The short answer
Yield is the share of an ingredient you can use after trimming, peeling or cooking. Divide the price you pay by the yield to get the cost of the usable part: peppers at CA$4.40 a kilogram with 85% yield cost about CA$5.18 a usable kilogram. Recipes costed at the bought price look cheaper than they are.
The formula
Usable cost = price paid ÷ yield. Yield is the usable weight divided by the weight you bought. If 15% of an ingredient is trimmed away, the yield is 85%, and every usable kilogram costs the price ÷ 0.85.
The price you pay is the as-purchased (AP) cost. The cost of the usable part is the edible-portion (EP) cost. Recipes should be costed at EP cost, because the recipe only ever uses the usable part.
Run a yield test
- Weigh the ingredient as it arrives.
- Trim, peel, core or portion it the way your kitchen does.
- Weigh what you can use.
- Divide the usable weight by the starting weight.
- Do it two or three times, on different days, and take the average.
Example: peppers and romaine
These prices and yields are examples; test your own.
- Red peppers: 2 kg bought gives 1.70 kg after coring and seeding, a yield of 85%. At CA$4.40 a kilogram, the usable cost is 4.40 ÷ 0.85 = CA$5.18 a kilogram. A pizza with 60 g of peppers carries CA$0.31 of peppers, not the CA$0.26 the bought price suggests.
- Romaine: a 5 kg case at CA$22.50 gives 3.6 kg of usable leaves, a yield of 72%. The usable cost is CA$6.25 a kilogram, not CA$4.50.
Five cents a pizza looks small. Across every topping, every size and every pizza in a month, it is the difference between the food cost you planned and the one on your profit and loss.
Cooking and batches
Cooking changes weight too. A sauce reduces, meat loses water, rice and pasta gain it. For anything you make in batches, record how much one batch makes, then cost a portion as its share of the batch: a 4 kg batch of sauce that costs CA$12.00 to make costs CA$0.30 for each 100 g.
How Mezbano helps
Each ingredient can carry a usual waste percentage, and Mezbano divides its price by one minus that percentage on every recipe line, whichever price the line uses. The cost breakdown of a line shows its cost before waste and after. A prep recipe records how much one batch makes, so a pizza using 100 g of sauce pays its share of the batch. The Mezbano team sets each ingredient’s waste percentage, and it applies to every store and recipe that uses the ingredient.
What Mezbano does not do here
- Setting waste yourself, per store or per recipe line: each ingredient has one usual waste percentage, set by the Mezbano team.
- A yield-test or butcher-test tool: weigh it yourself, then ask the Mezbano team to set the ingredient’s waste.
- Inventory counts, so no actual-versus-theoretical usage to check yields against.
Questions owners ask
How do I calculate yield percentage?
Weigh the ingredient as bought, trim or prepare it, and weigh what you can use. Divide the usable weight by the bought weight and multiply by 100: 1.70 kg usable from 2 kg bought is 85%.
What is the difference between AP and EP cost?
AP (as-purchased) cost is the price of the ingredient as bought. EP (edible-portion) cost is the price of the usable part: AP cost divided by yield.
How does Mezbano handle trim and waste?
Each ingredient can carry a usual waste percentage, and Mezbano divides its price by one minus that percentage on every recipe line. The cost breakdown shows the cost before and after waste.
Who sets an ingredient’s waste percentage in Mezbano?
The Mezbano team sets it for each ingredient. It applies to every recipe and store that uses the ingredient.