Answers
restaurant, café, and bar management questions & answers
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Menu Engineering
What data do I need to do menu engineering properly in my restaurant?
To do menu engineering properly, you need accurate sales data and precise cost data for every menu item. At minimum, you must know how much each item sells and how much it costs to produce. Menu engineering is based mainly on measuring item popularity and contribution margin to support pricing, promotion, and removal decisions.
How can menu engineering help me decide which items to remove or promote?
Menu engineering helps you decide which items to remove or promote by evaluating each dish or drink based on profitability and popularity. By measuring gross profit and sales performance together, you can identify which items to highlight, adjust, or remove based on structured data rather than assumptions.
What is menu engineering, and why does it matter for restaurant profitability?
Menu engineering is the structured process of analyzing a restaurant’s menu based on profitability and popularity. It helps operators identify which items generate strong margins and which need adjustment. It matters for restaurant profitability because small changes in pricing, placement, or promotion can significantly improve overall margins without increasing sales volume.
How do I categorize menu items using menu engineering principles?
To categorize menu items using menu engineering principles, look at each item’s profitability and popularity at the same time, then group items into four standard categories—Stars, Puzzles, Plowhorses, and Dogs—so you know what to promote, improve, reprice, or remove.
