Free calculator
See what a menu change would need to achieve.
Compare one item’s selling price, direct product cost and sales volume. Your entries stay in this page and are not sent to Third Place Advisory. Download your comparison before leaving the page.
Your comparison
What changes under these assumptions?
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These are calculations from your assumptions, not a forecast of demand, an assessment of net profit or a guarantee of a result.
What the calculation includes.
Contribution per item = selling price − direct product cost.
Contribution margin = contribution per item ÷ selling price × 100.
Total contribution = contribution per item × units sold.
Include the direct product costs relevant to the item, such as ingredients and packaging. Use realistic portions and yields. This tool does not calculate staffing, premises, utilities or other overheads, and therefore does not calculate net profit.
It compares one item in one period. It does not model substitution between products, changes to the rest of a customer’s order or limits on service capacity.
An illustrative comparison.
An item selling for £6 with £2 of product costs contributes £4 per sale before other costs. At 200 sales, that is £800.
A proposed price of £6.50 at the same product cost contributes £4.50 per sale. At 180 sales, that is £810. It would take 178 whole sales to match or exceed the original £800 contribution.
The example is arithmetic, not an estimate of how your customers will respond. Read the menu pricing guide for the practical questions around a change.
Put the result in context.
A result can help you ask a more precise question. It cannot tell you whether the assumed sales volume is realistic, whether customers will switch products, or whether the change adds work elsewhere.
If you want to look at the menu alongside staffing, waste and trading patterns, the performance review brings those records together. I’m not an accountant and do not guarantee business results.