Blog
Guides on allergen labelling, food costing, and recipe scaling for professional kitchens.
- Costing
Recipe costing template for Switzerland (XLSX + CSV, free)
Free Excel template for recipe costing in CHF: ingredients with their yield, base recipes as references, the menu price with VAT and a cross-check.
Published · By Trolevo · 12 min read
- Costing
Pizza food cost: the Margherita in CHF, dine-in and take-away
Pizza food cost: the Margherita in CHF from three base recipes, fior di latte on its drained weight, and what is left dine-in and take-away.
Published · By Trolevo · 14 min read
- Costing
Scaling recipes: why doubling is not just multiplication
The ingredient quantities can be multiplied; the result cannot. What scales linearly when you double a recipe, what does not, and how to spot it in advance.
Published · By Trolevo · 8 min read
- Allergens
Allergens in food service: the complete guide for Switzerland
Five questions, one order. Whether the rules apply to you, which of the five "exemptions" is meant, and where to start.
Published · By Trolevo · 9 min read
- Costing
Food costing for restaurants: the complete guide
Five calculations, one order. Where to start, which food cost figure is meant, and what you can safely leave out.
Published · By Trolevo · 9 min read
- Costing
Standardising recipes in a restaurant: why spreadsheets eventually break
A recipe is standardised when the same dish comes out, no matter who cooks. What that puts on the recipe card, and where the spreadsheet fails.
Published · By Trolevo · 11 min read
- Allergens
Selling homemade food: do the allergen rules apply?
The moment you sell, the allergen rules apply. No minimum quantity. But you do not always have to notify: what a market stall needs, what goes on the package.
Published · By Trolevo · 18 min read
- Allergens
Allergen cross-contamination: what kitchens need to know
In loose sale, unintentional mixing needs no declaration, but you must still prove your measures. The LIV thresholds, and the one sheet that covers it.
Published · By Trolevo · 14 min read
- Costing
Yield and waste in food costing: what an ingredient really costs
Trim loss and cooking loss in the food cost: why yields multiply instead of adding, a beef rump worked through in CHF, and what the drained weight tells you.
Published · By Trolevo · 13 min read
- Costing
Catering costing: how to quote a job and price per person
Catering costing: why menu price times guest count does not hold, a 60-person job fully worked in CHF, plus the VAT rate that actually applies.
Published · By Trolevo · 12 min read
- Costing
A good food cost percentage: benchmarks and their limits
A good food cost percentage: why the 28 to 35 percent rule of thumb says little, and what the contribution margin per plate really shows.
Published · By Trolevo · 9 min read
- Costing
How to price a dish: setting the selling price correctly
Pricing a dish: the factor and target-cost method, the correct VAT markup (8.1% dine-in, 2.6% take-away) and sensible rounding.
Published · By Trolevo · 7 min read
- Costing
Food cost percentage: the formula and a worked example
How to calculate food cost: the formula, a worked CHF example for hospitality, and why you always calculate on the net price (excluding VAT).
Published · By Trolevo · 6 min read
- Allergens
The 14 allergens: full list and labelling (Switzerland)
The 14 allergens subject to mandatory declaration per Annex 6 LIV: full list with the category wording, exceptions and the difference from the EU list.
Published · By Trolevo · 8 min read
- Allergens
Allergen matrix template: free for food-service businesses (XLSX + CSV)
Allergen matrix template for food service: free XLSX and CSV with the 14 allergens per Annex 6 LIV, no sign-up, with instructions on how to fill it in.
Published · By Trolevo · 9 min read
- Allergens
Allergen declaration in restaurants: the rules in Switzerland
Allergen declaration in Swiss restaurants: what the law requires, the 14 allergens with typical kitchen traps, and when oral information is enough.
Published · By Trolevo · 11 min read