no credit card, no setup fee. If you are currently using a spreadsheet, import your ingredients via CSV and you are running in 5 minutes.

Related Guides

How to Calculate Food Cost Percentage: A Complete Guide for Restaurants — Food cost percentage formulas
Recipe Costing 101: How to Cost Out Any Recipe for Profit — Recipe costing fundamentals
Actual vs. Theoretical Food Cost: Formula & Variance — Variance tracking methods
What Is Percy Plate? A Recipe Cost Calculator Built for Real Food Businesses — When to upgrade from a spreadsheet

Stop guessing what your dishes cost.

Percy Plate calculates recipe costs, menu prices, and FDA-compliant labels for food businesses. Free to start.

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