Carrot and swede mash: how much it costs to make, per portion
Carrot and swede mash costs £0.24 a portion in ingredients (£2.36 for a batch of 10), from UK pack prices dated 25 October 2026. To reach 68% GP, the UK food benchmark, it needs to sell for at least £0.89 including 20% VAT (£0.74 without).
A roast-dinner side that holds well in a bain-marie: carrots and swede boiled and mashed with butter and black pepper. Ten portions, costed from JJ Foodservice prices read on 25 October 2026.
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, 10 portions
| Ingredient | Pack price | Pack size | Used | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carrots | £7.49 | 10000 g | 800 g | £0.60 |
| Frozen diced swede | £4.29 | 2500 g | 800 g | £1.37 |
| Salted butter | £29.99 | 5000 g | 60 g | £0.36 |
| Ground black pepper | £22.99 | 1750 g | 2 g | £0.03 |
| Table salt | £8.99 | 12500 g | 6 g | £0.00 |
| Batch total | £2.36 | |||
| Per portion (÷ 10) | £0.24 | |||
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 | £0.24 |
| Waste allowance, 5% (trim, ends, the odd one binned) | £0.01 |
| Staff time: 10 min hands-on for the batch of 10 at £12.71/hr + 25% on-cost | £0.26 |
| Food, waste and staff per portion | £0.51 |
At the lowest price (£0.74 ex VAT) that is 69% 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
- Peel and chop the carrots.
- Boil the carrots and frozen swede in salted water for 20 minutes until soft, then drain and steam dry.
- Mash roughly with the butter and plenty of black pepper.
Costing notes
Peel is costed in. Carrots are priced at the weight bought; peeling leaves about 82% (carrot yield). The swede is frozen and diced, so it carries no prep loss; whole swede loses about 15% to the peeler (swede yield).
Where the prices came from
JJ Foodservice collection prices (single-unit price, no multi-buy tiers), read on 25 October 2026. Prices are as listed; JJ does not label VAT on most lines, and most raw food is zero-rated in the UK while alcohol and some ingredients carry standard-rate VAT. Your supplier's price is the one that matters: open the recipe and type it in.
- Carrots: Carrots (VEG760), 10 kg, £7.49 collection — JJ Foodservice, accessed 2026-10-25
- Frozen diced swede: Greens frozen diced swede (VEG219), 2.5 kg, £4.29 collection — JJ Foodservice, accessed 2026-10-25
- Salted butter: Lakeland salted butter, 20 x 250 g (DAI185), 5 kg, £29.99 collection — JJ Foodservice, accessed 2026-10-25
- Ground black pepper: JJ ground black pepper (SPI596), 1.75 kg, £22.99 collection — JJ Foodservice, accessed 2026-10-25
- Table salt: JJ table salt (SPI019), 12.5 kg, £8.99 collection — JJ Foodservice, accessed 2026-10-25
More costed dishes: seasonal
- Christmas turkey dinner — £3.93 a portion
- Roast turkey crown — £2.68 a portion
- Roast potatoes — £0.22 a portion
- Pigs in blankets — £0.77 a portion