A butcher's yield test finds what a pound of finished cut really costs after the fat, trim and loss are taken off. Weigh the piece as bought, cut it, weigh each part, and credit what the trim and fat are worth. Cost a usable pound = (cost as bought − value of the trim and fat) ÷ weight of the main cut. Yield = main cut ÷ weight as bought. Cost factor = cost a usable pound ÷ price paid a pound, which reprices the cut the next time the price changes. In the example below, a Wisconsin meat market's strip loin at $9.80 a pound yields 73.6% steaks that cost $12.83 a pound, and a chuck roll cut five ways shows why each cut should carry cost by what it sells for, not by weight. Below are both methods and a free calculator.
The short version
- Weigh the piece as bought and each part after cutting: the main cut, usable trim, fat, loss.
- Credit the trim and fat at what they're worth to you, and take that off the cost.
- Cost a usable pound = (cost − by-products) ÷ main cut's weight.
- Yield = main cut ÷ weight as bought; cost factor = cost a usable pound ÷ price paid a pound.
- Next time the price changes: new price × cost factor = new cost a usable pound.
- For a piece cut into several cuts, spread the cost by each cut's share of the retail value.
- TaroStack makes each cutting a batch from the piece's lot, so the steaks carry its cost and its lot. More below.
An example: a strip loin
Sauk Prairie Meat Market, a made-up butcher shop in Sauk City, Wisconsin, I use in these examples, buys a boneless strip loin and cuts it into New York strip steaks:
| Part | Weight | Value a pound | Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Strip loin, as bought | 14.0 lb | $9.80 | $137.20 |
| Usable trim, for ground beef | 1.1 lb | $4.00 | $4.40 |
| Fat, sold for rendering | 2.4 lb | $0.25 | $0.60 |
| Cutting loss: drip, bone dust | 0.2 lb | $0 | $0 |
| New York strip steaks | 10.3 lb |
Cost a usable pound = ($137.20 − $4.40 − $0.60) ÷ 10.3 = $12.83. The yield is 10.3 ÷ 14.0 = 73.6%, and the cost factor is $12.83 ÷ $9.80 = 1.310. When the next loin costs $10.40 a pound, the steaks cost $10.40 × 1.310 = $13.62 a pound without cutting another test. At a 35% target margin the steaks are $12.83 ÷ 0.65 = $19.74, so $19.99, a 35.8% margin.
The test is only as good as the cutting: one cutter trimming heavier than another changes the yield, so it's worth repeating with each cutter and each supplier. How a yield changes the cost of what comes out is in batch yield formula.
Many cuts: the market-value method
A chuck roll becomes four products. Spreading its cost by weight makes every pound cost the same, so ground beef would lose money and steaks would look like gold. Spreading it by each cut's share of the retail value gives every cut the same margin:
| Cut | Weight | Price a pound | Retail value | Share of value | Cost carried | Cost a pound | Margin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chuck eye steaks | 3.0 lb | $14.99 | $44.97 | 28.6% | $31.94 | $10.65 | 29.0% |
| Chuck roasts | 7.5 lb | $8.99 | $67.43 | 42.9% | $47.89 | $6.38 | 29.0% |
| Stew meat | 3.0 lb | $7.99 | $23.97 | 15.3% | $17.02 | $5.67 | 29.0% |
| Ground beef | 3.2 lb | $6.49 | $20.77 | 13.2% | $14.75 | $4.61 | 29.0% |
| Fat and cutting loss | 1.3 lb | ||||||
| The chuck roll, 18 lb at $6.20 | $157.13 | $111.60 |
By weight, the 16.7 sellable pounds would each cost $111.60 ÷ 16.7 = $6.68, more than the ground beef sells for. By market value, ground beef costs $4.61 a pound and earns its 29% like the rest. If 29% is too thin, the whole chuck roll needs repricing, not one cut. How beef sold by the share is priced from hanging weight is in how to price beef by hanging weight, and pricing from cost in general in cost plus pricing example.
Get the calculator
Download the butcher yield test calculator. Two sheets: a yield test, where you type the piece's weight and price as bought and the weight and value of the trim, fat and loss, and the main cut's weight, the yield, the cost a usable pound and the cost factor fill in, with a new price to reprice from; and the market-value method, where you type the piece as bought and each cut's weight and price, and each cut's value, share, cost, cost a pound and margin fill in, with a check that the weights add up. It's an ordinary Excel file with no macros, and it works in Google Sheets, LibreOffice and Numbers.
Where this stops working
One test on one loin is a snapshot. A shop cutting loins, chucks, pork shoulders and whole birds every day, from three suppliers at prices that change weekly, can't redo the arithmetic each time, and a test on paper can't say which steaks in the case came from which loin, or which supplier's lot a pound of ground beef was made from.
How TaroStack does it
TaroStack makes each cutting a batch from the piece's lot, so the steaks carry its cost and its lot.
Cutting as a batch. Cutting a strip loin into steaks is a batch: the loin goes in, the steaks come out, and the steaks' cost a pound comes from what that loin cost, with actual cost against standard cost shown as prices move.
Lots from the supplier to the case. Each box of beef is received with the supplier's lot and pack date, the steaks get a lot of their own that records it, and the oldest goes first. If a supplier recalls a lot, one recall report shows which steaks and grinds it went into and what's still in the case.
Costs from each delivery. Each delivery is received at what it cost, and a price-creep report by supplier shows when a loin's price is rising, the moment to reprice with the cost factor.
| The job | Calculator | In TaroStack |
|---|---|---|
| Cost a pound of steaks | A test, now and then | From each cutting batch |
| Which loin the steaks came from | Not recorded | The steaks' lot records it |
| A supplier's recall | Pull the case | One report: what it went into |
| A supplier's price going up | Noticed on an invoice | Price-creep report by supplier |
Recipes, batches, lots and recalls are on every plan, from $49 a month; TaroStack connects to Square. The first 30 days are free, with no credit card. If you'd like a hand setting up, ask, and we'll do it with you.