Catering Deck

Free tool · Pricing

What to charge per person for catering

Start from what the food costs you: menu price per guest = ingredient cost per guest ÷ your target food cost. Nine dollars of ingredients at a 30% food cost is a $30 menu price. That number alone is not a price, though — labor, rentals and delivery still have to come out of it or go on top. This calculator builds the whole quote and shows what is left for you at the end, so you can see whether the price per person actually pays.

The figures already filled in are an example, not an average. Put in your own; nothing leaves this page.

Your numbers

$

What the food on one guest’s plate costs you to buy, including the share of sauces, garnish and waste.

%

The share of the menu price that goes to ingredients. Many caterers aim for 25–35%.

Including yourself if you are on site. The staffing calculator works this out from the guest count.

h
$

Wage plus payroll taxes and workers’ comp, not the wage alone.

$

Plates, napkins, chafers, linens — whatever this event uses that is not food.

%

A mandatory charge on the food, kept by the business. Not a gratuity — why the quote has to say so.

$
$

If the food comes to less, the difference is added as a top-up line. Why a top-up beats turning the order away.

%

Collected for the state, not yours to keep. Which lines it applies to differs by state: see catering sales tax by state.

Tax applies to

—

menu price per guest, before service charge and tax.

The quote the customer sees

Food—
Minimum order top-up—
Service charge—
Delivery—
Sales tax—
Total—

What it costs you

Revenue before tax—
Ingredients—
Labor—
Disposables and rentals—
You keep—
All-in price per guest, with tax
—
Profit as a share of revenue
—
Markup and margin on the food alone
—
Food price at which you break even
—

Want to keep these numbers? Copy the link to this calculation — the figures travel in the address.

How it is worked out

Every step, written down

A pricing tool that hides its arithmetic can make any menu look profitable. This is the whole of it.

The menu price

Ingredient cost divided by food cost

The per-guest price is rounded up to the next 25 cents, because nobody prints $29.97 on a menu. That rounding is the only place the page adds money that you did not type.

The quote

Service charge on food, tax last

The service charge is a percentage of the food and any minimum top-up. Tax is applied only to the lines you tick, at the rate you enter, and it never counts as yours: it is collected for the state and shown outside what you keep.

The costs

Labor is staff × hours × rate

Use the full hourly cost of a person, not just the wage, and count the hours from loading the van to unloading it. Underestimating this line is the most common way a catering price looks fine and is not.

What it leaves out

Rent, insurance, your own salary

Kitchen rent, insurance, the van, marketing and the hours you spend quoting are overhead that every event has to help pay. “You keep” is what is left to cover them, not profit after them.

Not tax or accounting advice. Your CPA can tell you which of these lines are taxable in your state and how to treat a service charge for payroll. For a sliding cancellation policy on top of this price, use the deposit and cancellation calculator; to send it, the free quote template.

Questions

Catering pricing, answered

How do I calculate catering price per person?
Divide your ingredient cost per guest by the food cost percentage you aim for. At $9 of ingredients per guest and a 30% food cost target, the menu price is $9 ÷ 0.30 = $30 per guest. Labor, rentals, delivery and the service charge are then added or covered on top, and sales tax is calculated last.
What food cost percentage should a caterer use?
Many caterers aim for roughly 25% to 35% of the menu price going to ingredients. Lower percentages suit high-touch, plated events where labor is heavy; higher ones suit simple drop-off food. The right number is the one that leaves you a profit after labor, which is what the calculator shows.
What is the difference between markup and margin?
Markup is profit as a share of cost; margin is profit as a share of price. Food that costs $10 and sells for $30 has a 200% markup and a 67% gross margin on the food. Mixing them up underprices a menu, so the calculator shows both.
Should sales tax be included in the price per person?
In most of the US prices are quoted before tax, and tax is added as its own line. Which lines are taxable (food, service charge, delivery) depends on the state; see the catering sales tax guide by state.
Does the calculator send my numbers anywhere?
No. It runs entirely in your browser; the figures live in the page address so you can bookmark or share the calculation.

Other free tools for caterers

Who made this

Your own ordering and quoting website

These tools are free and stay free. They are made by Catering Deck, which builds websites for small catering kitchens where customers pick a package, change the headcount and see the price move, and you get a built order instead of a question. It costs $200–$300 once and $10–$20 a month, with no commission on orders. We build a demo with your own menu first, so you can see it before deciding anything.

Ask for a demo of your kitchen Open the dashboard