1. From design to evaluation
MENU PLANNING
From design to evaluation

2. Rationale
Everything starts with the menu. The menu dictates much about how your operation will be organized and managed, the extent to which it meet its goals, and even how the building itself - certainly the interior - should be designed and constructed.

3. Objectives To explain the importance of a menu
To explain the basic rules of menu planning
To identify factors to be considered when planning a menu
To identify constraints in menu planning
To plan and write a menu

4. Must Satisfy Guest Expectations
Reflect your guests’ tastes
Reflect your guests’ food preferences
Ascertain your guests’ needs

5. Must attain Marketing Objectives
Locations
Times
Prices
Quality
Specific food items

6. Must help to achieve Quality Objectives
Quality standards:
flavor, texture, color, shape, flair,
consistency, palatability, visual appeal,
aromatic apparel, temperature
Nutritional concerns:
low-fat, high-fiber diets, vegetarian

7. Must be Cost-Effective
Commercial
financial restraints
profit objectives
Institutional
minimizing costs
operational budget

8. Must be Accurate Truth-in-menu laws exist in some localities,
cannot mislabel a product
“butter” must use butter not margarine
“fresh” must be fresh, not fresh frozen
“homemade” not purchased “ready-to-heat”
“USDA Choice” actually “USDA Good”

9. Menu Planning Constraints

10. Facility Layout/Design and Equipment
Space
Equipment available
Work flow
Efficiency

11. Available Labor
Number of Employees
Required Skills
Training Programs

12. Ingredients Standard recipe
Availability of the ingredients required during the life span of the menu
Seasonal ingredients
Cost
Miscellaneous cost (flight charges, storage)

13. Marketing Implications
Social needs
Physiological needs
Type of service
(fast food, leisure dinning)
Festival
Nutrition

14. Quality Levels and Costs
Guests’ expectation
Employees’ skills and knowledge
Availability of equipment
Specific ingredients
Food costs and selling prices

15. The Menu and the Food Service Operation

16. The Menu Helps to Determine Staff Needs
Variety and complexity increases, number of personnel increases
Production staff
Service staff
Back-of-house staff

17. The Menu Dictates Production and Service Equipment Needs
Tableside service
carving utensils, trolleys, gueridon, salad bowls, suzette pans, souffle dishes, soup tureens, large wooden salad bowl, rechaud, Voiture (heated cart for serving roasts) and

18. The Menu Dictates Dining Space
A take-out sandwich or pizza operation would require no dining space and the amount of square feet required per person would be minimal.
On the other hand, if a restaurant offers a huge salad buffet, dessert selection or an after-dinner trolley, wide aisles would be needed to allow guests ease of movement and moving of equipment.

19. Purchase Specifications May Be Dictated By The Menu
If the menu offers such items as USDA Choice New York strip steaks, quarter-pound lean beef burgers, grade AA eggs, freshly squeezed Florida orange juice, or vine-ripened tomatoes, back -of-house procedures will not only include receiving, storing, issuing, and producing the menu items but also purchasing the specific products described. (When such factors as grade and portion size are not dictated by the menu, managers and chefs must determine purchase specifications and related quality factors.)

20. How and When Items Must Be Prepared
To stimulate guest interest, the menu planner may offer a dish prepared in a variety of ways:
Cooking methods
Poached, broiled, batter-dipped, deep fried
The finished product must be prepared using the method indicated on the menu
Small quantities cooking (a la carte)
Batch cooking

21. The Menu is a Factor in the Development of Cost Control Procedures
As the menu requires more expensive food items and more extensive labor or capital (equipment) needs, the property’s overall expenses and the procedures to control them will reflect these increased cost.

22. The Menu and the Service Plan
Type and size of dinnerware
Types of flatware
Garnishes (place be service or production staff)
Timing requirement for ordering
Additional dining service supplies to serve the item
Special serving produces
Special information (doneness of the steaks, over easy or sunny side eggs, etc.)

23. Menu Design
First impression is always important, the entire menu should complement the operation
- Theme
- Interior Decor
- Design (Merchandising)
- Creativity
- Material
- Color
- Space

24. Menu Design - Type style and/or lettering - Names of food items
- Description
- Popular items are at the top of a list
- Clip-ons, inserts (daily specials)
- Operations address
- Beverage service notice
- Separate menus for each meal period
- Separate menu for host/hostess and guests

25. Menu Styles A table d'hôte (a complete meal for one price)
A la Carte (items are listed and priced separately)
Combination (combination of the table d'hôte and a la carte pricing styles)
Fixed menus: a single menus for several months
Cycle menus: designed to provide variety for guests who eat at an operation frequently - or even daily

26. Types Of Menus Breakfast
(offers fruits, juices, eggs, cereals, pancakes, waffles, and breakfast meats)
Lunch
(features sandwiches, soups, salads, specials; usually lighter than dinner menu items)
Dinner
(more elaborate, steaks, roasts, chicken, sea food and pasta; wines, cocktails, etc..)

