Wholesale

The price a distributor or restaurant pays for an ingredient by the case or bulk unit, in the open market — before delivery, freight, and your vendor’s margin. It is the reference the Muntin Cost Index publishes: a typical wholesale range drawn from public USDA, BLS and FRED reports. It is not the delivered (as-purchased) price on your invoice, which adds your vendor’s spread on top — so what you pay is normally higher than the wholesale reference.

Why it matters

Knowing the wholesale market lets you tell a real price move from a vendor markup. When your invoice for an ingredient climbs but the published wholesale range held flat, the increase is your vendor’s, not the market’s — and that is a conversation worth having. Wholesale is the honest baseline: a public, citable number you can check, not an assessed quote behind a paywall. Pair it with edible portion and plate cost to turn a market reference into the number a dish actually costs you.

Frequently asked

What is the wholesale price of an ingredient?

The wholesale price is what a distributor or restaurant pays in the open market for an ingredient by the case or bulk unit, before delivery and your vendor’s markup. The Muntin Cost Index publishes a typical wholesale range for common restaurant ingredients, drawn from public USDA, BLS and FRED reports.

How is wholesale different from the price I pay?

The price on your invoice is the delivered, or as-purchased, price — wholesale plus freight, handling, and your vendor’s margin. So your delivered cost is normally higher than the wholesale reference. Comparing the two is how you tell a real market move from a vendor markup.