Is Your Menu Actually Making You Money? The Power of Menu Engineering!
- Fabrice Blondeau
- Jun 17
- 2 min read
We have analyzed hundreds of restaurant business performances, and a major revelation keeps surfacing: what chefs think they know about menu costs and sales often doesn't align with reality.
Are your team's decisions unknowingly impacting your bottom line?
Here's the truth: most menus are bloated. Typically, just 20% of items generate 80% of the revenue. And critically, many focus on food cost percentage when they should be looking at contribution margin (the actual cash you make per dish!).
Let's do the math:
Dish A: Costs 30%, sells for $20x 10 units = $1,400 contribution.
Dish B: Costs 35%, sells for $30 x10 units = $1,950 contribution.
Despite a higher food cost %, Dish B puts an extra $550 in your pocket! It's all about the dollars, not just the percentages.
Menu Engineering isn't a one-and-done task; it's a data-driven strategy for ongoing profitability.
It involves:
Deep-Dive Data: Analyzing food cost, contribution margin, gross profit, and sales popularity for every item.
Smart Categorization: Identifying your 'Stars,' 'Plowhorses,' 'Puzzles,' and 'Dogs.'
So, what do you do with this data?
Boost Revenue: Strategically place high-margin items (think "prime real estate" on your menu!). Use enticing descriptions that highlight value.
Cut Costs: Eliminate "dogs" to reduce waste, optimize portion sizes for "plowhorses" without sacrificing value, and constantly trim the bottom 20% of low-margin items.
The Golden Rule: Prioritize contribution dollars over mere food cost percentages. Keep your menu tight and focused.
How do you ensure your menu is working as effectively as possible for your business? Share your strategies!
F+B is a Strategic and Creative Restaurant Advisor. We empower restaurants to optimize profitability through thorough analysis, strategic roadmap development, and hands-on execution, improving performance and owner returns.
Ready to unlock your menu's full potential? Message us – we can even share our menu engineering format! We succeed when you succeed.
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