Profit and profit margin
Monthly profit = revenue − per-sale costs − monthly overheads.
Profit margin = profit ÷ revenue × 100. The amount left before overheads is your contribution.
Meal Prep Business
Profit Calculator
4
Your results
Monthly profit
Annual profitAt the same monthly run rate
Profit per mealIncluding monthly overheads
Monthly profit breakdown
- Revenue
- —
- Ingredients
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- Labour
- —
- Packaging
- —
- Delivery
- —
- Payment fees
- —
- Left for bills & profit
- —
- Monthly overheads
- —
- Profit
- —
From sales to profit
Your break-even point
Orders per week to break even
This assumes the same price, cost per order and monthly overheads at each volume.
Cost ratios & price comparison
Your costs as a share of revenue
| Cost | Actual | Your target (%) |
|---|---|---|
| Ingredients | —— | |
| Labour | —— | |
| Delivery | —— | |
| Packaging | —— | |
| Payment fees | —— |
- Left before overheads
- —
Example targets.
A local price reference
$
Full order price ÷ local meal price
Full business vs existing kitchen
Existing-kitchen profit excludes shared overheads.
$
| At your current sales | Full business | Existing kitchen |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly profit | — | — |
| Annual profit | — | — |
| Profit margin | — | — |
How to calculate meal prep business profit
Which costs should a meal-prep business include?
Include lids, labels and bags in packaging, and preparation, cooking and packing in labour. Add the owner’s kitchen time if you want to allow for replacement staff.
Overheads include rent, utilities, equipment, cleaning, accounting, marketing, software and admin. Count each expense once.
Use our food cost calculator to work out ingredients per meal from your recipe and supplier prices.
How many meal-prep orders do you need to break even?
Monthly break-even orders = monthly overheads ÷ contribution per order. Divide by 52 ÷ 12 for orders per week, or by your operating days for customers per day. Round up to a whole sale.
If each order loses money before overheads, more sales cannot produce a profit at the same price and costs.
Meal prep profit: a worked example
Imagine selling 100 bundles a week, with 10 meals in every bundle, at $12 per meal. Each meal uses $4 of ingredients, $0.80 of packaging and $1.50 of labour. One delivery costs $5 per bundle, payment fees are 3%, and monthly overheads are $4,000.
Each bundle leaves $120 − $71.60 = $48.40 before overheads.
Illustrative example.
From $52,000 monthly revenue$16,973.33estimated monthly profit
32.6%profit margin20 bundlesweekly break-even
Meal prep profit and break-even questions
What is a good profit margin for a meal-prep business?
Your menu, delivery model and overheads determine the margin you need. Work backwards from your required profit to the price and sales volume that support it.
What is the difference between profit margin and markup?
Profit margin is profit divided by revenue, multiplied by 100. Markup is the amount above cost divided by cost, multiplied by 100. If a meal sells for $10 and its total allocated cost is $8, the $2 profit is a 20% margin and a 25% markup.
Does this include tax and the owner’s pay?
Tax is excluded. Include the owner’s production time in labour and separate management pay in overheads. Count the same time once.
Why is my profit different from the money in my bank?
Bank balance also reflects payment timing, stock and equipment purchases, loan repayments, owner drawings and tax. These do not all match the expenses in an average month’s profit.
Are my figures saved when I use the calculator?
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