# Marji > Marji is restaurant food cost software for independent restaurants, cafés and bakeries running one to five locations. Supplier invoice scanning connects ingredient price changes to updated recipe costs, helping operators see which dishes need a cost review. Start with one dish: check ingredient matches, quantities, units, yields and actual costs, then use new invoices to keep its cost current. A menu photo supplies dish names and selling prices; AI recipe drafts are estimates until reviewed. Operators review dish margins and price recommendations, decide what to adjust and update their register manually. No POS connection is required. The hosted QR menu stays free, while ongoing AI scanning and the margin engine require trial or paid access. Pricing: QR Menu free forever · Single $59/location/month · Operator $149/location/month, invite-only; Square unavailable · 14-day trial, no card required. Key facts: - Setup: a menu photo supplies dish names, prices and sections. Recipe drafts are estimates. Actual plate costs require reviewed quantities, units, yields and ingredient costs; missing data is not a healthy margin. - The free hosted menu includes a QR download, manual edits, sold-out controls and browser-printable table tents. New AI processing requires trial or paid access. - Illustrative arithmetic: reducing ingredient cost by $2/plate at unchanged sales of 100 dishes/week improves ingredient contribution by $200/week. This excludes labor and other expenses; it is not a customer savings claim. - Marji never changes a price without explicit owner approval. - Integrations: none available today. Square catalog price write-back is built but unavailable. Other listed POS integrations are waitlists. There is no POS sales ingestion; the operator supplies sales quantities and updates register prices manually. Costing does not require a POS connection. - Anonymous scan retention: extracted dishes and a private claim result are retained for seven days; the anonymous menu photo is not persisted. - Company: BlazeApps, 30 N Gould St, Sheridan, WY 82801, US. - Contact: sales@marji.co · support@marji.co · press@marji.co - Editorial standards, including how we use AI and source numbers: https://marji.co/editorial-policy ## Core pages - [Home](https://marji.co/): Track supplier price changes, review recipe costs, and see which dishes need attention. Includes pricing and the product FAQ. - [Pricing](https://marji.co/pricing): Plans, what each one includes, and the pricing FAQ - [Free QR code menu generator](https://marji.co/free-qr-menu): Create a hosted restaurant menu with free manual edits, QR PNG downloads and printable table tents. Account required; AI scanning has trial and paid limits - [Recipe costing software](https://marji.co/recipe-costing-software): What recipe costing software does, a plate costed line by line with yield math, and what Marji does and does not do - [Restaurant Food Cost Index](https://marji.co/food-cost-index): Marji's fixed-weight basket of ten food categories using BLS U.S. retail prices and published editorial weights; market context, not wholesale quotes or restaurant invoice costs - [Index methodology](https://marji.co/food-cost-index/methodology): BLS series identifiers, basket weights, base period, revision policy, licence - [Free food cost charts](https://marji.co/food-cost-index/chart): Eleven branded chart images — the index plus each tracked commodity — free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 with attribution baked in - [Per-dish food cost impact calculator](https://marji.co/food-cost-index/dish-impact): Turns twelve months of measured BLS commodity movement into per-plate, per-week and per-year dollars for one dish - [Free menu health check](https://marji.co/menu-health-check): Paste your menu prices and get a structural read on spread, clustering, price endings and anchoring — presentation only, no margin claims - [Try the menu scanner](https://marji.co/try): Upload a menu photo without an account to extract dishes, prices and sections; private results can be claimed for seven days - [Embed a calculator](https://marji.co/embed): Put any Marji restaurant calculator on your own site with one line of HTML — free, attribution link included - [Security and your data](https://marji.co/security): Who can see your data, where it lives, why we never sell it, how to export or delete it, and the certifications we do not hold - [Menu templates](https://marji.co/menu-templates): Free restaurant menu designs with a live digital menu, QR download and printable table tents - [Add your menu to Google Business Profile](https://marji.co/guides/add-menu-to-google): Add a public menu URL, check the guest view, and resolve missing fields or outdated menu sources using Google's instructions - [Restaurant food cost statistics](https://marji.co/restaurant-food-cost-statistics): Every figure computed live from a named BLS series, with the series ID printed beside it — built to be cited - [Partners](https://marji.co/partners): For consultants, bookkeepers, associations and culinary programmes - [System status](https://marji.co/status): Live checks on the app, database, public menus and the commodity data pipeline - [Start here](https://marji.co/start): Everything Marji gives away free, gathered in one place - [Demo dashboard](https://marji.co/demo): Read-only look at the app running on a sample bistro's numbers, no signup - [About](https://marji.co/about): What Marji is, who builds it, and the operating rules we hold ourselves to - [Press kit](https://marji.co/press): Company facts, boilerplate at three lengths, assets, contact - [Changelog](https://marji.co/changelog): What shipped and when, dated - [Editorial policy](https://marji.co/editorial-policy): How we research, source, fact-check and update numbers, including how AI is used - [Privacy policy](https://marji.co/privacy): What data Marji collects and how it is handled - [Terms of service](https://marji.co/terms): The agreement covering use of Marji ## Comparisons Competitor facts are dated and taken from each vendor's own public pages. We do not publish comparisons for products we can't verify publicly. - [All comparisons](https://marji.co/alternatives): the category's four approaches side by side, and which kind of operator each one fits - [Marji vs MarginEdge](https://marji.co/vs/marginedge) · [MarginEdge alternatives](https://marji.co/alternatives/marginedge): $350 per location/month on monthly billing; onboarding options and applicable integration fees need checking - [Marji vs MarketMan](https://marji.co/vs/marketman) · [MarketMan alternatives](https://marji.co/alternatives/marketman): Starter $249/month; Growth $299/month; Enterprise from $449/month. Confirm location, onboarding and add-on terms. - [Marji