5 Tips for Creating Profit Making Menus

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Here, Michelin-starred chef, John Wood, shares his advice based on over 35 years of writing menus and running successful hospitality businesses.

Why aren’t my menus making a profit?

All too often businesses build what they believe to be a strong menu, only to be left wondering why they are not achieving targeted margins or profit further down the line.  As a result, dishes are often removed to make way for new ones for a variety of reasons:

• Seasonality and availability of products.
• The dish is not very popular.
• A dish has received a number of complaints.
• A ‘feeling’ that the menu needs rejuvenating.

However, when updating your menu, it shouldn’t be simply a question of replacing category like-for-like recipes.  There are some key considerations to think about for each and every dish, every recipe and every menu that your business creates.

5 Key Tips for Creating Profit Making Menus

Here are 5 tried and tested ways to make more money from menus.

• Menu engineering – Look at your sales data against your dish costs, margins and profit.  Then assess how each dish is performing individually, within the menu area and within the entire menu.
• Product Cross-Utilisation – where possible, use the same product or sub recipe across different recipes.  This will then reduce purchase cost and increase operational efficiency.
• By-Product Utilisation – use leftovers or trimmings as a product in another recipe.
• Menu Psychology – Review your menu application, font, type of menu, size of menu.  Then, look at the ‘Sweet spots’ and ensure your ‘Hero dishes’ are in them. Remember to incorporate design tools like ‘Boxing’, bold texting and use of colour to make your menus work better for you from a customer’s perspective.
• Manage Suppliers – make sure you are getting the best value and the best quality products.

“One restaurant I ran achieved a Michelin Star and a Bib gourmand, whilst regularly achieving a 77% GP margin (23% food cost), serving over 250 covers on a Saturday night with 9 chefs. It is simply a question of working smart, reducing waste and keeping an eye on the commercials.”

John Wood, Owner & Director, Kitchen CUT