Wine GP Calculator
Set a target GP% and a bottle cost to get the selling price per bottle and per glass — 100ml, 125ml, 175ml and 250ml. Reverse it to audit margin on a price you are already charging. The **Compare** tab runs a full wine list at once, and the same gross profit formula works for spirits, beer and cocktails. VAT defaults to 20% but is editable.
Per glass
Per glass
Example: bottle cost £8 ex-VAT, target 70% GP, 20% VAT → sell at £32 the bottle, or £5.33 per 125ml glass.
What is gross profit percentage in wine service?
Gross profit percentage (GP%) is the share of your selling price — after removing VAT — that is left once you subtract the cost of the wine. If a bottle costs £10 and you sell it for £40 excluding VAT, your GP% is 75%. It is not the same as markup, which is calculated from the cost price rather than the selling price. Most hospitality businesses use GP% as their standard measure because it expresses profit as a proportion of revenue.
What GP% should a restaurant aim for on wine?
Most restaurants target between 65% and 75% GP on wine. By-the-glass pours typically sit at the higher end of that range because the risk of wastage and open-bottle spoilage needs to be priced in. Bottle sales can run a little lower. Premium or fine dining venues sometimes go higher still, while casual dining and pub wine lists tend to sit closer to 65%. There is no single correct answer — it depends on your overheads, your menu, and your volume.
What is the difference between GP% and markup on wine?
GP% and profit margin describe the same calculation — both express profit as a share of the selling price (ex-VAT). Markup is the inverse: it expresses profit as a share of the cost price. A wine that costs £8 and sells for £32 ex-VAT has a GP% (or profit margin) of 75% but a markup of 300%. Hospitality businesses almost always quote GP% because it relates directly to revenue; retailers more commonly use markup because they price up from cost.
How do I price wine by the bottle and by the glass?
Start with your bottle cost ex-VAT. Divide that by one minus your target GP% to find the selling price ex-VAT, then multiply by your VAT multiplier (1.20 in the UK) for the customer-facing bottle price. For by-the-glass: divide the bottle cost by the number of pours in the bottle (six 125ml, four 175ml, or three 250ml in a 75cl bottle — or seven and a half 100ml pours), then apply the same formula to that per-glass cost. The calculator above does this automatically for 100ml, 125ml, 175ml and 250ml the moment you enter a bottle cost and a target GP%.
Does my GP% change when I sell by the glass instead of the bottle?
It does not have to — if you price your glass servings using the same GP% formula applied to the per-glass cost, your margin stays consistent. Where restaurants often lose money on by-the-glass is by setting a glass price intuitively rather than calculating it from the same GP target. Wastage from open bottles is a separate problem: if you pour multiple varieties by the glass and some bottles do not turn over fast enough, set the optional wastage % in the calculator to 3–8% so the buffer is built into your glass prices.
Can I use this calculator for spirits, beer or cocktails?
The GP% formula is identical — what changes is the cost-per-serve calculation. For spirits, divide the bottle cost by the number of 25ml or 35ml measures (28 or 20 from a 70cl bottle respectively), then apply your target GP. For draught beer, divide the keg cost by the number of pints (88 from a 9-gallon firkin, after wastage). For cocktails, sum the cost of each component at its per-serve cost. The same GP target then applies. The Compare tab can hold spirits and draught lines alongside wines as long as each row’s “cost” is the per-bottle or per-keg cost relative to its standard pour size — a useful trick for a single GP audit across a full bar.
What VAT rate should I use for the calculator?
If you are in the UK, the standard VAT rate on alcohol served in a hospitality venue is 20%, which is the default here. Spain applies 10% IVA to restaurant wine service and 21% IVA to retail wine sales. The United States does not have a federal VAT equivalent; leave this field at 0% and account for sales tax separately. The field is editable — set it to whatever applies in your territory or business context.