Is your per-meal price actually profitable? Free, no signup.
Well-run meal prep businesses usually target 25-40% profit margin. Adjust to your own goal.
Container, lid, bag, label, utensils. Most people undercount this.
Fuel, mileage, bags, and your drive time.
Kitchen rent, insurance, software, fees.
A per-meal price means nothing until you know the true cost behind it. Enter your price per meal, meals sold per week, and your target profit margin percent (default 30; the tool notes well-run meal prep businesses usually target 25 to 40). Then build your true costs honestly: grocery cost per meal plus your waste rate (presets 3, 5, or 8 percent, default 5, covering spoiled food, trim, and mistakes), packaging per meal (container, lid, bag, label, utensils, which most people undercount), your kitchen hours per week times your hourly rate, your weekly delivery cost, and other weekly overhead like kitchen rent, insurance, software, and fees. The tool spreads every weekly cost across your meals to show true cost per meal, profit per meal, margin percent, and your food cost percent (aim 28 to 35; flagged above 35, bad above 40). It also shows the price you need to hit your target margin at current costs and volume, computed as true cost divided by one minus your target. The verdicts: PROFITABLE, TIGHT, BARELY BREAK-EVEN, or LOSING MONEY. Estimates for planning only, not financial advice.
Example only, not typical pricing. You charge $12 per meal and sell 100 a week. Groceries run $3.50 per meal, plus 5% waste = $3.68. Packaging is $0.75. Your labor is 20 kitchen hours at $25/hr = $500, or $5 per meal. Delivery costs $60 a week ($0.60/meal) and other overhead is $50 a week ($0.50/meal). True cost per meal is $3.68 + $0.75 + $5 + $0.60 + $0.50 = $10.53. Profit is $1.47 per meal, a 12.3% margin: TIGHT against a 30% target. The price you need is $10.53 / (1 - 0.30) = $15.04. Food cost sits at 30.6%, inside the 28-35 band, so labor is the line to watch, not groceries.