27. Types Of Menus - Specialty
Children’s
Senior citizens’
Alcoholic beverage
Dessert
Room service
Take-out
Banquet
California (breakfast, lunch and dinner menu items on one menu)
Ethnic

28. Basic Rules Of Menu Planning
Know your guest
- Food preference
- Price
- Age
Know your operation
- Theme or cuisine
- Equipment
- Personnel
- Quality standards
- Budget

29. Selecting Menu Items Menu category: Appetizers Salads Entrees
Starch items (potatoes, rice, pasta)
Vegetables
Desserts
Beverages

30. Common Sources For Menu Item Recipes
Old menus
Books
Trade magazines
Cookbooks for the home market

31. Menu Balance Business balance
- balance between food cost, menu prices, popularity of items, financial and marketing considerations
Aesthetic balance
- colors, textures, flavors of food
Nutritional balance

32. Elements Of Menu Copy Headings - Appetizers - Soups - Entrees
Sub-heading
- Under entree:
Steak, seafood, today’s specials

33. Elements Of Menu Copy Descriptive copy (describe the menu items)
- should be believable and made in short, easy-to-read sentences
- no description is needed for self- explanatory item. i.e. Low Fat Milk

34. Truth-in-menu
Grading (foods are graded by size, quality, in line with official standards)
“Freshness” (cannot be canned, frozen or fresh-frozen)
Geographical origin (cannot make false claims about the origin of a product)
Preparation (if the menu says baked, it cannot be fried instead)
Dietary or nutrition claims (supportable by scientific data)

35. Supplemental Merchandising Copy
Includes information such as:
Address
Telephone number
Days and hours of operation
Meals served
Reservations and payment policies
History of the restaurant
A statement about management’s commitment to guest service

36. Menu Layout Sequence: Appetizers, soups, entrees, desserts Placement:
Depends on the operation (side orders, salads, sandwiches, beverages)
Depends on popularity and profitability
Placement:
artworks; space; boxes; clip-on; etc.

37. Menu Layout Format: Menu’s size General makeup Typeface:
Printed letters
Font size
Type face

38. Menu Layout
Artwork:
Drawings, photographs, decorative patterns, borders
Paper:
Texture
Cover:
Color

39. Common Menu-design Mistakes
Menu is too small
Type is too small
No descriptive copy
Every item treated the same
Some of the operations’ food and beverages are not listed
Clip-on problems
Basic information about the property and its policies are not included
Blank pages

40. Evaluating Menus Must set standards
Determine how menu is helping to meet standards

41. Menu Evaluation: Questions Most Often Asked
Is the menu attractive?
Do the colors and other design elements match the operation’s theme and decor?
Are menu items laid out in an attractive and logical way?
Is there too much descriptive copy? Not enough? Is the copy easy to understand?
Is attention called to the items managers most want to sell, through placement, color, description, type size, etc.?

42. Menu Evaluation: Questions Most Often Asked
Have guests complained about the menu?
Have guests said good things about the menu?
How does the menu compare with the menus of competitors?
Has the average guest check remained steady or increased?
Is there enough variety in menu items?
Are menu items priced correctly?
Are you selling the right mix of high-profit and low-profit items?

43. Menu Evaluation: Questions Most Often Asked
Is the typeface easy to read and appropriate to the restaurant’s theme and decor?
Is the paper attractive and stain-resistant?
Have the menus been easy to maintain so that guests always receive a clean, attractive menu?

44. Menu Pricing SUBJECTIVE PRICING:
The reasonable price method: from the guest’s perspective - what charge is fair and equitable
The highest price method: sets the highest price that the manager thinks guests are willing to pay
The loss lender price method: an unusually low price is set for an item to attract guests
The intuitive price method: takes a wild guest, trail-and-error

45. Menu Pricing DESIRED FOOD COST PERCENTAGE PRICING METHOD:
manager determines a reasonable food cost percent
then divides a menu item’s standard food cost by its reasonable food cost percent
Selling price = $1.50 (item’s standard food cost) = $4.55
0.33 (desired food cost percent)

46. Menu Pricing PROFIT PRICING:
factors profit requirements and non-food expenses into menu item selling prices
Allowable = $300, $189, $15, = $96.000
food costs (forecasted (non-food (profit
food sales) expenses) requirements)
Budgeted food cost % = $96,000 (allowable food costs) = or 32%
$300,000 (forecasted food sales)

47. Menu Pricing COMPETITION AND PRICING:
Know competitor’s menus, selling prices, and guest preferences
Lower your prices
Raise your prices
Elasticity of demand:
Elastic: price change creates a larger % in the quantity demanded (prices-sensitive)
Inelastic: the % change in quantity demanded is less than the % change in price

