Restaurant sales mix: contribution per kitchen minute

Compare a menu mix using contribution per item and the time each item uses at the constrained kitchen station. A dish can leave more money per sale yet produce less contribution during a busy service because it occupies the grill for longer. Build the recipe cost first, then compare feasible quantities at the same station time.

Calculate recipe cost after usable yield

Assume a 10 kg meat purchase costs $120 and trimming leaves 8 kg usable. At 0.2 kg per portion, the batch provides 40 portions, making meat cost $3 per portion. Dividing by the original 10 kg would imply 50 portions and $2.40 each, understating meat cost by $0.60 per plate.

Add the other recipe components and packaging once. In the burger example below, meat is $3, other ingredients $4 and packaging $1, giving $8 variable cost. Do not add the same trimming loss again if usable yield already accounts for it. Use the portion actually served and the purchasing unit: a case price is not a per-portion cost.

Find the kitchen constraint

Assume burgers and grilled wraps share one grill with 300 usable minutes during the service being planned. Usable time already excludes the expected setup and interruptions. Both dishes have demand, while other staff and equipment can handle the quantities in the comparison. Prices and costs are illustrative, before shared scheduled labor, occupancy, tax and financing costs.

The burger has the higher contribution per item; the wrap has the higher contribution per constrained minute. ACCA's limiting-factor explanation distinguishes those rankings. Use the costs that actually vary in your decision; this contribution calculation is not a claim that all kitchen labor varies per dish.

Compare mixes at the same capacity

The second mix earns $40 more contribution from the same grill time even though contribution per item falls. Its higher total comes from serving ten more items, not from a better per-item margin. If the unchanged included fixed service cost is $800, the two mixes leave $160 and $200 respectively before other excluded costs.

The result depends on selling fifty wraps. If customers only want thirty, an all-wrap production plan does not create extra demand. Keep demand caps beside the station calculation. Check the next bottleneck too: more wraps may overload assembly, packaging or order handoff even if grill minutes fit.

Check channel fees and order definitions

Suppose a delivery channel charges an assumed 20% of the item price and that fee is not yet in variable cost. Burger contribution falls from $12 to $8, or $2 per grill minute. Wrap contribution falls from $8 to $5.20, or $2.60 per grill minute. Apply the actual channel terms and include any extra packaging, discounts or refund cost; 20% is only an example input.

Do not compare contribution per item for one channel with contribution per order for another. An order may contain two dishes and a drink, using different stations. Convert the proposed baskets into item counts, ingredient requirements and station minutes before comparing the menu promotion.

Use the calculation to choose the promotion

For a busy service, ask whether the promotion improves total contribution within the limiting station and supported demand. For a quiet service with spare grill time, the limiting-factor ranking may be less relevant; incremental demand and any extra staffing commitment can drive the choice. A promotion that requires another paid shift needs the shift cost added before claiming a gain.

Use the contribution-per-order guide to define revenue and costs, the break-even and capacity method for the service's included fixed costs, and the inventory guide for the stock needed to deliver the mix. Recipe margins alone cannot establish a feasible or funded service plan.