For cafes and bakeries
Price every cup, slice and loaf with the waste included
A latte looks cheap to make until cups, lids, milk waste and the unsold croissants are counted. Put them all in and see the real price.
Quick answer: how should cafes and bakeries price a product?
Add every cost, then the fees that take a share of the price, then choose your margin. For flat white that works out at $4.18, leaving $2.51 profit. Skip a cost and the profit shrinks without you noticing.
Check your best seller in two minutes
Take the product you sell most. If its price was set by adding a mark-up to the ingredients per item and you have never counted unsold and waste allowance or loyalty and free-drink allowance, card fees and monthly costs, it may earn less than you think. Some items may even lose money. You will not see it in your till, only in the end-of-month result.
The mark-up trap, worked through
Marking up only the ingredients per item by 60% gives a price of $0.99. After the other costs and the fees taken from that price, the sale loses $0.40, not the $2.51 you planned. The same costs priced properly give $4.18.
Illustration with the example costs below. Your numbers will differ.
Where cafes and bakeries usually lose money
Unsold bakes cost money
Add an unsold and waste allowance so tomorrow's bin is paid for today.
Small items hide big costs
Cup, lid, sleeve and napkin add up. List them once and reuse the calculation.
Rent and equipment
Monthly costs spread across your daily sales so the price covers them.
Example: Flat white
These costs go in. The price comes out of the same engine the app uses.
- Ingredients per item$0.62
- Cup, lid or bag$0.28
- Baking labour per item$0.40
- Card terminal fee2.9% of price
- Unsold and waste allowance6% of price
- Profit you want60% margin
Sell it for
$4.18
Profit per sale $2.51 on a total cost of $1.67.
What cafes and bakeries see in the app
Real screens. Your own costs and products go in, the same kind of answers come out.
A ready cost list
Pick cafes and bakeries and the usual cost lines appear. You fill in the amounts.
The exact price
Fees that depend on the price are solved exactly, so the profit you ask for is the profit you get.
Products that lose money
Check a whole price list at once and see which items run thin or below cost.
Already set up for cafes and bakeries
Choose this business type in the calculator and these cost lines appear. You only fill in the amounts.
- Ingredients per item
- Cup, lid or bag
- Baking labour per item
- Oven and machine power per item
- Milk and fresh extras
- Card terminal fee
- Unsold and waste allowance
- Loyalty and free-drink allowance
- Rent (monthly)
- Staff wages (monthly)
- Power and gas (monthly)
- Equipment lease (monthly)
- Coffee machine servicing (monthly)
- Cleaning supplies (monthly)
What cafes and bakeries get with CostCal Pro
The pricing maths is free. Paid plans add bulk tools and store connections.
Exact selling price
FreeEnter the ingredients per item, other costs and fees, choose a margin, and get the price that keeps it.
Catalog check
FreeUpload a product export and see which products lose money or run on a thin margin.
Discount simulator
FreeSee the largest discount that still leaves a profit before you run a sale.
Break-even
FreeAdd monthly costs and see how many sales cover them.
Branded PDF report
FreeSend a clear cost and price breakdown to a customer or partner.
CSV import and typical costs
StarterBring in many products at once and start from ready cost templates.
Store connection
StarterLink calculations to products in your online store by SKU.
Weekly below-cost email
PremiumGet an email when a store product is selling below cost.
Apply prices to your store
PremiumPush approved prices to a connected WooCommerce store.
See plans and prices, all features or a sample report.
Questions cafes and bakeries ask about pricing
How do I price flat white?
Add every cost (ingredients per item, cup, lid or bag, baking labour per item, card terminal fee, unsold and waste allowance), then choose the profit margin you want. With these example costs and a 60% margin, flat white should sell for $4.18, which leaves $2.51 profit on a total cost of $1.67. Your own costs will differ, so enter yours in the calculator.
What is the formula for a selling price that keeps your margin?
Price = fixed costs divided by (1 minus the percentage fees minus your margin). Here the fixed costs are $1.30, the percentage fees are 8.9% of the price and the margin is 60%. Percentage fees must be taken from the selling price, not from the cost, which is why a simple mark-up on cost usually leaves less profit than planned.
What costs do cafes and bakeries often forget?
The easiest to miss are unsold and waste allowance, loyalty and free-drink allowance, your own time, and monthly costs such as rent, staff wages, power and gas. Each one is a row in the Cafe / bakery preset, so you only fill in the amounts.
How do I know if a product is losing money?
Compare the selling price with the total cost, including the share of the price taken by fees. If the price is lower than that total, the product loses money. Catalog check does this for a whole product export and marks every item that loses money or has a thin margin.
Can I price a whole batch?
Use the per-order basis for the batch cost and set the number of units in the order.
Can I add a weekly special?
Save a separate calculation for each item and open it any time.
Is the CostCal Pro calculator free for cafes and bakeries?
Yes. The Free plan never expires and needs no card. It includes the exact price calculation, 5 saved calculations, 5 PDF reports and a catalog check of up to 50 products. Paid plans start at $49 a year and add more saved calculations, CSV import, store connection and API keys.
Last reviewed 2026-11-11. Example figures are illustrations, not advice.
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