US Seafood Boil Cost Guide: Price Shrimp, Crab, and Combo Bags

The decision this guide helps you make

Choose a menu price for one seafood boil bag, with everyone in the room using the same cost boundary.

The useful answer is not “shrimp costs $X per pound.” It is:

• what you paid for the raw portion in the bag;
• how many edible ounces that raw portion delivered;
• the food-only bag cost;
• packaging and optional direct labor shown separately; and
• each candidate price less the direct costs actually listed in the model.

Download the seafood boil pricing workbook (.xlsx)

The file includes Share Summary, Invoice & Yield, Sauce Batch, Bag Builder, Price Scenarios, and Method Notes. Yellow cells are inputs. All numbers in the file are labeled example data and should be replaced with your invoices, scale tests, and portion standards.

Keep six numbers separate

1. Raw invoice price

Enter the actual invoice price per pound for the exact pack, size, and supplier you received.

Raw cost per ounce = Invoice price per pound ÷ 16

2. Raw portion cost

If your menu promises “1 lb snow crab” or another raw-weight portion, calculate the amount you paid for that portion directly.

Raw portion cost =
  Invoice price per pound
  × Raw portion ounces
  ÷ 16

Do not divide this line by yield. You bought and portioned the raw weight, including shell.

3. Measured edible yield and edible ounces

Run a scale test for the exact item you serve.

Measured yield =
  Measured edible ounces
  ÷ Measured raw ounces

Edible ounces in bag =
  Raw portion ounces × Measured yield

Edible cost per ounce =
  Raw cost per ounce ÷ Measured yield

Yield answers “how much edible product did the guest receive?” It does not change what the raw portion cost. A valid measured-yield input must be greater than 0% and less than 100%. Zero, 100%, negative, or incomplete tests are input errors; the workbook displays the error instead of substituting zero.

If the menu instead promises an edible portion, reverse the calculation:

Raw ounces required =
  Promised edible ounces ÷ Measured yield

There is no yield table in this guide. Product size, shell, supplier, thawing, cooking, and what your team counts as edible all affect the result. Measure your own batch and date the test.

4. Food-only bag cost

Food-only bag cost =
  Raw seafood/protein portions
  + Sauce per bag
  + Food sides

Sauce and boil base belong here because they are food. Batch-cost them rather than typing a guess into every bag.

5. Packaging and optional direct labor

Keep these outside food-only cost.

Optional direct labor =
  Direct minutes ÷ 60
  × Loaded hourly labor cost

All listed direct cost =
  Food-only bag cost
  + Packaging
  + Optional direct labor

The loaded hourly labor input is your own planning figure. Use the labor boundary your accountant or manager already uses and document it.

6. Target rate

The target is an internal decision, not a market standard.

Price from chosen food-cost rate =
  Food-only bag cost
  ÷ Chosen food-cost rate

That result is a starting candidate. Compare it with practical menu prices and check the direct-cost dollars left at each price.

Worked example: combo bag

The following numbers are examples, not supplier quotes or yield standards.

The example invoice and measured-yield test:

The example bag uses 16 raw ounces of shrimp, 16 raw ounces of snow crab, 8 raw ounces of mussels, and 4 raw ounces of sausage.

The raw cost and edible ounces are both useful, but they answer different questions. The guest receives an estimated 24.12 edible ounces under this measured test; the restaurant pays $19.20 for the listed raw portions.

Batch sauce, sides, packaging, and labor

The sample sauce batch costs $31.80 and actually serves 12 bags.

Sauce cost per bag = $31.80 ÷ 12 = $2.65

Add $0.45 of corn and $0.35 of potatoes:

Food-only bag cost = $19.20 + $2.65 + $0.45 + $0.35
                   = $22.65

Packaging is $0.55. Optional direct labor is 8 minutes at a $20.00 loaded hourly input:

Optional direct labor = 8 ÷ 60 × $20.00 = $2.67
All listed direct cost = $22.65 + $0.55 + $2.67 = $25.87

Food-only cost is still $22.65. It does not become $25.87 just because management also wants to see packaging and labor.

Compare price scenarios instead of publishing a “market range”

At a chosen 33% food-cost rate, the formula gives:

$22.65 ÷ 0.33 = $68.64

The workbook then compares prices you could actually print:

These are arithmetic scenarios, not recommended local prices. The last column is not a full contribution measure unless every variable cost in your chosen boundary is included. If payment, delivery, discount, or other variable fees are omitted, call the result price less listed direct costs. Your final choice still has to account for the full menu, taxes, demand, fixed costs, and how the item is described.

A 20-minute partner or manager workflow

1. The kitchen lead weighs one raw and edible test for each protein and records the test date.
2. The manager updates invoice prices, packaging, and actual sauce-batch output.
3. The team confirms whether each menu promise is a raw weight or edible weight.
4. Open Share Summary and check food-only cost separately from packaging and optional direct labor.
5. Compare three or four printable prices in Price Scenarios.
6. Record the chosen price, the reason, and the next invoice or yield trigger for review.

Send the summary sheet to a partner or accountant. Keep the invoice and yield tabs with it so they can trace every number without asking for a separate explanation.

Common errors this workbook prevents

• Dividing a raw-weight portion cost by yield and charging for the shell twice.
• Calling raw portion ounces “edible ounces.”
• Leaving butter and seasoning out because they are made in a batch.
• Mixing packaging or labor into food cost without changing the label.
• Treating an online yield range or supplier price range as a standard.
• Calling price less the listed costs “contribution” while other variable costs are still missing.

If you later move the recipe into software

KitchenCost can hold ingredient and recipe updates when a spreadsheet becomes cumbersome. Keep the same boundaries: invoice price, raw portion, measured yield, food-only cost, packaging, and labor should remain distinguishable. Software does not replace the scale test or decide which costs belong in your accounting definition.

Related guides

• Recipe Costing Formula: Cost Per Serving and Menu Price
• US Lent Fish Fry Pricing Guide
• US Sushi Roll Cost Guide
• Catering Pricing Guide
• Menu Engineering Matrix

Method and source note

The formulas use operator-owned inputs: supplier invoices, raw and edible scale measurements, batch production logs, packaging invoices, and an optional loaded direct-labor estimate. The numerical example exists only to show the calculation and is not a claim about supplier prices, typical yield, or an appropriate target rate.