How to cost a bakery recipe per piece (batch costing made simple)

You bake by the tray but sell by the piece. To know what each piece really costs, cost the whole batch, then divide by the number of good pieces it makes. Here’s how, with a cheese ensaymada as the example.

Step 1: Cost the whole batch

List every ingredient in the batch recipe and what you paid for it. Include the small things. Yeast, salt, flavouring and the oil for the pans are cheap per batch, but they add up across a month. Include packaging too: paper, boxes and bags.

Step 2: Divide by the pieces you can actually sell

This batch costs ₱393.84 and makes 24 pieces, so each ensaymada costs ₱16.41. Use the number of pieces you can sell, not the number the recipe promises. If two pieces usually come out misshapen or burnt, divide by 22 instead: each sellable piece then costs ₱17.90.

Step 3: Compare with the price

At ₱45 with 12% VAT included, the price you keep is ₱40.18 and the margin is 59.2%. If your target is 60%, this item is just short. Raising it to ₱48 gives 61.7%; keeping ₱45 and trimming the butter from 12 g to 10 g a piece gives 61.9%. Our pricing guide shows how to work out the price for any target.

Count your waste

Unsold bread at the end of the day is part of what you spent. Write down how many pieces you throw away or sell off cheaply as day-old, every day. After a few weeks you’ll know which items you bake too many of, which is often a quicker win than changing prices.

Update when prices change

Butter, eggs and flour prices move. When a delivery comes in at a new price, the cost of every item that uses it changes. If you still have older stock, use a weighted average: the total you paid for everything on hand, divided by the total quantity.