Chocolate brownies: how much it costs to make, per portion
A 20×30 cm tray cut into 16 fudgy cocoa brownies. Made with cocoa powder rather than bar chocolate, which keeps the cost down and the texture dense. Costed from JJ Foodservice wholesale prices dated 9 October 2026. Vanilla is from our 7 September Tesco 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.
VAT: cold cake sold to take away is zero-rated; eaten on your premises (including your own tables outside) it is standard-rated at 20%. HMRC VAT Notice 709/1, section 4.1: “Cold takeaway food and drink is zero-rated, as long as it’s not of a type that’s always standard-rated” (Catering, takeaway food).
Open in ChefSums — edit, cost, scale →
Ingredients and cost, 16 portions
| Ingredient | Pack price | Pack size | Used | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unsalted butter | £30.49 | 5000 g | 250 g | £1.52 |
| Caster sugar | £21.49 | 12000 g | 400 g | £0.72 |
| Eggs, medium | £3.49 | 30 each | 4 each | £0.47 |
| Cocoa powder | £10.99 | 500 g | 100 g | £2.20 |
| Plain flour | £12.49 | 16000 g | 110 g | £0.09 |
| Table salt | £10.99 | 6000 g | 2 g | £0.00 |
| Vanilla extract | £4.45 | 95 ml | 5 ml | £0.23 |
| Batch total | £5.23 | |||
| Per portion (÷ 16) | £0.33 | |||
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 | £0.33 |
| Waste allowance, 5% (trim, ends, the odd one binned) | £0.02 |
| Staff time: 15 min hands-on for the batch of 16 at £12.71/hr + 25% on-cost | £0.25 |
| Food, waste and staff per portion | £0.60 |
At the lowest price (£1.02 ex VAT) that is 59% 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 oven to 180 °C (160 °C fan) and line a 20×30 cm tin.
- Melt the butter, stir in the sugar and cocoa, and let it cool for a few minutes.
- Beat in the eggs and vanilla, then fold in the flour and salt until just combined.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes, until the top is set and shiny but the middle still has a slight wobble. Cool fully in the tin before cutting.
Costing notes
A bar-chocolate brownie typically uses 200 g or more of dark chocolate; using cocoa alone makes this tray cheaper and still gives a fudgy result. Cocoa is the most expensive ingredient here per gram, so weigh it.
At 16 brownies a tray, each comes to about 33p of ingredients; café brownies commonly sell at £2.50-£3.50.
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.
- Unsalted butter: Lakeland Unsalted Butter 20x250g (DAI186), 5 kg, £30.49 collection — JJ Foodservice, accessed 2026-10-09
- Caster sugar: Tate & Lyle Caster Sugar 6x2kg (SPI083), 12 kg, £21.49 collection — JJ Foodservice, accessed 2026-10-09
- Eggs, medium: Medium Eggs Size 3 1x30, 30 each, £3.49 collection — JJ Foodservice, accessed 2026-10-09
- Cocoa powder: Fat Reduced Cocoa Powder 1x500g, 500 g, £10.99 collection — JJ Foodservice, accessed 2026-10-09
- Plain flour: JJ Plain Flour 1x16kg, 16 kg, £12.49 collection — JJ Foodservice, accessed 2026-10-09
- Table salt: DP Table Salt Tub 1x6kg (SPI277), 6 kg, £10.99 collection — JJ Foodservice, accessed 2026-10-09
- Vanilla extract: Dr. Oetker Madagascan Vanilla Extract 95ml, 95 ml, £4.45 — Tesco (retail), accessed 2026-09-07
More costed dishes: bakery and cakes
- Carrot cake with cream cheese frosting — £0.49 a portion
- Victoria sponge — £0.37 a portion
- Scones with jam and clotted cream — £0.80 a portion