Flat white: how much it costs to make, per serve
Double ristretto-style shot (18 g of beans) under about 150 ml of steamed whole milk, in a 6 oz cup. Costed from JJ Foodservice wholesale prices dated 9 October 2026. The milk line includes 10% for jug waste, which is where most cafés lose money on milk drinks.
The menu price is the one ChefSums uses for this dish on its sample café menu, a realistic UK menu price. Coffee is priced on its own target; see the costing notes. GP is worked out on the ex-VAT price.
Open in ChefSums — edit, cost, scale →
Ingredients and cost, one serve
| Ingredient | Pack price | Pack size | Used | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Espresso beans | £14.99 | 1000 g | 18 g | £0.27 |
| Whole milk | £1.69 | 2000 ml | 165 ml | £0.14 |
| Total | £0.41 | |||
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 | £0.41 |
| Waste allowance, 5% (trim, ends, the odd one binned) | £0.02 |
| Staff time: 2 min hands-on per serve at £12.71/hr + 25% on-cost | £0.53 |
| Food, waste and staff per serve | £0.96 |
At the sample café menu price (£3.21 ex VAT) that is 30% 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
- Grind 18 g and pull a double shot of about 36 g in the cup, 25-30 seconds.
- Steam the milk to around 60-65 °C with only a thin layer of microfoam; a flat white should not have a cappuccino cap.
- Pour into the shot from close to the surface so the crema stays on top.
Costing notes
Coffee drinks run on a lower cost target than food, typically 12-20% of the ex-VAT price (an 80-88% GP), because the margin has to carry the machine, the grinder, the barista's time and the cup. The food and wet GP benchmarks in the UK survey do not cover coffee. Takeaway cups, lids and sleeves add 8-15p a drink: cost them as a separate line on takeaway sales.
The beans are two-thirds of the cup cost, but milk waste is the part you can control day to day. Steaming 250 ml for a 150 ml drink and pouring the rest away adds more than half again to the milk line; marking the jug and steaming to the line is the cheapest fix in the café.
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.
- Espresso beans: Lavazza Crema e Aroma Coffee Beans 1x1kg, 1 kg, £14.99 collection — JJ Foodservice, accessed 2026-10-09
- Whole milk: Fresh Whole Milk 1x2L (DAI005), 2 L, £1.69 collection — JJ Foodservice, accessed 2026-10-09
More costed dishes: café and breakfast
- Full English breakfast — £2.24 a serve
- Jacket potato with tuna mayo — £1.31 a serve
- Cheese and ham toastie — £1.18 a serve
- Egg mayo sandwich — £0.57 a serve