Current UCUI
68/100
Moderate-High Uncertainty
+4 points from prior reading
Potato Market Intelligence
French Fry Food Cost Percentage
French fry food cost percentage compares the cost of the fry portion sold with the menu revenue assigned to the same item and channel. Restaurant teams can connect case price, servings, portion weight, waste, oil, packaging, rebates, promotions, and bundles to separate supplier inflation from operational or revenue variance.
Market Data
How to read this market
French-fry food-cost-percentage data compares the defined cost of the fry portion sold with the menu revenue assigned to the same item, period, and channel. The market object is restaurant fry economics built from case cost, servings per case, actual portion weight, waste, oil, packaging, distributor charges, rebates, menu price, promotions, and bundle allocation.
Use the data to separate processor-price movement from portion variance, waste, oil, packaging, distribution, promotion, and revenue mix. Compare actual servings and realized revenue with theoretical standards before attributing a higher food-cost percentage to potato inflation.
Data Module
French Fry Food Cost Percentage
Market objectfry portion cost versus revenue
Primary measurefood cost percentage
Key dimensionsstore, channel, portion, product
Commercial usemargin and procurement analysis
Cost contextcase, oil, waste, packaging, rebates
Compare withmenu revenue and actual usage
Analysis
Why this matters
Food-cost percentage can rise while fry case prices remain stable if portions get heavier, waste increases, or promotional revenue falls. It can also stay flat during supplier inflation if menu pricing or mix offsets the cost.
Commercial interpretation should decompose numerator and denominator separately. Procurement should challenge only the supplier-driven component while operations and pricing address usage and revenue effects.
Signal 01
Usable Crop Uncertainty Index
UCUI translates crop and market complexity into a simple uncertainty signal. Higher readings indicate greater uncertainty—not necessarily higher prices.
Understand uncertainty. Anticipate risk. Act earlier.
UCUI is designed to analyze potato-industry publications and data signals across regions, varieties, weather, disease, storage, supply, and demand.
WeatherHigh
DiseaseHigh
StorageMedium
SupplyMedium
Single-day snapshot based on a scan of 11,500+ web and social signals. Get historical and real-time data by clicking the button below.
The MassGain Daily
Today’s market analysis.
A daily editorial synthesis of physical potato data, crop signals, market reporting, and what participants should watch next.
September 16, 2026Latest MassGain publication
Potato market steady for now; Russia’s smaller crop is the salient risk
Spot prices are flat and USDA terminal reports read ‘market steady,’ but a renewed forecast for a smaller Russian harvest and recent regional harvest stress leave seasonal import timing and storage losses as the key uncertainty.
Signal 02
MassGain Potato Index
Independent physical-pricing intelligence and market-trend analysis for procurement, forecasting, contracting, and scenario planning.
Core Russet Carton Median
312.45 USD/MT
Latest qualifying physical-market observation
+4.75 (+1.55%)
Price discovery for the physical potato market
MPI is designed to track physical pricing data, price trends, deltas, and divergences across regions and potato types.
Series window45 days
Current public coverageCore russet cartons
Primary source basisQualifying USDA physical rows
UnitUSD per metric tonne
Single-day snapshot based on most recent 45 days worth of data. Limited to US Russets only. Get more complete, global data about all varieties by clicking the button below.
Signal 03
MassGain Spot Reference
An independent spot reference designed for price discovery, contract discussions, procurement comparisons, and risk modeling.
Russet Burbank — U.S. Midsize
305 USD/MT
Demonstration reference format
+1.6% WoW · Confidence: High
A trusted benchmark for pricing, contracts, and risk
MSR is intended to use real transactions and verifiable physical-market data to support negotiations, price checks, contracting, and risk models.
ProductRusset Burbank
SpecificationU.S. midsize, 40–70 count
Reference typePhysical spot benchmark
StatusIn development
Based on most recent 45 days worth of data. Limited to US Russets only. Get more complete, global data about all varities by clicking the button below. Full access also includes historical data -- including depreciated NYMEX/CBOE/EEX spot references -- projections, trends, and AI-driven insights.
The MassGain Product Ladder
From insight to intelligence to action
Four integrated products built for the physical potato market, delivered through public pages, reports, exports, dashboards, and API access.
1
Content
Original research, commentary, aggregated news, and market updates.
- What matters right now?
- What is happening out there?
2
UCUI™
Usable Crop Uncertainty Index: an AI-powered signal of crop risk and market uncertainty.
- Understand uncertainty
- Anticipate risk
- Act earlier
3
MPI™
MassGain Potato Index: independent physical-pricing intelligence and trend analysis.
- Price discovery
- Regional trends
- Procurement planning
4
MSR™
MassGain Spot Reference: an independent benchmark for price discovery and risk modeling.
- Contracts
- Negotiations
- Risk models
Content + UCUI + MPI + MSR + API access
Get historical series, regional detail, constituent data, exports, alerts, and direct data access.
Overview
Who is this for?
This page is for procurement, restaurant finance, operations, and market-intelligence teams that need to calculate french fry food cost percentage. The metric compares the cost of the fry portion sold with its associated menu revenue, but a useful calculation must define portion size, waste, oil, packaging, distributor pricing, rebates, and whether the item is sold alone or inside a meal. MassGain connects those restaurant economics with processor and raw-potato markets.
The suite can organize case cost, yield, servings per case, actual portion weight, waste, oil absorption, packaging, menu price, discounts, bundles, channel, and rebates by store or market. Procurement can isolate supplier and distributor effects. Operations can identify overportioning or waste. Finance can compare gross margin by item and channel. Market intelligence can determine whether rising food cost is supported by potato markets or caused elsewhere.
MassGain does not prescribe menu pricing or accounting policy. It provides a transparent cost bridge that helps teams avoid using theoretical serving yields, allocate bundle revenue consistently, and identify which operational or commercial lever is driving the percentage.
Use Case
A QSR chain sees fry food cost rise from 18% to 21%. MassGain shows processor price explains one point, while heavier actual portions and lower promotional revenue explain the rest. Operations corrects serving control and procurement addresses the smaller supplier increase separately.
FAQs
How is french fry food cost percentage calculated?
Divide the defined fry food cost by the related menu revenue for the same item, period, and channel.
What can distort the percentage?
Portion variance, waste, bundles, promotions, rebates, oil, packaging, and channel fees can distort it.
How does MassGain identify the driver?
It links case cost, usage, servings, menu revenue, operations, contracts, and potato-market benchmarks.
Put this market intelligence to work
Get historical data, regional detail, benchmarks, alerts, exports, and API access tailored to your procurement
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Data and Methodology
Professional market-data standards
MassGain is building transparent public market infrastructure. Each live metric will identify its date, unit, coverage, methodology, and source basis.
Data provenance
MassGain uses public, licensed, contributed, and independently derived physical-market information. Source availability and publication schedules vary.
Timing and revisions
Figures may reflect the latest available observation rather than a same-day transaction. Source data and MassGain calculations may be corrected, restated, or revised.
Not transactional pricing
MassGain figures are informational reference values and do not constitute executable bids, offers, settlements, or guarantees that a transaction can occur at the displayed value.
No individualized advice
Content and data are provided for informational and analytical purposes and do not constitute financial, investment, legal, trading, or individualized procurement advice.
Independent publication
Certain observations may be derived from USDA reports. MassGain is independent and is not affiliated with or endorsed by the USDA.
Commercial use and licensing
Public display does not grant rights to reproduce, redistribute, republish, or incorporate MassGain indices or references into commercial products or contracts without authorization.