Miselup: food costing for catering

Restaurants cost per plate, assuming a fixed portion and steady demand. Catering is different: you cost per guest, and the number of guests changes everything. A menu for 30 people might use 150g of protein per portion, but for 300 people you can buy in bulk, reduce waste, and adjust portion sizes. Miselup understands this. It lets you set base recipes and then scale them dynamically per event, so the cost per guest updates automatically.

Transport shrinkage is another factor. Food loses weight and quality during transport, and you need to account for that 2-3% loss. Miselup includes a shrinkage percentage in your costing, so your margins stay accurate. It also handles casual staff costs, tableware hire, and travel expenses, which are all part of a catering quote. Restaurant software simply ignores these, leaving you to guess. With Miselup, you can build a complete cost per guest that reflects the real world.

Spreadsheets are flexible, but they are dangerous when you scale. Change one ingredient quantity, and you have to manually update every formula. Multiply that by dozens of recipes and hundreds of events, and errors multiply too. We have seen caterers accidentally quote a 300-person event using per-plate costs meant for 30, losing thousands. Miselup eliminates this by using a central recipe database where each ingredient has a cost and a yield.

When you create an event with 300 covers, Miselup automatically recalculates every portion, every ingredient, and every cost. You do not need to re-enter anything. Sub-recipes are nested, so a sauce used in three dishes is updated once and flows everywhere. The system also lets you adjust for bulk pricing, so your cost per unit drops when you buy more. This is something a spreadsheet simply cannot do reliably. You save hours of manual work and avoid costly mistakes.

Miselup is not just a costing tool. It is a full kitchen management platform. You get dynamic costing that adjusts per event, portion scaling that works with nested sub-recipes, and a built-in catalogue of over 1,200 ingredients and 180 recipes with allergen information. This means you can quickly build a menu and know exactly what each dish costs and which allergens it contains. The allergen data is crucial for compliance with EU Regulation 1169/2011.

You also get spec sheets with photos, so your kitchen team knows exactly what the final dish should look like. Recipes can be shared by URL, which is handy for clients or staff. The Team/Kitchen mode lets you share recipes and costs with your team, but you can hide prices with a PIN, so front-of-house staff see the dish details without the financials. This keeps your margins private while ensuring everyone has the information they need.

In Spain, allergen information is required by law under Regulation (EU) 1169/2011. Miselup helps you comply by storing allergen data for every ingredient and recipe. When you create a spec sheet, it automatically lists the allergens, so you can provide accurate information to clients and guests. The spec sheet also includes a photo, which is useful for training staff and ensuring consistency.

It is important to note that Miselup does not generate a legal allergen declaration. You are still responsible for verifying that the data is correct and for providing it in the required format. What Miselup does is make the process much easier. You can also log HACCP temperature checks directly in the app, with timestamps and email alerts. This helps you maintain food safety records for inspections, though you should always check local requirements. Miselup is a tool, not a substitute for professional judgement.

Miselup offers three plans. The FREE plan costs €0 per month forever, with no credit card required. It includes up to 50 recipes, the built-in catalogue of 1,200+ ingredients and 180 recipes with allergens, dynamic costing with shrinkage and margin traffic light, portion scaling, spec sheets with photo, nested sub-recipes, 3 AI imports, recipes shareable by URL, Team/Kitchen mode with PIN and no prices shown, and both Spanish and English interfaces.

The ESENCIAL plan is €19 per month or €190 per year (≈€16/month). It adds up to 250 recipes, full costings with your own ingredients and suppliers, spec sheets with photo, video and allergens, PDF and CSV export, and email support. The PRO plan is €49 per month or €490 per year (≈€41/month). It includes unlimited recipes and costings, daily P&L with break-even and budget vs actual, valued inventory with FEFO expiry, purchasing, production and mise en place, batch traceability, HACCP temperature logging with email alerts and an inspection report, profitability reports, universal AI importer, and priority support. Annual plans give you 12 months for the price of 10. Current promo: 40% off the first 3 months with code EARLYBIRD.

Full disclosure first: Miselup and this directory belong to the same group, ChefBusiness Group. That is why we know the product from the inside — and why we have been careful to spell out what it does not do.

Miselup is ideal for catering companies that work with variable guest counts, need accurate per-guest costing, and want to centralise recipes, allergens, and HACCP logs. The free plan is generous enough for a small business to get real value. The scaling feature alone saves hours and prevents costly errors. The Team/Kitchen mode with PIN is a clever way to share recipes without exposing prices.

However, Miselup is not for everyone. It is not an events CRM, so do not expect commercial quoting, wedding diaries, or EPOS integration. It focuses on kitchen and recipe management, not front-office sales. Also, the free plan limits you to 50 recipes, which may be tight for a diverse menu. But for most caterers, the paid plans are reasonably priced. Our verdict: Miselup is a solid, caterer-specific tool that fills a real gap. It is not perfect, but it is far better than spreadsheets. We recommend trying the free plan.

Winning the events is what the directory is for; this is what happens afterwards, in the kitchen.