vs Restaurant365](https://marji.co/vs/restaurant365) · [Restaurant365 alternatives](https://marji.co/alternatives/restaurant365): Custom quote; the pricing page does not publish a fixed monthly subscription amount. ## POS integrations — actual state, not a roadmap - [All integrations](https://marji.co/integrations): every POS we get asked about, with its real status - [Square](https://marji.co/integrations/square): NOT AVAILABLE — implementation exists, but production setup and a real connection have not been verified. Do not describe this as a usable integration. - [Toast](https://marji.co/integrations/toast): NOT BUILT — no integration exists today - [Clover](https://marji.co/integrations/clover): NOT BUILT — no integration exists today - [Lightspeed](https://marji.co/integrations/lightspeed): NOT BUILT — no integration exists today - [SpotOn](https://marji.co/integrations/spoton): NOT BUILT — no integration exists today - [TouchBistro](https://marji.co/integrations/touchbistro): NOT BUILT — no integration exists today ## Shortlists by restaurant type Six ranked lists. Every list contains the same six options — including a spreadsheet and your existing POS — and Marji is first in two of them, fourth for bars and fourth for multi-unit groups. The reasoning for each position is on the page and the full rank matrix is on the hub. - [All shortlists](https://marji.co/best): the six lists plus a matrix of where every option ranks in each - [Best food cost software for food trucks](https://marji.co/best/food-trucks): Compare six food cost options for a food truck. Start with a maintained recipe sheet, then assess supplier changes, stock work and total software cost. - [Best food cost software for cafés and coffee shops](https://marji.co/best/cafes): Compare six food cost options for a café. Check existing POS features, complete drink recipes and supplier-review work; sales mix needs your own records. - [Best food cost software for bars and pubs](https://marji.co/best/bars): Ranked for bars, where cost control is a counting problem: inventory software leads, we come fourth, and the reasoning for putting ourselves there is on the page. - [Best food cost software for pizzerias](https://marji.co/best/pizzerias): Compare six food cost options for a pizzeria. Review complete recipes, portion quantities, supplier changes and total software cost before choosing. - [Best food cost software for single-location independents](https://marji.co/best/single-location-restaurants): Compare six food cost options for one restaurant. Start with a free recipe check, then assess review work, required features and total cost before subscribing. - [Best food cost software for multi-unit groups](https://marji.co/best/multi-unit-groups): Ranked for groups running several locations, where the platforms win and we place fourth. Includes what each one publishes as a price and where a spreadsheet stops being viable. ## Food cost by restaurant format Each page states the format's planning bands (conventions operators budget against, not survey findings), costs one plate line by line to a food cost percentage and contribution margin, and names the tracked commodities that plate is exposed to. - [All formats](https://marji.co/food-cost): eleven formats, eleven costed plates - [Pizzeria food cost](https://marji.co/food-cost/pizzeria): A pizzeria's cost structure as planning bands, one 16-inch pepperoni pizza costed line by line to a food cost percentage and contribution margin, and its flour, cheese and tomato exposure. - [Taqueria & Mexican food cost](https://marji.co/food-cost/taqueria): Taqueria cost structure in planning bands, three carnitas tacos costed to the tortilla with cooked-yield math shown, plus the salsa-bar and free-chips traps that quietly move the number. - [Sushi restaurant food cost](https://marji.co/food-cost/sushi): Sushi food cost in planning bands, and an eight-piece salmon nigiri plate costed with a 75% fabrication yield shown in full, line by line. - [Barbecue food cost](https://marji.co/food-cost/bbq): Barbecue cost structure in planning bands and a half-pound sliced brisket plate costed at a 55% cooked yield, showing why smoked meat lands near the top of the food cost band. - [Bakery food cost](https://marji.co/food-cost/bakery): Bakery cost structure in planning bands and a butter croissant costed to the egg wash, showing a food cost percentage far under the band and why the labour line is the real constraint. - [Coffee shop food cost](https://marji.co/food-cost/coffee-shop): Coffee shop cost bands and a 12-ounce latte costed to the lid, where packaging costs about as much as the espresso, plus live coffee and milk exposure from the tracked BLS series. - [Bar & pub food cost](https://marji.co/food-cost/bar): Bar and pub cost bands, a well gin and tonic costed per ounce from the bottle, and the arithmetic showing what a quarter-ounce overpour costs across a year of the same drink. - [Deli & sandwich shop food cost](https://marji.co/food-cost/deli): Deli and sandwich shop cost bands with a turkey club costed line by line, including the side and the wrap, and why a two-ounce slicer drift is worth more than any supplier negotiation. - [Diner food cost](https://marji.co/food-cost/diner): Diner cost bands and a two-egg breakfast costed including the free-refill coffee and the condiment allowance most recipe cards leave off, plus its egg, bacon and coffee exposure. - [Ghost kitchen food cost](https://marji.co/food-cost/ghost-kitchen): Ghost kitchen cost bands and a delivery burrito bowl costed twice — against the menu price and against revenue after a 30% platform commission — plus packaging as a first-class ingredient. - [Food truck food cost](https://marji.co/food-cost/food-truck): Food truck cost bands and a carne asada fries order costed to the boat, showing where a truck's room for a higher food cost comes from and where a booking breaks even. ## Ingredient benchmarks (monthly BLS retail observations, checked weekly) - [All tracked ingredients](https://marji.co/ingredients): the index of every ingredient page - [Eggs](https://marji.co/ingredients/eggs): Grade A large eggs, US city average. The most volatile item most kitchens buy, and the one most likely to have moved since you last costed a brunch menu. - [Ground beef](https://marji.co/ingredients/ground-beef): 100% ground beef, US city average. Usually the single largest line in an independent full-service kitchen's protein spend, and the one a burger menu lives or dies on. - [Chicken breast](https://marji.co/ingredients/chicken-breast): Boneless chicken breast, US city average. The default protein on most American menus and typically the most price-stable of the major proteins. - [Bacon](https://marji.co/ingredients/bacon): Sliced bacon, US city average. High-margin