Food Waste Cost Calculator

Wasted food is a cost with no line on the menu: whatever gets thrown out was already paid for in full. This calculator takes what you actually measured as waste in a month and projects it forward — and shows what your own target reduction would be worth, in your own currency.

The formula, in the open

• Average daily waste cost = monthly waste cost ÷ days you operated that month.
• Annual waste cost = monthly waste cost × 12.
• Saving from a cut = the monthly and annual figures above × your own target cut %.

A worked example

₹45,000 of food was wasted last month, over 26 operating days: that's 45,000 ÷ 26 ≈ 1,730.8, which rounds to ₹1,731 a day, and 45,000 × 12 = ₹5,40,000 a year at that rate. Targeting a 20% cut would save 45,000 × 20% = ₹9,000 a month and 5,40,000 × 20% = ₹1,08,000 a year.

What moves the number

The waste-cut percentage is yours to set — the calculator doesn't assume one. What moves the underlying monthly figure is operational: portion control at prep, first-in-first-out stock rotation so nothing expires unseen, and cooking closer to order instead of holding large batches. Portion control is the most direct of the three — the portion cost calculator shows exactly what a tighter portion does to a single plate's cost.

Try it

Enter your own month below. The defaults are the worked example — replace them with yours.