48. The Menu:The Foundation For Control
GUEST SATISFACTION
BASIC OPERATING ACTIVITIES: CONTROL POINTS
SERVING
MENU PLANNING
HOLDING
PURCHASING
RECEIVING
COOKING
PREPARING
STORING
PRODUCTION ACTIVITIES
ISSUING

49. The Menu Influences Product Control Procedures
every item on the menu represents a product to be controlled
Cost Control Procedures
careful cost control procedures must be followed, particularly when expensive products and labor-intensive service styles are used
Production Requirement
product quality, staff productivity and skills, timing and scheduling, and other back-of-the-house functions are all dictated by the menu

50. The Menu Influences Equipment Needs
equipment must be available to prepare products required by the menu
Sanitation Management
management must consider menu items in light of possible sanitation hazards
Layout and Space Requirements
the physical space within which food production and service take place - must be adequate for purchasing, receiving, storing, issuing, producing, and serving every item on the menu

51. The Menu Influences Staffing Needs
as menu becomes more complex, greater demands may be placed upon the staff
Service Requirements
the menu affects the skill levels required for service personnel, along with equipment, inventory, and facilities needed in the front of the house
Sales Income Control Procedures
elaborate menus require more stringent controls than simple menus

52. Menu Planning is also.. A Tool for:
Sales
lists the items an operation is offering for sale
Advertising
communicates a property’s food and beverage marketing plans
Merchandising
target market expectations - products, service, ambience (theme and atmosphere), perceived value
Marketing Tool
strive to meet or exceed the expectations of its target market

53. Priority Concerns Of The Menu Planner
Priority Concerns of menu Planner
Wants and needs
Guest
Flavour
Concept of Value
Quality of Item
Consistency
Cost
Item Price
Texture/Form/Shape
Availability
Object of Property Visit
Peak Volume Production
and Operating Concerns
Socio-Economic Factors
Nutritional Content
Visual Appeal
Sanitation Concerns
Demographic Concerns
Aromatic Appeal
Layout Concerns
Ethnic Factors
Equipment Concerns
Temperature
Religious Factors

54. Menu Planning Strategies
Rationalization
its objective is simplification for the sake of operational efficiency
i.e., cross-utilization menu items use the same raw ingredients
- Menu when carefully plan can be a streamlining of the purchasing, receiving, storing, issuing, production, and serving control points.
- High-quality convenience foods make it easier to offer new items without having to buy additional raw ingredients

55. Factors That Influence Menu Planning Strategies
Needs and wants of target markets
Several items from same ingredients
Storage requirements
Personnel skill levels
Product availability / seasonality
Quality and price stability
Sanitation procedures

56. External Factors That Influence Menu Changes
Consumer Demands
decide which potential markets wants to attract
Economic Conditions
cost of ingredients, potential profitability of new menu items
Competition
many not want to serve next door’s best
Supply Levels
seasonal items, price to the quality and quantity
Industry Trends
industry’s response to new demands

57. Internal Factors That Influence Menu Changes
Facility Meal Patterns
existing meal periods - breakfast, lunch and dinner
Concept and Theme
the image may rule out certain foods that do not blend with its theme and decor
Operational System
costs for new equipment to the successful production and service of new menu items

58. Pricing Approaches Subjective Price Methods
intuition and knowing your guests (failed to relate profit and costs)
The Reasonable Price Methods
presumes value to the guest (what charge is fair and equitable)
The Highest Price Method
sets the highest price the guests are willing to pay

59. Pricing Approaches The Loss Leader Method
an unusually low price is set for an item (or items) to bring guests in
The Intuitive Price Method
wild guess about the selling price
(pricing methods based on assumptions, hunches and guesses)

60. Pricing Approaches Simple Mark-up Pricing Methods
designed to cover all costs and to yield the desired profit.
Three Steps:
1. Determine the ingredients’ costs
2. Determine the multiplier
3. Establish a base selling price

61. Multiplier Multiplier = 1 / desired food cost% = 1 / .40 = 2.5
If food cost is to be 40%
Multiplier = 1 / desired food cost%
= 1 / .40
= 2.5

62. Base Selling Price If ingredient cost is $3.32
Base Selling Price = Ingredient Cost x Multiplier
$ = $ x 2.5
A base selling price in not necessarily the final selling price

63. Prime-Ingredient Mark-Up Method
Base selling price = Prime Ingredient Cost x Multiplier
$ = $1.59 x 5.22
or food cost is about 19%

64. Mark-Up with Accompaniment Costs
Entree / Primary Costs $3.15
Plate Cost $1.25
Food Cost $4.40
Mark-Up Multiplier x (30% food cost)
Base Selling Price $14.52