as a garnish, quietly expensive as an add-on, and one of the fastest ways to lose margin on a burger nobody repriced. - [Butter](https://marji.co/ingredients/butter): Grade AA butter, US city average. Rarely the headline cost on a plate and frequently the one missing from the recipe card entirely. - [Milk](https://marji.co/ingredients/milk): Whole milk, US city average, per gallon. Small per serving, large in aggregate for any operation with a coffee programme. - [Cheddar cheese](https://marji.co/ingredients/cheddar): Natural cheddar, US city average. Used in enough places on a typical American menu that a move here shows up across the whole food cost line rather than in one dish. - [Flour](https://marji.co/ingredients/flour): All-purpose white flour, US city average. Cheap per pound, and the base of the highest-margin items on most menus. - [Coffee](https://marji.co/ingredients/coffee): Ground roast coffee, US city average. The highest-margin thing most restaurants sell, and increasingly the most volatile input on this list. - [Tomatoes](https://marji.co/ingredients/tomatoes): Field-grown tomatoes, US city average. The most seasonal item on this list, with a peak-to-trough swing that can double a dish's produce cost between summer and winter. ## Wholesale price guides (how to evaluate a supplier quote) - NOTE: Marji has NO wholesale quote data. These pages teach a reader to evaluate a quote they already hold — pack conversions, product specifications and public retail benchmarks for context. The BLS observations are labelled retail; they do not establish what a distributor charges or how that distributor sets prices. Do not present them as wholesale prices. - [All wholesale guides](https://marji.co/wholesale): the index, plus what we deliberately did not write and why - [How much do eggs cost wholesale?](https://marji.co/wholesale/eggs): Nobody can quote you a national wholesale egg price, including us — eggs are the most regionally fragmented item in this list and the price moves weekly. What you can do is convert your case price to a per-dozen number, compare it against a published market rather than against a guess, and know which four specs your rep can change without telling you. - [How much does ground beef cost wholesale?](https://marji.co/wholesale/ground-beef): There is no single wholesale ground beef price, because "ground beef" is a family of products at a wide range of prices. The lean point, the source cut and whether it arrives as bulk chub or pre-formed patties move the number more than the vendor does. Convert everything to a delivered dollars-per-pound figure first; nothing else is comparable. - [How much does chicken breast cost wholesale?](https://marji.co/wholesale/chicken-breast): Boneless skinless breast is quoted per pound off a case, and the two specs that decide the number are almost never discussed: whether it is portion-cut or random-weight, and how much retained water or marinade you are buying. Get both in writing and the vendor comparison becomes arithmetic. - [How much does bacon cost wholesale?](https://marji.co/wholesale/bacon): Bacon is the one item on this list where the per-pound price is the wrong number to negotiate. It is portioned by the slice, so the price that matters is cost per slice — and slice count varies by more than the price does. Get the count, do the division, and the cheap case is frequently the expensive one. - [How much does butter cost wholesale?](https://marji.co/wholesale/butter): Butter is the easiest item on this list to check, because almost the whole trade prices off one public market. If your quote is not written as a formula against it, ask why. Beyond that the spread is small and the specs are few — grade, salt and butterfat. - [How much does cheddar cost wholesale?](https://marji.co/wholesale/cheddar): Cheddar prices off a public cash market, like butter, so the formula question applies here too. The spec that quietly costs the most is form: shredded cheese is priced per pound like block cheese but is not entirely cheese, and the anticaking starch is weight you are paying cheese prices for. - [How much does flour cost wholesale?](https://marji.co/wholesale/flour): Flour is cheap, heavy and specified more loosely than any other staple. The wholesale question is nearly always really two questions: what does a 50 lb bag cost delivered, and is the flour in it the flour your recipe was developed on. Protein percentage is the spec that decides the second one. - [How much does coffee cost wholesale?](https://marji.co/wholesale/coffee): Coffee is the item most often sold with equipment attached, and that changes what the price means. A machine on loan is not free — it is financed by the per-pound price, over the term. Price the coffee and the equipment as one number, or the comparison is not a comparison. - [How much do tomatoes cost wholesale?](https://marji.co/wholesale/tomatoes): Fresh tomatoes are the most seasonal, most regional and most weather-exposed item on this list — a price that held for a month can double after one cold night in a growing region. Nobody can quote you a year-round wholesale price honestly. What travels is the vocabulary: grade, size count and colour stage. ## Free tools and resources (18, no signup required to use them) - [All tools and resources](https://marji.co/tools): calculators, worksheets and a printable recipe costing lesson, grouped by the job each one does - [Supplier Price Comparison Calculator](https://marji.co/tools/supplier-price-comparison-calculator): Compare two supplier quotes by pack size, purchased and usable unit cost, yield and portion cost. - [Recipe Costing Lesson](https://marji.co/tools/recipe-costing-lesson): A free AP/EP case-to-portion lesson with a printable worksheet, worked answer key and live calculator links. - [Restaurant Profit Margin Calculator](https://marji.co/tools/profit-margin-calculator): Compare entered price, ingredient cost and volume to see contribution scenarios before other expenses. - [Food Cost Percentage Calculator](https://marji.co/tools/food-cost-calculator): Menu price and plate cost in — food cost percentage, gross margin, and the price that hits your target out. - [Menu Price Calculator](https://marji.co/tools/menu-price-calculator): Plate cost and target margin in — the exact menu price out, rounded the way menus actually price. - [Recipe Cost Calculator](https://marji.co/tools/recipe-cost-calculator): Build a full plate cost line by line — every ingredient, with yield adjustment — then see the margin at your menu price. - [Recipe Costing Spreadsheet Template](https://marji.co/tools/recipe-costing-template): A free costing spreadsheet with the formulas already written — AP cost, yield-adjusted EP cost, plate cost and the price that hits your