Ploughman's lunch: how much it costs to make, per serve
Cheddar and ham with Branston pickle, pickled onions, half an apple, a warm demi baguette with butter, salad leaves and cherry tomatoes. One plate, costed from JJ Foodservice prices dated 10 October 2026; the pickle is a Morrisons shelf price from the same day.
The menu price is the one ChefSums uses for this dish on its sample pub 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cheddar, mild block | £25.99 | 5000 g | 80 g | £0.42 |
| Sliced gammon ham | £5.49 | 500 g | 60 g | £0.66 |
| Branston pickle | £3.25 | 720 g | 40 g | £0.18 |
| Pickled onions (jar weight) | £8.29 | 2250 g | 50 g | £0.18 |
| Apple (Royal Gala) | £2.99 | 10 each | 0.5 each | £0.15 |
| Demi baguette, part-baked | £18.49 | 50 each | 1 each | £0.37 |
| Butter portions | £32.99 | 600 each | 2 each | £0.11 |
| Salad leaves | £7.49 | 1000 g | 30 g | £0.22 |
| Cherry tomatoes | £18.49 | 4000 g | 50 g | £0.23 |
| Total | £2.52 | |||
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 | £2.52 |
| Waste allowance, 5% (trim, ends, the odd one binned) | £0.13 |
| Staff time: 10 min hands-on per serve at £12.71/hr + 25% on-cost | £2.65 |
| Food, waste and staff per serve | £5.30 |
At the sample pub menu price (£10.42 ex VAT) that is 51% 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
- Bake the demi baguette to order and warm through.
- Plate an 80 g wedge of cheddar, 60 g of ham, a ramekin of pickle, two pickled onions, half an apple cut in wedges, leaves and tomatoes.
- Serve with two butter portions.
Costing notes
Cheese and ham are £1.07 of the £2.52 plate. The cheddar here is a mild catering block, the only block cheddar JJ listed that day; a mature or named farmhouse cheddar costs noticeably more per kilo and is often what the menu promises, so cost the one you actually serve. The pickled onions are costed on jar weight, vinegar included, which slightly overstates them.
A ploughman's has almost no cooking, so its margin depends on portion control: weigh the cheese wedge once and cut to it.
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). Lines JJ did not list that day are Morrisons shelf prices from its website on the same day, marked on each line; a supermarket pack usually costs more per kilo than a wholesale case. 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.
- Cheddar, mild block: JJ Red Label Mild Block Cheddar Cheese Nominal 1x5kg, 5 kg, £25.99 collection — JJ Foodservice, accessed 2026-10-10
- Sliced gammon ham: Wiltshire Sliced 100% Gammon Ham 1x500g, 500 g, £5.49 collection — JJ Foodservice, accessed 2026-10-10
- Branston pickle: Branston Original Sweet Pickle 720g, 720 g, £3.25 shelf price — Morrisons (retail), accessed 2026-10-10
- Pickled onions (jar weight): Drivers Pickled Onions Glass Jar 1x2.25kg (VEG060), 2.25 kg jar, £8.29 collection — JJ Foodservice, accessed 2026-10-10
- Apple (Royal Gala): Red Royal Gala Apples 1x10 (FRU002), 10 apples, £2.99 collection — JJ Foodservice, accessed 2026-10-10
- Demi baguette, part-baked: JJ Part Baked Demi Baguette 50x128g, 50 x 128 g, £18.49 collection — JJ Foodservice, accessed 2026-10-10
- Butter portions: Lakeland Butter Portions 600x6.2g, 600 portions, £32.99 collection — JJ Foodservice, accessed 2026-10-10
- Salad leaves: Fresh Sandwich Mixed Leaves 2x500g, 1 kg, £7.49 collection — JJ Foodservice, accessed 2026-10-10
- Cherry tomatoes: Loose Cherry Tomatoes Class I 1x4kg (VEG778), 4 kg, £18.49 collection — JJ Foodservice, accessed 2026-10-10
More costed dishes: pub and restaurant classics
- Chickpea and spinach curry with rice (vegan) — £1.33 a portion
- Apple crumble and custard — £0.77 a portion
- Cottage pie — £1.96 a portion
- 8 oz beef burger and fries — £2.82 a portion