Cost Per Dose

Cost Per Effective Dose, Not Cost Per Tub

Serving size is the variable that makes two products look comparable when they are not.

Divide price by servings, then adjust for how many servings it takes to reach an effective dose. Scoop size is a pricing lever.

Serving size sets the scale for the whole panel

Every figure in a Supplement Facts panel is expressed per serving, so the serving size defines what you are reading. A product whose serving is two scoops shows the same per-serving numbers as one whose serving is a single scoop, while consuming the tub twice as fast.

Price per container is therefore close to meaningless as a comparison. Price divided by servings per container is the first honest number.

The second division is the one people skip

Cost per serving still is not the figure you want if a serving does not deliver an effective dose. Where a product provides half the dose the research used, two servings are needed, and the real cost is double what the per-serving figure suggested.

This is where underdosed products become expensive rather than cheap. A tub at half the price of a competitor, at a third of the dose, costs more per unit of effect — and the panel comparison that made it look cheap was the per-serving one.

Running the calculation requires knowing the effective dose, which is an ingredient question rather than a label one.

Smaller things worth checking

Servings per container is approximate, and scoops are rarely level in practice. Where net weight and serving size are both declared, dividing them yourself is a reasonable check.

Unflavoured versions are usually cheaper per gram of active ingredient, because you are not buying flavour system and sweetener by weight.

Single-ingredient products are almost always cheaper per effective dose than combination formulas, which is the practical argument for buying actives separately and accepting the inconvenience.