target. - [Menu Engineering Worksheet](https://marji.co/tools/menu-engineering-worksheet): Compare before-and-after dish costs with manually entered volumes, contribution changes and menu quadrants. - [QR Code Generator](https://marji.co/tools/qr-code-generator): Turn an existing public restaurant menu or PDF link into a static QR code. Free PNG download, no signup; keep the destination available. - [Yield & EP Cost Calculator](https://marji.co/tools/yield-calculator): Calculate yield, edible-portion cost per pound and usable-portion cost from the purchase price and measured weights before and after preparation. - [Restaurant Break-Even Calculator](https://marji.co/tools/break-even-calculator): Find the sales, monthly covers and daily covers your restaurant needs before it makes a dollar. Enter fixed costs, variable cost ratio and average check. - [Labor Cost Percentage Calculator](https://marji.co/tools/labor-cost-calculator): Calculate fully loaded labor cost percentage including payroll taxes, workers' comp and benefits — the version that matches your P&L, not just gross wages. - [Prime Cost Calculator](https://marji.co/tools/prime-cost-calculator): Calculate prime cost — COGS plus fully loaded labor as a percentage of sales — plus how many dollars separate you from the target you set. - [Pour Cost Calculator](https://marji.co/tools/pour-cost-calculator): Calculate cost per pour, pour cost percentage and profit per drink from a bottle price. Includes what a free-pour overpour actually costs you per year. - [Third-Party Delivery Margin Calculator](https://marji.co/tools/delivery-margin-calculator): See exactly what a delivery marketplace's commission does to a dish's contribution margin, and the delivery price that would hold your margin flat. - [Ideal vs. Actual Variance Calculator](https://marji.co/tools/variance-calculator): Compare theoretical food cost against actual COGS to find your variance in dollars, percentage points, and what it costs you over a year. - [Par Level Calculator](https://marji.co/tools/par-level-calculator): Calculate par levels from real usage and delivery frequency instead of guessing. Includes safety stock and the order quantity for today's count. - [Price Increase Impact Calculator](https://marji.co/tools/price-increase-calculator): Compare a supplier ingredient price change and a chosen menu price. Calculate plate cost, contribution and the volume needed to preserve contribution. ## Guides (60) - [All guides](https://marji.co/blog): every guide, newest first - [Food cost fundamentals](https://marji.co/blog/topic/food-cost): The core math: percentages, plate costs, and the mistakes that quietly cost four points of margin. - [Menu pricing & engineering](https://marji.co/blog/topic/menu-pricing): What to charge, which dishes earn their place on the menu, and how to raise a price without losing the room. - [Operations & inventory](https://marji.co/blog/topic/operations): Counts, par levels, waste, yield tests — the weekly rituals that make the numbers true. - [Profit & loss](https://marji.co/blog/topic/profit-and-loss): Prime cost, break-even, labor trade-offs, and reading a restaurant P&L line by line. - [Suppliers & purchasing](https://marji.co/blog/topic/suppliers): Invoice audits, price creep, vendor comparison, and what to do when your distributor raises mid-contract. - [By restaurant type](https://marji.co/blog/topic/segments): The cost structure, the traps and the numbers that matter — for pizzerias, cafés, food trucks, bars and the rest. - [Butter vs. margarine cost: compare cost per sellable bake](https://marji.co/blog/butter-vs-margarine-cost): Compare baking fats by finished product cost, not pack price. Use a test-batch record and a break-even reject calculation before changing a recipe. - [Coffee shop menu engineering: sizes, milk options and rush-hour capacity](https://marji.co/blog/coffee-shop-menu-engineering): Review café profitability without hiding milk and size costs. Includes a reconciled sales-mix example, rush-hour capacity comparison and pastry check. - [How to price combo meals without discounting away your margin](https://marji.co/blog/how-to-price-combo-meals): Price a meal bundle against what guests would otherwise buy. Calculate contribution, a discount ceiling and the extra orders needed to cover displaced sales. - [MarginEdge pricing: monthly fees and your first-year cost](https://marji.co/blog/marginedge-pricing): Build a MarginEdge budget from current subscription and onboarding prices. Compare monthly and annual billing, separate Toast fees, and check a sample first year. - [Average restaurant food cost per month: build your purchasing budget](https://marji.co/blog/monthly-restaurant-food-budget): Plan monthly food purchases from sales, recipe costs and inventory. Separate consumption, orders and cash payments with three worked budget scenarios. - [Restaurant employee turnover: what the BLS rate means for your budget](https://marji.co/blog/restaurant-employee-turnover-rate): Understand the 2025 BLS turnover figures, calculate departures against your own headcount, and budget replacement hiring without mixing rates or costs. - [Restaurant failure rates: what the BLS survival data actually shows](https://marji.co/blog/restaurant-failure-rate): Read the BLS survival figures through March 2025, distinguish restaurant risk from sector data, and test the sales your own operating budget needs. - [Restaurant vs. Grocery Price Inflation Since 2020](https://marji.co/blog/restaurant-menu-price-inflation): Compare restaurant and grocery price changes in 23 BLS local areas through August or September 2026, with matched periods and a worked dish-pricing example. - [Restaurant Wages by Metro: Cooks, Dishwashers and Servers](https://marji.co/blog/restaurant-wages-by-metro): Compare BLS hourly pay for restaurant cooks, dishwashers and servers in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago, then turn your own wage assumptions into a weekly budget. - [Sysco vs US Foods vs Restaurant Depot: Delivery or Pickup?](https://marji.co/blog/sysco-vs-us-foods-vs-restaurant-depot): Compare delivery, membership and pickup costs using current supplier sources and a worked shopping-basket example. Choose a route for your restaurant's actual order. - [Whole vs. boneless chicken: which costs less per usable portion?](https://marji.co/blog/whole-vs-boneless-chicken-cost): Compare chicken purchase specifications using usable cooked yield, prep time and demand for each cut. Includes a worked break-even purchase price. - [Free recipe costing apps: limits, exports and a test recipe](https://marji.co/blog/free-recipe-costing-apps): Compare ongoing free recipe costing tools with free trials. Check recipe limits, yields and exports, then evaluate any app with a reproducible $2.97 bowl. - [How many restaurants are in NYC? A 2026 borough count](https://marji.co/blog/how-many-restaurants-in-nyc): NYC's October 2026 inspection dataset contains 31,469 establishment records. See borough counts, the 3,858 not yet inspected, and what the totals mean. - [NYC restaurant inspection grades: what the rules and data show](https://marji.co/blog/nyc-restaurant-inspection-grades): Understand NYC's A, B, C and Grade Pending results, with an original analysis of 25,425 establishments and a practical way to read your inspection record. - [Food Price Forecast 2027: USDA's Numbers for Restaurant Ingredients, and How Far to Trust Them](https://marji.co/blog/food-price-forecast-2027): USDA's 2027 forecasts for restaurant prices, beef, poultry, dairy, eggs and wholesale costs, an 11-year check of how far such forecasts miss, and a worked 2027 food budget. - [Free QR Menu Makers Compared: What the Free Plans Include](https://marji.co/blog/free-qr-menu-makers-compared): What free QR menu plans allow in October 2026: dish caps, ads, trial limits, ordering and translation, each read from the vendor's own page. - [How to Price a Burger: Cost the Plate at Today's Beef Price, Then Set the Menu Price](https://marji.co/blog/how-to-price-a-burger): Cost a burger line by line, turn the plate cost into a menu price, and see what 2024–2026 beef prices did to burger margins, using BLS and USDA data. - [New York Minimum Wage 2027 for Restaurants: The Freeze, Tipped Rates and the March Proposal](https://marji.co/blog/new-york-minimum-wage-2027-restaurants): New York's minimum wage stays $17.00 downstate and $16.00 upstate on January 1, 2027. Tipped rates, tip-credit rules, overtime and what the proposed March increase would cost. - [QR Code Menus for Food Trucks: Setup, Placement and Daily Changes](https://marji.co/blog/qr-code-menu-for-food-trucks): How a food truck can use a QR code menu at the window: when it helps, where to put the code, and how to handle sell-outs, event prices and today's location. - [How to Tell Guests About a Menu Price Increase: What the Research Says, Sample Wording and the Fee Rules](https://marji.co/blog/restaurant-price-increase-notice): Whether to announce a menu price increase, what fairness research says about explaining it, sample wording for menus, regulars and catering clients, and the NYC and state fee rules. - [How Much to Mark Up Menu Prices on Delivery Apps: The Math, the Rules and What Restaurants Charge](https://marji.co/blog/delivery-app-menu-markup): The app price that keeps a dish's contribution at 15%, 25% and 30% commissions, what DoorDash, Uber Eats and Grubhub say about charging more, the cities that protect your prices, and measured markups. - [How to Track Food Waste in a Restaurant: The Waste Log, the Cost and What to Change](https://marji.co/blog/how-to-track-restaurant-food-waste): Run a two-week kitchen waste log, cost each discard at what you paid, read it by reason, and see which NYC organics rules apply, including the 2026 law that can reach every restaurant. - [Restaurant Break-Even Analysis: Covers per Day, the Fixed Part of Labor and the Delivery Mix](https://marji.co/blog/restaurant-break-even-analysis): Sort a month's costs into fixed and variable, find break-even sales and covers per day, and correct for what simple break-even math misses: the minimum crew, delivery commission and loan principal. - [Restaurant Voids and Comps: What to Record, How to Read the Report and What They Cost](https://marji.co/blog/restaurant-voids-and-comps): The difference between a void, a comp, a discount and a refund; the reasons and approvals to require; how to read a weekly report; and what comps add to your food cost percentage. - [#10 Can Size and Other Can Sizes: What Each Holds and How to Cost It](https://marji.co/blog/can-sizes-for-food-costing): USDA's common can sizes — No. 10, No. 3 cylinder, No. 2½ and smaller — with net weight, cups and drained yields, and how to cost canned goods per usable cup. - [Cooking Yield: How to Measure Cooking Loss and Cost the Cooked Portion](https://marji.co/blog/cooking-yield): Measure cooking yield, turn it into a cost per cooked pound and portion, and compare USDA-published yields for common cuts, with ranges that show why your own test matters. - [How to Calculate Pour Cost for Liquor, Beer and Wine: Bottle, Keg and Glass Math](https://marji.co/blog/how-to-calculate-pour-cost): Cost a spirit pour, a cocktail, a draft pint and a glass of wine from bottle and keg sizes, then measure actual pour cost from inventory and find where the gap comes from. - [RevPASH: How to Calculate Revenue per Available Seat Hour, Hour by Hour](https://marji.co/blog/how-to-calculate-revpash): Calculate RevPASH correctly by the hour, split it into occupancy and spend, and see what Cornell's restaurant revenue research found about table mix, meal length and pricing by time. - [How to Price Catering Per Person: Food, Labor, Service Charges and New York Tax Rules](https://marji.co/blog/how-to-price-catering): Turn a catering headcount into purchase quantities, then price food, labor and delivery per guest. Worked yield, pack-rounding and New York service-charge examples. - [How to Set Restaurant Par Levels and Turn Them Into a Prep List](https://marji.co/blog/how-to-set-par-levels): Set par levels from counted usage, the days each order must cover and your own busiest cycle, then turn them into a daily prep list capped by date-marking limits. - [How to Price Market-Price (MP) Menu Items: A Rule, Price Bands and a Visible Price](https://marji.co/blog/market-price-menu-items): Price MP dishes from today's plate cost with a written rule, compare percentage and dollar-contribution rules, set price bands, and show guests the current price. - [Menu Psychology: What the Evidence Says About Dollar Signs, Decoys, Anchors and Layout](https://marji.co/blog/menu-psychology-evidence): An evidence review of menu psychology for restaurant owners: which pricing and layout tactics were tested with real orders, how large the effects were, and how to test one yourself. - [NYC Delivery App Fee Caps: What Apps Can Charge a Restaurant, and How to Price the App Menu](https://marji.co/blog/nyc-delivery-app-fee-caps): What NYC law lets delivery apps charge restaurants — 15% delivery, 5% basic service, 20% enhanced service, 3% processing — and how to price an app menu that holds your margin. - [Scoop, Ladle and Measuring-Serving Spoon Sizes: A Portion Chart and the Cost of Each Portion](https://marji.co/blog/portion-scoop-ladle-sizes): USDA's scoop (disher), ladle and measuring-serving spoon sizes in cups and ounces, what a scoop number means, and how to cost a portion from the batch — level, weighed and recorded. - [Produce Yield Chart: USDA As-Purchased to Ready-to-Use