Cheese and ham toastie: how much it costs to make, per serve
Two slices of thick white bread, buttered outside, filled with grated mature cheddar and two slices of gammon ham, pressed in a panini grill. Served with a spoon of coleslaw. Costed from JJ Foodservice wholesale prices dated 9 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sliced white bread, thick | £1.59 | 800 g | 88 g | £0.17 |
| Unsalted butter | £30.49 | 5000 g | 10 g | £0.06 |
| Mature cheddar, grated | £11.99 | 2000 g | 60 g | £0.36 |
| Sliced gammon ham | £5.49 | 500 g | 40 g | £0.44 |
| Coleslaw | £5.99 | 2000 g | 50 g | £0.15 |
| Total | £1.18 | |||
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 | £1.18 |
| Waste allowance, 5% (trim, ends, the odd one binned) | £0.06 |
| Staff time: 5 min hands-on per serve at £12.71/hr + 25% on-cost | £1.32 |
| Food, waste and staff per serve | £2.56 |
At the sample café menu price (£4.00 ex VAT) that is 64% 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
- Butter the outside of both slices.
- Fill with the ham and grated cheddar (grated melts evenly; slices leave cold spots in the middle).
- Toast in a panini press or a heavy pan for 3-4 minutes until golden and the cheese has melted to the edge.
- Cut diagonally and serve with the coleslaw.
Costing notes
A thick-sliced 800 g loaf gives about 18 slices of roughly 44 g, so the bread is under 20p a toastie. Ham and cheese are two-thirds of the cost; weigh them once so the team can see what 60 g of grated cheddar looks like, because free-handed fillings are the usual reason toastie margins drift.
Where the prices came from
JJ Foodservice collection prices as shown on its public search pages on 9 October 2026 (delivery runs about £1-2 a case higher). A few lines JJ did not list in that day's searches reuse the dated prices already on our other starter recipes (7 September 2026, JJ Foodservice or Tesco retail, marked on each line). 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.
- Sliced white bread, thick: Kingsmill Great Everyday Soft Thick White Bread 1x800g (BRE062), 800 g, £1.59 collection — JJ Foodservice, accessed 2026-10-09
- Unsalted butter: Lakeland Unsalted Butter 20x250g (DAI186), 5 kg, £30.49 collection — JJ Foodservice, accessed 2026-10-09
- Mature cheddar, grated: Vittorios Mature Grated Cheddar 1x2kg, 2 kg, £11.99 collection — JJ Foodservice, accessed 2026-10-09
- Sliced gammon ham: Wiltshire Sliced 100% Gammon Ham 1x500g, 500 g, £5.49 collection — JJ Foodservice, accessed 2026-10-09
- Coleslaw: Coleslaw 1x2kg (SAN105), 2 kg, £5.99 collection — JJ Foodservice, accessed 2026-10-09
More costed dishes: café and breakfast
- Egg mayo sandwich — £0.57 a serve
- Beans on toast — £0.60 a serve
- Fish finger bap — £1.23 a serve
- Porridge with honey — £0.40 a serve