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.

Percy Plate vs meez

Built for solo operators, not multi-location restaurant groups

meez is a strong recipe management platform for culinary directors and restaurant groups — but its FDA labels, allergen tagging, and real-time costing are locked behind $89–199/mo tiers. Percy Plate includes all of that at $14.99/mo, no demo required.

Feature comparison

✓ Included~ Higher-tier only✗ Not available

Feature	Percy Plate $14.99/mo	meez $24–199+/mo
Entry price¹	$14.99/mo	$24/mo
Full-featured price²	$14.99/mo	$199+/mo
Free tier³	✓	✗
Sign up without a sales call⁴	✓	✗
Recipe cost calculation	✓	✓
Inventory tracking⁵	✓	~
Real-time / live food costing⁶	✓	~
FDA nutrition facts labels⁷	✓	~
Automatic allergen detection⁸	✓	~
Menu engineering	✓	✓
Built for cottage food producers⁹	✓	✗
Built for food trucks	✓	✗
Per-location add-on fees¹⁰	✗	✓

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Try it yourself — cost this recipe

Edit the ingredients below. No account needed.

IngredientQtyCost ($)

Servings:

Cost / serving

$0.12

Suggested price (30% food cost)

$0.41

Free plan includes

✓ 10 ingredients (5 saved at a time)
✓ 5 recipes (2 saved at a time)
✓ Basic recipe costing
✓ Saved across devices

Pro unlocks ($14.99/mo)

+ Unlimited ingredients & recipes
+ Inventory tracking & COGS reports
+ AI invoice scanning

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No credit card required · Still deciding? Compare meez against every other tool on the full comparison page.

¹meez's Starter tier ($24/mo monthly, $19/mo billed annually) covers only basic recipe costing on 2 active devices. FDA labels, allergen tagging, inventory, and real-time costing are locked behind higher tiers.

²meez gates FDA nutrition labels and automated allergen tagging behind its Enterprise tier (custom pricing, roughly $199/mo and up). Percy Plate includes both at $14.99/mo.

³meez offers a free trial, not a permanent free tier. Percy Plate's free plan (10 ingredients, 5 recipes) never expires and needs no credit card.

⁴meez's primary CTA is "Book a demo" — a sales-led motion built for multi-location buying committees. Percy Plate's primary CTA is a self-serve free account.

⁵Inventory management requires meez's Pro tier ($89–119/mo) or higher.

⁶Live costing with vendor invoice connection is a Pro-tier-and-up feature on meez.

⁷USDA nutrition labels are Enterprise-tier only on meez, with custom pricing.

⁸Automated allergen tagging is Enterprise-tier only on meez.

⁹meez targets culinary directors and operations leaders at multi-location restaurant groups — not solo operators or cottage food producers.

¹⁰meez charges extra for additional locations (around $60/mo each) and for cost feeds (around $199/mo). Percy Plate is one flat price regardless of how you operate.

Who each one is built for

Percy Plate

Food trucks, cottage food producers, caterers, and independent restaurants — one location, one flat price, sign up in 30 seconds.

meez

Culinary directors, operations leaders, and finance leaders at multi-location restaurant groups who need recipe version control, team training, and POS integration across locations.

Common questions

Is meez better than Percy Plate?

It depends on what you're running. meez is built for multi-location restaurant groups with culinary directors and operations teams — it has recipe version control, team training tools, and POS integration that a growing restaurant group needs. If that's your business, meez may be the better fit. Percy Plate is built for solo operators, food trucks, cottage food producers, and independent restaurants who need accurate food costing and FDA labels without paying for multi-location features they'll never use.

Why is meez so much more expensive for the same features?

meez's pricing is tiered: the $19–24/mo Starter plan only covers basic recipe costing. Inventory tracking, real-time costing, and menu engineering need the $89–119/mo Pro tier. FDA nutrition labels and allergen tagging are locked to the Enterprise tier, priced on request but typically starting around $179–199/mo. Percy Plate includes all of that — recipe costing, inventory, live cost updates, menu engineering, FDA labels, and allergen detection — in one $14.99/mo plan.

Does meez have a free plan?

meez offers a free trial, not a permanent free tier — and signing up starts with "Book a demo," a sales conversation. Percy Plate has a free plan that never expires (10 ingredients, 5 recipes) and no credit card or sales call required to start.

Can a food truck or cottage food business use meez?

Nothing stops you from trying, but meez is built and priced for multi-location restaurant groups — its feature set (location-based permissions, POS integration, team training videos) and its pricing (extra per-location fees) are aimed at that buyer, not a solo food truck or home bakery. Percy Plate's cottage food labeling guidance and food-truck-specific features are built for that audience from the ground up.

Get the full toolkit without the tiered pricing

Recipe costing, inventory, menu engineering, and FDA labels — all included at $14.99/month. No demo, no per-location fees.

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