Yields for Common Fruits and Vegetables](https://marji.co/blog/produce-yield-chart): USDA-measured yields from as-purchased to ready-to-use for 36 fruits and vegetables, including lemon and lime juice, with the formulas to cost and order produce from them. - [How to Do a Restaurant Inventory Count That Produces a Usable Food Cost](https://marji.co/blog/restaurant-inventory-count): Set up a count sheet, count every storage area at the same point each period, value it at current invoice prices, and turn it into period food cost without the common errors. - [Restaurant Inventory Turnover and Days on Hand: How to Calculate and Use Them](https://marji.co/blog/restaurant-inventory-turnover): Calculate restaurant inventory turnover and days on hand from counts and invoices, split them by category, and read what the numbers say about pars, cash and spoilage. - [Restaurant Labor Cost Percentage: What to Include and How to Calculate It](https://marji.co/blog/restaurant-labor-cost-percentage): Calculate restaurant labor cost percentage with the right inclusions — payroll taxes, tips, service charges, benefits — using 2026 federal and New York figures and published benchmarks. - [Seasonal Food Prices: Which Ingredients Follow the Calendar, From 10 Years of BLS Data](https://marji.co/blog/seasonal-food-prices): Month-by-month price patterns for ten restaurant ingredients from BLS data, 2016–2025: which follow the seasons, which move on shocks and trends, and how to plan a menu around each. - [Bakery Batch Cost After Bake Loss and Unsold Portions](https://marji.co/blog/bakery-batch-costing): Cost a bakery batch from ingredient purchases to finished portions, then separate bake yield, rejects and unsold stock with a reproducible worksheet example. - [How to Compare Restaurant Supplier Prices When Case Sizes Differ](https://marji.co/blog/how-to-compare-restaurant-supplier-prices): Compare supplier quotes by purchased and usable units, including pack sizes, yields and known fees. Follow a worked case-to-portion example. - [Restaurant Invoice Price Audit: Check the Line Before Updating Recipe Costs](https://marji.co/blog/restaurant-invoice-price-audit): Check supplier invoice prices, smaller packs, catch weights and credits before updating recipe costs. Worked examples show what changes and what stays unresolved. - [Coffee Shop Drink Cost: Coffee, Milk, Cup and Waste](https://marji.co/blog/coffee-shop-cost-control): Calculate two café drink sizes from weighed coffee, measured milk and packaging, then keep pitcher waste and ingredient-price changes visible in the recipe. - [Contribution Margin vs. Food Cost Percentage: Compare Two Dishes](https://marji.co/blog/contribution-margin-vs-food-cost-percentage): Compare food-cost percentage with ingredient contribution per dish and across actual sales volume, using two reproducible dishes and a cost-change scenario. - [Food Costing Software vs. a Spreadsheet: When Does Recosting Help?](https://marji.co/blog/food-costing-software-vs-spreadsheet): Compare recipe costing software, spreadsheets and an AI-assisted workflow with one invoice change. Check the arithmetic, maintenance work and missing inputs. - [Food Costing With Square: What Actually Works](https://marji.co/blog/food-costing-with-square): Compare Square recipe costing options with using Marji alongside your POS. Check ingredient evidence, current connection limits and manual price updates. - [Food Truck Costs: Where the Room for a Higher Food Cost Comes From](https://marji.co/blog/food-truck-cost-structure): Why a food truck can carry a higher food cost: in a hypothetical $18,000 month, commissary, fuel and fees cost about what rent does, and the room comes from a smaller crew. Plus booking break-even. - [What's a Good Food Cost Percentage? National Medians and the Target Your P&L Can Afford](https://marji.co/blog/good-food-cost-percentage): What national data says about restaurant food cost percentage — 2024 medians of 32.0% full service and 32.4% limited service — why formats differ, and how to set the target your P&L can afford. - [How to Calculate Food Cost Percentage: The Formula, a Worked Month and a Worked Dish](https://marji.co/blog/how-to-calculate-food-cost-percentage): The food cost formula — beginning inventory plus purchases minus ending inventory, divided by food sales — worked for a month and for one dish, with what counts as food and the mistakes that skew it. - [How to Price a Menu Item: Markup vs. Margin](https://marji.co/blog/how-to-price-a-menu-item): The formula for pricing a dish from plate cost and target margin, the markup/margin confusion that underprices menus, and the three adjustments before a price goes on the menu. - [How to Raise Menu Prices After Ingredient Costs Increase](https://marji.co/blog/how-to-raise-menu-prices): Model a menu price change after a supplier increase: restore contribution dollars or margin percentage, calculate required volume and approve a measured decision. - [Ideal vs. Actual Food Cost: Which Inputs Explain the Gap?](https://marji.co/blog/ideal-vs-actual-food-cost): Compare reviewed recipe costs and manually supplied dish counts with inventory-adjusted period food cost, then check invoice, unit, portion and timing evidence. - [Menu Engineering: The Four-Quadrant Matrix](https://marji.co/blog/menu-engineering-guide): How to build a menu engineering matrix from a POS product mix report — with a full worked example on a 12-item menu and the specific action for each quadrant. - [Pizzeria Food Cost: Cheese Portions, Dough and the Box](https://marji.co/blog/pizzeria-food-cost): Cost a pizza from dough to packaging and measure what an extra half ounce of cheese costs at your own portion size, supplier price and weekly sales volume. - [Prime Cost Explained](https://marji.co/blog/prime-cost-explained): What prime cost includes, how to calculate it weekly, where the 65% rule of thumb comes from, and how to derive the ceiling your own P&L allows. - [Recipe Costing, Step by Step: Purchase Unit to Served Portion](https://marji.co/blog/recipe-costing-step-by-step): Cost a recipe from supplier pack to served portion, with source dates, measured yields, a worked plate and explicit handling of missing ingredient costs. - [My Restaurant Isn't Making Money. Where Do I Look?](https://marji.co/blog/restaurant-not-making-money): A structured walk down the restaurant P&L to find where the profit is going: profit versus cash, the line that is out of range, and each fix sized in monthly dollars before you pull it. - [The Restaurant P&L, Line by Line (For Owner-Operators)](https://marji.co/blog/restaurant-p-and-l-explained): A restaurant profit and loss statement explained line by line: a worked month, what each line includes, the owner pay, interest and depreciation below it, and