To price a weekly meal prep plan, work out the cost of one box with everything in it (food, container, your kitchen time, energy) and add the delivery cost divided by the boxes you drop on each trip. That cost per box changes with plan size and with how many times a week you deliver. Only with that number can you set a price per box and decide how much a subscription discount can take without you working for free.
What goes into the cost of one box
A meal prep box has four parts that are the same in every plan:
- Food: the recipe cost for one portion, with the waste you measure yourself. If 850 g of each kilo of chicken thighs is left after trimming, the cost per gram comes from those 850 g, not from the kilo you paid for.
- Container: the tub with its lid, the label with dish name and date, and the seal.
- Your time: the hours of shopping, cooking, portioning and washing up, divided by the boxes in that batch.
- Energy for that batch, also divided by the boxes.
And one part that changes with the plan:
- Delivery: what one trip costs (driver, fuel or your own time, plus the bag) divided by the boxes you drop on that trip.
Delivery is what makes a small plan cost more per box. A trip with five boxes costs almost the same as a trip with ten. The guide to delivery packaging cost per order helps you get the exact cost of the container, bag and label.
Portions have to be exact
On a weekly plan you sell hundreds of identical portions. A few extra grams in every box turn into real money every month. If each box gets 20 g more chicken than you costed, at $9.00 a kilo that is 20 × 9.00 ÷ 1,000 = $0.18 a box. Across 800 boxes a month, that is $144. Weigh every portion until the team serves it the same without looking; the guide to portion control shows how.
When you go from 40 to 60 boxes a batch, do not guess the quantities. The recipe scaler scales a recipe to any number of portions.
Worked example: healthy lunch plans
You cook lunches of grilled chicken thighs, brown rice and roasted vegetables, and deliver them across town.
Cost of one box before delivery:
| Item | Sum | Per box |
|---|---|---|
| Food (chicken, rice, vegetables, oil, your measured waste) | your recipe | $3.40 |
| Tub with lid and label | your list | $0.55 |
| Your time | 50 boxes in 4 hours at $20 an hour: 80 ÷ 50 | $1.60 |
| Energy for the batch | $0.25 | |
| Total | 3.40 + 0.55 + 1.60 + 0.25 | $5.80 |
Cost of one trip: $6.00 for fuel and driving time, plus $0.50 for the bag = $6.50 per drop.
You want a 40% margin on the price. That is your target for this example, not a standard. Price per box = cost ÷ (1 − 0.40) = cost ÷ 0.60.
| Plan | Drops per week | Delivery per box | Cost per box | Price per box |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 boxes | 1 | 6.50 ÷ 5 = $1.30 | $7.10 | 7.10 ÷ 0.60 = $11.83 |
| 5 boxes | 2 | 13.00 ÷ 5 = $2.60 | $8.40 | 8.40 ÷ 0.60 = $14.00 |
| 10 boxes | 2 | 13.00 ÷ 10 = $1.30 | $7.10 | 7.10 ÷ 0.60 = $11.83 |
| 20 boxes | 2 | 13.00 ÷ 20 = $0.65 | $6.45 | 6.45 ÷ 0.60 = $10.75 |
Rounded, the plans look like this:
- 5 meals, one drop: $60 a week ($12.00 a box).
- 5 meals, two drops: $70 a week ($14.00 a box).
- 10 meals, two drops: $119 a week ($11.90 a box).
- 20 meals, two drops: $215 a week ($10.75 a box).
Notice two things. The 5-meal plan with two drops costs $2.00 more per box than with one drop: the customer who wants fresher food pays for that second trip. And the 10-meal plan with two drops costs the same per box as the 5-meal plan with one: a volume discount only exists when each trip carries more boxes. How many days each box stays in good condition is your call, tested on your own dishes and within your local food safety rules.
How much a subscription discount can take
Offering 10% off to customers who pay for the month up front sounds small. Here is what it does to the 10-meal plan:
- Price per box: 11.90 × 0.90 = $10.71 (the plan drops from $119 to $107.10).
- Kept per box: before, 11.90 − 7.10 = $4.80; now, 10.71 − 7.10 = $3.61.
- Margin: 3.61 ÷ 10.71 = 33.7%.
A 10% cut in price takes about a quarter of what you keep per box. To earn the same each week you need 4.80 ÷ 3.61 = 1.33 times as many customers on that plan.
The discount is worth it if it saves you something you can measure. With fixed orders you buy exactly what you need at the wholesaler, cook one big batch and throw away very little. If your weekly waste falls from $50 to $20 with 20 subscribers on the 10-meal plan (200 boxes), the saving is 30 ÷ 200 = $0.15 a box. That covers part of the $1.19 discount per box, not all of it. Something else has to pay for the rest: fewer customers dropping off each week, getting paid before you shop, or better use of your kitchen hours.
The guide to preorders and subscriptions covers taking payment up front and handling cancellations.
Common pricing mistakes on meal prep plans
- Copying another business's price per box. They may have a different recipe, a different area and a different delivery cost.
- Leaving out your time. If you cook, every hour of shopping and portioning is part of the cost. Without it, the 20-meal plan looks far more profitable than it is.
- Giving away the second drop. Every trip costs the same, however many boxes it carries.
- Not raising prices when chicken goes up. Check the cost of your main ingredients every month and adjust the plans when it moves.
The guide to delivery-first food businesses shows how meal prep fits with the other delivery channels.
Do it with the calculator
Put each box's recipe, container and your time into the food cost calculator, and it gives you the price you need for the margin you chose. Count each plan's delivery per box as one more cost of the box.
Frequently asked questions
Should a 10-meal plan be cheaper per box than a 5-meal plan?
Only if it costs you less. A bigger plan lowers the delivery cost per box because each drop carries more boxes. If both plans carry the same number of boxes per drop, the cost is the same and any discount comes out of your margin.
How much can I discount for a monthly subscription?
As much as it saves you. Work out how much your waste and odd-job hours fall with fixed orders, divide by the month's boxes and compare that with the discount per box.
Should I charge delivery separately or build it into the price?
Both work as long as the delivery cost is counted. Building it into the plan price is simpler for the customer; charging it separately lets you adjust by area.
How do I change the menu every week without re-costing everything?
Cost each dish once and build each week from dishes with similar costs. If one dish costs much more, pair it with a cheaper one in the same plan so the average holds.