Beans on toast: how much it costs to make, per serve
Heinz baked beans on two slices of buttered thick white toast. One serve, costed from JJ Foodservice prices dated 10 October 2026.
The menu price is the one ChefSums uses for this dish on its sample café menu, a realistic UK menu price. The lowest price is the one that just reaches 68% GP, the UK food GP benchmark (UKHospitality × Christie & Co, 2022: 65.9–69% food GP across every segment). It covers the ingredients at a normal margin, not staff, rent or energy, and most cafés, pubs and takeaways charge more for simple dishes. Check what places near you charge. GP is worked out on the ex-VAT price.
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Ingredients and cost, one serve
| Ingredient | Pack price | Pack size | Used | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Baked beans (Heinz, catering tin) | £28.99 | 15720 g | 200 g | £0.37 |
| Sliced white bread, thick | £1.59 | 800 g | 88 g | £0.17 |
| Unsalted butter | £30.49 | 5000 g | 10 g | £0.06 |
| Total | £0.60 | |||
Cost per line is pack price × (amount used ÷ pack size), the same sum the tool runs. Change one pack price and every line that uses it moves.
What it really costs: waste and staff time
| Ingredients | £0.60 |
| Waste allowance, 5% (trim, ends, the odd one binned) | £0.03 |
| Staff time: 2 min hands-on per serve at £12.71/hr + 25% on-cost | £0.53 |
| Food, waste and staff per serve | £1.16 |
At the sample café menu price (£4.58 ex VAT) that is 25% of the price, before rent, energy and everything else. Many UK sites aim to keep food plus staff (prime cost) at or under 60–65% of sales. The staff line counts hands-on prep only, not unattended cooking, and uses the April 2026 National Living Wage; put your own rate, minutes and waste in the calculator's real cost section or the prime cost calculator. Every dish side by side: the UK dish cost index.
Method
- Heat the beans gently.
- Toast two slices of thick white bread and butter them.
- Serve the beans over the toast.
Costing notes
The whole plate is £0.60, and the beans are £0.37 of that. A 2.62 kg catering tin does about 13 portions at 200 g. JJ's own-brand beans were £18.99 for six 2.65 kg tins that day against £28.99 for Heinz, which works out £0.13 less a portion; whether customers notice is your call.
Add-ons are where the margin is: grated cheese on top costs about 36p for 60 g of mature cheddar at these prices, and is commonly priced well above that.
Where the prices came from
JJ Foodservice collection prices as shown on its public search pages on 10 October 2026 (delivery runs about £1-2 a case higher; one line JJ listed on delivery only is marked). JJ does not label VAT on most lines: raw food is zero-rated in the UK, while soft drinks, alcohol, confectionery and some ingredients carry standard-rate VAT. Your supplier's price is the one that matters: open the recipe and type it in.
- Baked beans (Heinz, catering tin): Heinz Baked Beans 6x2.62kg (VEG063), 6 x 2.62 kg, £28.99 collection — JJ Foodservice, accessed 2026-10-10
- Sliced white bread, thick: Kingsmill Great Everyday Soft Thick White Bread 1x800g (BRE062), 800 g, £1.59 collection — JJ Foodservice, accessed 2026-10-10
- Unsalted butter: Lakeland Unsalted Butter 20x250g (DAI186), 5 kg, £30.49 collection — JJ Foodservice, accessed 2026-10-10
More costed dishes: café and breakfast
- Fish finger bap — £1.23 a serve
- Porridge with honey — £0.40 a serve
- Chicken Caesar wrap — £1.39 a serve
- Bacon roll — £0.68 a serve