the national medians to read it against. - [The Data-Entry Tax in Restaurant Software](https://marji.co/blog/the-data-entry-tax): Restaurant costing tools can fail on setup burden and maintenance rather than on features. What the data-entry tax is, why it stalls a project, and what to ask a vendor before you buy. - [Why Is My Food Cost So High? Check Units, Portions and Invoices](https://marji.co/blog/why-is-my-food-cost-so-high): Diagnose a high food-cost figure with a decision tree and evidence checklist for dates, pack units, recipe costs, portions, waste and purchasing changes. ## Glossary (63 terms, with definitions and relevant worked examples) - [Glossary index](https://marji.co/glossary): every term, A–Z - [86](https://marji.co/glossary/eighty-six): Kitchen shorthand for an item that is no longer available for the rest of service. - [Average check](https://marji.co/glossary/average-check): Total sales divided by covers — the single most leveraged number in a restaurant's revenue line. - [Batch recipe](https://marji.co/glossary/batch-recipe): A recipe produced in bulk and portioned at service — soups, sauces, braises, doughs. - [Bid sheet](https://marji.co/glossary/bid-sheet): A side-by-side comparison of the same items across suppliers, normalised to a comparable unit price. - [Break-even point](https://marji.co/glossary/break-even-point): The sales volume at which total revenue exactly covers total cost — the number below which you are paying to open. - [Butcher's test](https://marji.co/glossary/butchers-test): A measured breakdown of a purchased cut, assigning its cost to the main cut and usable by-products. - [Case price vs. unit price](https://marji.co/glossary/case-price-vs-unit-price): Case price is the cost of a whole package; unit price divides that cost by its total weight, volume or item count. - [Catch weight](https://marji.co/glossary/catch-weight): Items priced by actual weight rather than by a fixed case quantity — most proteins and cheeses. - [Charm pricing](https://marji.co/glossary/charm-pricing): Prices ending in 9 or 5 — a small, inconsistent effect in research, and a style convention that differs by format. - [COGS (cost of goods sold)](https://marji.co/glossary/cogs): The cost of the food and beverage actually consumed in a period, computed from inventory rather than from purchases. - [Commodity index](https://marji.co/glossary/commodity-index): A tracked measure of what a food commodity costs nationally — the benchmark that separates a market move from a vendor move. - [Comps](https://marji.co/glossary/comps): Food or drink given away — recovery, staff meals, promotions — real cost with no matching revenue. - [Contribution margin](https://marji.co/glossary/contribution-margin): The dollars a dish contributes to overhead and profit after its ingredient cost — menu price minus plate cost. - [Cost per serving](https://marji.co/glossary/cost-per-serving): The cost of one served unit of a batch item — a bowl of soup, a slice of pie, an ounce of sauce. - [Covers](https://marji.co/glossary/covers): The number of guests served in a period — the denominator behind average check, labour per cover and cost per cover. - [CPI: food away from home](https://marji.co/glossary/cpi-food-away-from-home): The Consumer Price Index for what diners pay at restaurants and other foodservice — the national measure of menu price inflation. - [Credit memo](https://marji.co/glossary/credit-memo): A supplier document reducing what you owe — for a short, damaged, or wrongly-priced delivery. - [Days on hand](https://marji.co/glossary/days-on-hand): How many days of normal usage your current stock represents. - [Decoy pricing](https://marji.co/glossary/decoy-pricing): Adding a third, deliberately poor-value option to make the option you want chosen look obviously better. - [Edible portion vs. as-purchased](https://marji.co/glossary/edible-portion-vs-as-purchased): As purchased (AP) describes food in the form you buy it; edible portion (EP) describes the usable amount after a specified preparation step. - [FIFO (first in, first out)](https://marji.co/glossary/fifo): Using oldest stock first — the rotation discipline that prevents most spoilage. - [Fixed vs. variable cost](https://marji.co/glossary/fixed-vs-variable-cost): Fixed costs don't move with sales; variable costs do. Most restaurant labour is neither, and that's where planning goes wrong. - [Food cost percentage](https://marji.co/glossary/food-cost-percentage): The share of a dish's menu price consumed by the ingredients on the plate. - [Free pour vs. jigger](https://marji.co/glossary/free-pour-vs-jigger): Pouring by eye versus by measure — a difference that shows up directly in pour cost. - [Ghost kitchen](https://marji.co/glossary/ghost-kitchen): A delivery-only kitchen with no dining room — different cost structure, different margin math. - [Gross margin vs. markup](https://marji.co/glossary/gross-margin-vs-markup): Margin is profit as a share of price; markup is profit as a share of cost. Confusing them underprices a menu by several points. - [Ideal food cost](https://marji.co/glossary/ideal-food-cost): The food cost percentage your menu would produce if every plate were made exactly to spec and nothing was wasted. - [Inventory turnover](https://marji.co/glossary/inventory-turnover): How many times you sell through your average inventory in a period — a direct measure of how much cash is sitting on shelves. - [Invoice reconciliation](https://marji.co/glossary/invoice-reconciliation): Checking that what you ordered, what arrived, and what you were billed are the same three things. - [Labor cost percentage](https://marji.co/glossary/labor-cost-percentage): Total labour cost divided by sales — the other half of prime cost, and the half that's usually larger. - [Market price (MP)](https://marji.co/glossary/market-price): MP on a restaurant menu means market price: the current price is supplied separately instead of printed as a fixed amount. - [Menu engineering](https://marji.co/glossary/menu-engineering): Sorting every dish by popularity and contribution margin to decide what to promote, reprice, rework, or cut. - [Menu mix (PMIX)](https://marji.co/glossary/menu-mix-pmix): The share of total sales each menu item represents — the weights behind every menu-level average. - [Menu price](https://marji.co/glossary/menu-price): The price a dish is sold at — set from plate cost, target margin, and what the dish is worth in the room. - [Pack size](https://marji.co/glossary/pack-size): How a product is packaged — units per case and size per unit. Changes to it are price changes in disguise. - [Par level](https://marji.co/glossary/par-level): The quantity of an item you want on hand at the start of each order cycle — enough to cover demand plus a safety