A meat item costs $14.36 per pound (AP) and has an edible yield of 72 percent. What is the approximate cost per servable pound?

A meat item costs $14.36 per pound (AP) and has an edible yield of 72 percent. What is the approximate cost per servable pound?

• A. $19.95
• B. $14.36
• C. $10.02
• D. $17.50

Answer: (A)

When you price meat, you must spread the purchase price over only the edible portion. The cost per servable pound is the as-purchased price per pound divided by the edible yield (expressed as a decimal). Here, 14.36 dollars per pound and an edible yield of 72% (0.72). So, 14.36 ÷ 0.72 ≈ 19.94, which rounds to $19.95. This reflects that because only 0.72 pound is usable from each purchased pound, each servable pound costs more than the original price. The other numbers don’t account for the waste properly: using the purchase price alone ignores yield, and misapplying the yield (e.g., multiplying by 0.72) would give a lower, not higher, cost.

When you price meat, you must spread the purchase price over only the edible portion. The cost per servable pound is the as-purchased price per pound divided by the edible yield (expressed as a decimal). Here, 14.36 dollars per pound and an edible yield of 72% (0.72). So, 14.36 ÷ 0.72 ≈ 19.94, which rounds to $19.95. This reflects that because only 0.72 pound is usable from each purchased pound, each servable pound costs more than the original price. The other numbers don’t account for the waste properly: using the purchase price alone ignores yield, and misapplying the yield (e.g., multiplying by 0.72) would give a lower, not higher, cost.