What is recipe costing and why your menu needs it

Recipe costing (known as escandallo in Spanish kitchens) is the detailed breakdown of a dish's cost: how much each ingredient costs, in the exact quantity you use, so you know what margin the dish leaves at its selling price.

Why it matters

Without recipe costing, your menu prices are a gut feeling. With it, you know exactly which dishes are stars (popular and profitable) and which are dogs (neither selling well nor leaving margin). It's the foundation of menu engineering.

The challenge: prices move

A recipe cost calculated once in a spreadsheet ages badly. The moment your supplier raises the price of oil or fish, the real margin on every dish changes — and your costing sheet no longer tells the truth.

Recipe costs that update themselves

In Teremu, every dish is costed live from the rolling prices on your invoices. When you scan a new invoice and an ingredient price changes, every dish that uses it is recalculated instantly. The dish list sorts from worst to best margin, so the ones needing attention float to the top.

That's the goal of Teremu: your recipe costs are never outdated, without you ever touching a spreadsheet.