Marketing and the Menu

Types of Menus A la carte A la carte Offers food separately at separate prices Offers food separately at separate prices Cyclical Cyclical Repeated – institutional food services Repeated – institutional food services California California All meals any time All meals any time Du jour Du jour “of the day” changes daily “of the day” changes daily Limited Limited Few selections – quick service restaurants Few selections – quick service restaurants Table d’hote Table d’hote Complete meal grouped together Complete meal grouped together

Five Steps to Menu Planning  List all possible items  Eliminate items that are difficult to purchase, prepare or serve  Tailor items to fit customers, cuisine and theme  Choose items within the price range that can be prepared well  Make final selections for the printed menu

What makes a menu? Size Size Cover material Cover material Cover art Cover art Descriptions Descriptions Portion size Portion size Price Price Arrangement Arrangement Negative/white space Negative/white space Color Color Menu material Menu material Fonts Fonts

Menu Analysis Is it a dog or a star?  List all items on the menu  Determine the number of each item sold in a specific time period (usually a month). This number is called the menu mix.  Determine each item’s menu mix percentage by dividing its menu mix by the total number of items sold in that period.

 List each item’s food cost  List each item’s selling price  Determine each item’s contribution margin (how much of the selling price is profit)  Determine the menu contribution margin (how much total profit did it generate for the month)  Calculate the average contribution margin achievement rate – this is the average profit a dish made in a month

 Determine the contribution margin category by comparing the average contribution margin to the item contribution margin – above the average it is high, below it is low  Determine the menu mix percent category – low below 7 high above 8  Determine Menu Item Classification

Dog – low contribution margin, low menu mix (doesn’t make much profit, sells very little) Dog – low contribution margin, low menu mix (doesn’t make much profit, sells very little) Puzzle – high contribution margin, low menu mix (makes lots of money, but doesn’t sell well – can it be fixed?) Puzzle – high contribution margin, low menu mix (makes lots of money, but doesn’t sell well – can it be fixed?) Plowhorse – low contribution margin, high menu mix (doesn’t make much profit, but sells lots) Plowhorse – low contribution margin, high menu mix (doesn’t make much profit, but sells lots) Star – high contribution margin, high menu mix (makes lots of money and sells well, too bad they can’t all be stars!!) Star – high contribution margin, high menu mix (makes lots of money and sells well, too bad they can’t all be stars!!)