AI by NicheJob 3 of 15ChatGPTGemini
Cost each dish and set prices so your hourly rate is real
A trader who counted hours found a rate of around four pounds an hour before ingredients and fuel, and says even ten years in the trade is tight. The sum most owners skip is the full cost of one portion plus the hours behind it. AI can lay out recipe costs, packaging, gas and labour from your own receipts and show what price covers them. You decide the price, and you can check every sum with a calculator.
Time: About 1 hour for the first menu, then 15 minutes per price changeTool cost: you can start with a free AI tool
Steps
- For each dish, weigh or count what goes into one portion and copy the current supplier price per unit from your latest invoices.
- Add packaging, napkins, gas, and a share of fixed costs such as pitch fees, insurance and vehicle running costs, and decide the share rule you will use.
- Count the hours behind a typical event: shopping, prep, travel, set-up, trading, pack-down and cleaning.
- Paste the figures into the prompt and ask for a cost per portion, the price needed for the gross margin you choose, and the hourly rate that results.
- Compare the suggested price with what customers pay at the event, decide your own price, and keep the working sheet to repeat when supplier prices change.
The exact prompt
I am a UK street food trader. Using ONLY the figures below, cost each dish and show what my hourly rate really is. Do not use any food cost percentage, average price or benchmark that I have not given, and show every sum. For each dish: ingredients per portion with the unit price from my latest invoice [list]; packaging and gas per portion £[amount]; current selling price £[amount]; portions sold at a typical event [number]. Costs for a typical event: pitch fee or commission £[amount]; staff cost £[amount]; travel and fuel £[amount]; a share of insurance and vehicle costs £[amount]; unsold stock £[amount]. Hours I put in for a typical event: shopping [hours]; prep [hours]; travel and set-up [hours]; trading [hours]; pack-down and cleaning [hours]. Am I VAT registered? [yes or no]. Gross margin I want to aim for on food cost: [percentage]%. Produce: (1) a table of cost per portion and gross profit per portion for every dish; (2) the price each dish would need for my chosen margin, and how far that is from my current price; (3) the total profit and my hourly rate for a typical event with my current prices; (4) which dishes to reprice first, from my figures; (5) the questions I should check with my accountant about VAT on the prices I show customers. Plain English.
✓ Check before you send
- Every ingredient price is from a recent invoice or receipt, and quantities per portion are weighed, not estimated.
- The hours include shopping, prep, travel and cleaning, not just the time at the stall.
- Your own pay is shown as an hourly rate, and you re-did the hourly rate sum yourself.
- The suggested prices are compared with what customers actually pay at the event before you change anything.
- Prices shown to customers include VAT if you are VAT registered, and your accountant has confirmed how VAT applies to hot food.
UK notes extra
- The CMA price transparency guidance covers how taxes and mandatory charges are shown in the prices customers see. Read your menu board against it. CMA: price transparency guidance (UK).
- Check the current VAT registration threshold and how VAT applies to your sales. GOV.UK: register for VAT, including the current threshold.
- If you employ staff, their pay must meet the legal minimum rate for their age. Check the current rates. GOV.UK: National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage rates.
Last reviewed Oct 2026. Free tools change. If a screen looks different, the steps still apply.Back to top ↑