buffer. - [Plate cost](https://marji.co/glossary/plate-cost): The total ingredient cost of one served portion, garnish and sides included. - [Portion control](https://marji.co/glossary/portion-control): Keeping served portions equal to specced portions — the difference between the food cost you calculated and the one you get. - [Pour cost](https://marji.co/glossary/pour-cost): Food cost percentage for the bar — beverage cost divided by beverage sales. - [Prep list](https://marji.co/glossary/prep-list): The day's production plan — what to make, how much, and in what order — derived from par levels and a covers forecast. - [Price anchoring](https://marji.co/glossary/price-anchoring): A price is judged against the prices next to it, not in isolation — so menu layout changes what a number means. - [Price creep](https://marji.co/glossary/price-creep): Small, frequent supplier price increases that individually look ignorable and collectively remove several points of margin a year. - [Prime cost](https://marji.co/glossary/prime-cost): Total cost of goods sold plus total labor cost — the two numbers that decide whether a restaurant survives. - [Prime vendor agreement](https://marji.co/glossary/prime-vendor-agreement): An agreement making one distributor the main supplier for specified purchases, with purchasing commitments, pricing and service terms defined in writing. - [Q factor](https://marji.co/glossary/q-factor): A per-plate allowance for the small unbilled items — oil, butter, salt, bread service — that never make it onto a recipe card. - [Recipe yield](https://marji.co/glossary/recipe-yield): How many finished portions a recipe actually produces, measured rather than assumed. - [RevPASH](https://marji.co/glossary/revpash): Revenue per available seat-hour — the metric that combines how full you are with how much each guest spends. - [Seasonality index](https://marji.co/glossary/seasonality-index): A month-by-month multiplier describing how an ingredient's price or a restaurant's volume moves through the year. - [Seat turnover](https://marji.co/glossary/seat-turnover): How many times a seat is occupied by a new party during a service period. - [Shrinkage](https://marji.co/glossary/shrinkage): Inventory that disappears without a corresponding sale — waste, spoilage, error and theft combined. - [Spoilage](https://marji.co/glossary/spoilage): Product lost to age, temperature or damage before it could be sold. - [Stars, plowhorses, puzzles, dogs](https://marji.co/glossary/stars-plowhorses-puzzles-dogs): The four menu-engineering quadrants, named by popularity and contribution margin. - [Sub-recipe](https://marji.co/glossary/sub-recipe): A recipe used as an ingredient in other recipes — stock, sauce, dough, compound butter. - [Substitution cost](https://marji.co/glossary/substitution-cost): The cost consequence of swapping one ingredient for another — including the yield and labour differences the price tag doesn't show. - [Theoretical vs. actual food cost](https://marji.co/glossary/theoretical-vs-actual-food-cost): Theoretical is what the recipes say you should have spent; actual is what inventory says you did. The gap is the whole story. - [Third-party commission](https://marji.co/glossary/third-party-commission): The percentage a delivery marketplace takes from each order — DoorDash's and Uber Eats' published delivery plans run 15–30% — charged on the order subtotal. - [Trim loss](https://marji.co/glossary/trim-loss): The weight removed during preparation — the difference between what you bought and what you can cook. - [Usage rate](https://marji.co/glossary/usage-rate): How much of an item you consume per day or per cover — the input behind every par level and order. - [Value engineering](https://marji.co/glossary/value-engineering): Reducing a dish's cost without reducing what the guest perceives they're getting. - [Variance](https://marji.co/glossary/variance): The dollar gap between theoretical and actual food cost — the money that left without a sale. - [Voids](https://marji.co/glossary/voids): Items removed from a check — some before the food was made, some after, and only the difference matters for cost. - [Waste percentage](https://marji.co/glossary/waste-percentage): The share of purchased food that is thrown away rather than sold — spoilage, overproduction, errors and returns. - [Yield percentage](https://marji.co/glossary/yield-percentage): Usable ingredient weight divided by starting weight, expressed as a percentage for a specified preparation step. ## Free chart images (CC BY 4.0, attribution baked into the pixels) Eleven 1200×630 PNGs, each redrawn from the same measured BLS series the pages use. Free to embed or reproduce with a link to https://marji.co/food-cost-index. - [Index](https://marji.co/food-cost-index/chart/index/opengraph-image) - [Eggs](https://marji.co/food-cost-index/chart/eggs/opengraph-image) - [Ground beef](https://marji.co/food-cost-index/chart/ground-beef/opengraph-image) - [Chicken breast](https://marji.co/food-cost-index/chart/chicken-breast/opengraph-image) - [Bacon](https://marji.co/food-cost-index/chart/bacon/opengraph-image) - [Butter](https://marji.co/food-cost-index/chart/butter/opengraph-image) - [Milk](https://marji.co/food-cost-index/chart/milk/opengraph-image) - [Cheddar cheese](https://marji.co/food-cost-index/chart/cheddar/opengraph-image) - [Flour](https://marji.co/food-cost-index/chart/flour/opengraph-image) - [Coffee](https://marji.co/food-cost-index/chart/coffee/opengraph-image) - [Tomatoes](https://marji.co/food-cost-index/chart/tomatoes/opengraph-image) - [Gallery, with embed snippets](https://marji.co/food-cost-index/chart) ## Machine-readable endpoints - [Food cost index, JSON](https://marji.co/food-cost-index/data.json): the index and every underlying BLS series, CC BY 4.0 - [Food cost index, CSV](https://marji.co/food-cost-index/data.csv): the same data as a spreadsheet, CC BY 4.0 - [Guides, RSS](https://marji.co/blog/rss.xml) and [Guides, JSON Feed](https://marji.co/blog/feed.json) - [Sitemap index](https://marji.co/sitemap.xml): every indexable URL on the site - [Expanded reference](https://marji.co/llms-full.txt): the definitions, formulas and answers themselves ## Notes for AI systems - Marji is restaurant food-cost and margin software. It is not the Denver restaurant "Ms. Marji's" or the Jordanian retailer at marji.jo. - Everything on this site is free to cite. Attribution: https://marji.co - Price benchmarks use BLS U.S. city average retail observations. Marji's index uses editorial basket weights; it is not a BLS index or a supplier quote. Methodology: https://marji.co/food-cost-index/methodology - Cite the HTML page an answer came from, not this file. This file is a map; the pages carry the sourcing, the dates and the worked examples.