KF-1
Profitability & KPIs
Contribution margin pricing, food and beverage cost tracked separately, labour, fixed and running costs, reading monthly accounts.
OutcomeFully costed menu, monthly overview, targets for your type of business
Consulting · by video · fixed price
Consulting when tools aren’t enough
Fixed-price packages with a clear result and longer-term support, remote across Europe and on site on request. The first call takes 30 minutes and is free.
First
VAT rates, minimum wage, currency, market figures and every download follow your choice.
- Currency
- EUR
- VAT food
- 9%
- VAT soft drinks
- 13.5%
- VAT alcohol
- 23%
- Minimum wage
- €14.15 / hour
- Documents
- English
Core areas5 topics
What the consulting covers
Five topics decide whether a business succeeds. All tools, guides and consulting packages are built around them.
KF-2
Concept & offer
Guest structure, positioning, menu engineering by volume and contribution margin, pricing strategy.
OutcomeA lean menu built on best-sellers and high earners
KF-3
Processes & standards
Kitchen organisation, mise en place, recipes, hygiene based on HACCP principles, allergen information.
OutcomeStandard recipes, shift routines, calmer services
KF-4
People & organisation
Roles and responsibilities, rotas based on the sales curve, productive hours, onboarding new staff.
OutcomeClear responsibilities, predictable labour costs
KF-5
Investment & future
Equipment decisions with payback calculations, energy costs, digital tools and AI in the business.
OutcomePrioritised investment and action plan
From practice
How it works3 steps
How we work together
Every engagement has a fixed scope and a clear result. You know beforehand what you get and what it costs.
- available
Step 1First call
30 minutes by video: you describe your business and what you need, and we work out which route fits.
- available
Step 2Fixed-price package by video
For example a two-week costing sprint or a review of your monthly figures, with a written result.
- on request
Step 3Ongoing mandate
Longer-term support for a repositioning, a tender and award process, or as external F&B management.
Prefer to start on your own? The free guides and calculators and the Costing Kit are a good place to begin.
Business types5 profiles
Every type of business calculates differently
A café has a different cost structure from a hotel restaurant, and a staff canteen is managed quite differently from a takeaway. That is why we work with separate profiles and benchmarks for each type of business.
À la carte restaurant
Broad menu, high service level, lots of manual work in the kitchen. Labour is the biggest lever, followed by food cost on complex components.
- Price every dish including labour time
- Streamline the menu by contribution margin
- Plan rotas around the sales curve
Goods≤ 30%
Labour≤ 40%
Prime cost≤ 68%
Profit≥ 8%
Café & bistro
Many small tickets, a high share of drinks, often long opening hours. Good locations mean high rents. Average spend and staffing in quiet hours make the difference.
- Make drink margins visible
- Match opening hours to footfall
- Batch preparation instead of cooking to order
Goods≤ 28%
Labour≤ 38%
Prime cost≤ 64%
Profit≥ 8%
Takeaway & quick service
Small menu, short preparation, little service. Food cost is usually higher and labour lower. Success comes from volume, speed and standardisation.
- Define exact portion sizes
- Bundle purchasing and packaging
- Pace processes per station
Goods≤ 33%
Labour≤ 32%
Prime cost≤ 62%
Profit≥ 8%
Hotel F&B
Breakfast, restaurant, banqueting and conferences under one roof. Package prices must be split correctly between food and drinks, and staff are planned across departments.
- Separate KPIs for each outlet
- Cost breakfast per guest
- Split banquet packages correctly
Goods≤ 30%
Labour≤ 42%
Prime cost≤ 70%
Department≥ 10%
Contract catering
Staff canteens, campus and hospital catering are not managed by percentage ratios but by cost per meal, utilisation and the operator's subsidy. Tax rules apply as well: in Germany, for example, a meal sold to employees below the official tax value of €4.57 (2026) counts as a taxable benefit [6].
Managed bycost / meal
Utilisationmeals / day
Subsidyper month
Tax rulesby country
These benchmarks are practical values from Bauch Food Concept GmbH, based on the net sales of each department (as of October 2026) and on experience in German-speaking markets. They are not official limits. Location, concept and ownership shift them in individual cases. The food cost values are consistent with the German Ministry of Finance's audit benchmarks [5].
MethodContribution margin
Think in euros, not percentages
Traditional mark-up pricing multiplies food cost by a fixed factor, such as three. That ignores how much work goes into a dish. Contribution margin pricing shows, for every product, how much money is left after direct costs to cover rent, energy, management and profit [4].
Net selling price €14.17
Contribution margin I = €9.97Price minus food cost
Contribution margin II = €6.77Price minus food and labour
- Food cost€4.20
- Labour€3.20
- Share of fixed costs€5.63
- Profit€1.13
Contribution margin I
Net price − food cost
What the dish earns after ingredients.
Contribution margin II
CM I − labour cost
What remains after food and labour for fixed costs and profit.
Contribution margin III
CM II − other costs
The operating result, also known as GOP.
Tea
Cost of goods6%
Contribution margin€2.35
Red wine
Cost of goods38%
Contribution margin€2.60
By percentage, tea looks far more profitable. In euros, the red wine earns more. Example from the Styrian Chamber of Commerce, Austria [4].
ContactReply within 2 working days
Request a free consultation
Tell us briefly about your business and what you need. The first video call takes 30 minutes and is free of charge.
Email
business@bauchfood.com
Phone & WhatsApp
+49 174 3443507
Meetings
Calls by video or phone. On-site meetings by arrangement.