65. Determining the Price Multiplier
Based upon:
experience or “rule of thumb”
contribution margin
impact of sales mix
does not reflect higher or lower labor cost
assume food cost associated with producing menu item are know

66. Contribution Margin Pricing Method
Contribution Margin refers to the amount left after a menu item’s food cost is subtracted from its selling price.
Two steps in setting base selling price:
1. Determine the average contribution margin required per guest
Non-Food + Required Profit = Ave. Contribution Margin Required/guest
No. of Expected guests
$295, $24, = $3.75
85,000

67. Contribution Margin Pricing Method
2. Determine the base selling price for a menu item
Base selling price = average contribution margin + Standard food cost
$ = $ $3.60

68. Ratio Pricing Method
The ratio pricing method determines the relationship between food costs and all non-food costs plus profit requirements and uses this ratio to develop base selling price for menu items.
Three steps
Determine the ration of food costs to all other cost plus profit requirements
All non-food costs + Required profit = Ratio
Food costs
$160, $21, =
$135,000

69. Ratio Pricing Method
2. Calculate the amount of non-food cost and profit required for a menu item
Non-food cost and profit required = Standard food cost x ratio
$ = $ x
3. Determine the base selling price for the menu item
Base Selling Price = Non-food cost and profit required + Standard food cost
$ = $ $3.75

70. Simple Prime Costs Method
The term prime cost refers to the most significant costs in a food service operation: food, beverage and labor.
A simple prime costs pricing method involves assessing the labor costs for the food service operation and factoring these costs into the pricing equation.
Three steps:
1. Determine the labor costs per guest
Labour Cost per guest = Labour costs / No. of expected guests
$ = $210,000 / 75,000

71. Simple Prime Costs Method
2. Determine the prime costs per guest
Prime Cost per guest = Labour cost per guest + menu item’s food cost
$ = $ $3.75
3. Determine base selling price
Base Selling Price = Prime costs Per guest
Desired Prime Costs%
$ = $6.55 / 0.62

72. Specific Prime Cost Method
Specific Prime Cost Method - develops mark-ups for menu items so that the base selling prices for the items cover their fair share of labor costs.
Divide the menu items into 2 categories:
(A) extensive preparation
(B) non extensive preparation
clean up, and other non-preparation activities

73. Specific Prime Cost Method
Allocates appropriate % of total food costs and labor costs to each category
(A) 60% of the total food cost
(B) 40% of the total food cost
(A) & (B) 55% of all labor costs
45% of all labor costs is incurred for service,

74. Specific Prime Cost Method - Calculations
Operating Category A Category B Budget Item Budget % (extensive preparation) (Non-extensive Preparation)
Items Items
(1) (2) (3) (4)
Food Cost 35% 60% of 35% = 21% 40% of 35% = 14%
Labour Cost 30% 55% of 30% = 17% 40% of 13% = 5%
All Other Cost 20% 60% of 13% = 8% % of 20% = 8%
Profit 15% 60% of 15% = 9% 40% of 15% = 6%
Total % % %
Mark-Up % =2.9% % = % = 2.4
Multiplier % % %

75. Important Pricing Considerations
The Concept of Value (price relative to quality)
The Basic Law of Supply and Demand
Volume Concerns Must be Considered
Price Charged by the Competition for a similar Product

76. Evaluating The Menu: Menu Engineering
Basic Menu Engineering Process:
Stars - items that are popular profitable
Plowhorses - items that are not profitable but popular
Puzzles - items that are profitable but no popular
Dogs - items that are neither profitable nor popular

77. Defining Profitability
Contribution Margin
a “high” contribution margin for an individual menu item would be one that is equal to or greater than the average contribution margin
Average Contribution Margin = Total Contribution Margin
Total Number of Item Sold

78. Defining Popularity
Popular Index bases upon the notion of “expected popularity”
For example:
4 items on a menu and each is assumed to be equally popular, the sales of each would be expected to be 25%
100% ÷ 4 = 25%
Menu engineering assumes that an item is popular if its sales equal 70% of what is expected..
a food item is considered popular if its sales is:
25% x 70% = 17.5% of total sales

79. Menu Engineering Worksheet

80. Improving The Menu Managing Plowhorses
Items low in contribution margin, but high in popularity
Increase prices carefully
Test for demand
Relocate the item to a lower profile on the menu
Shift demand to more desirable items
Combine with lower cost products
Assess the direct labor factor
Consider portion reduction

81. Improving The Menu Managing Puzzles
Items high in contribution margin but low in popular
Shift demand to these items
Consider a price decrease
Add value to the item

82. Improving The Menu Managing Stars
Items high in contribution margin and high in popularity
Maintain rigid specifications
Place in a highly visible location on the menu
Test for selling price inelasticity
Use suggestive selling techniques

83. Improving The Menu Managing Dogs
Items that are low in contribution margin and low in popularity:
Candidates for removal from the menu