There is a constant change involved in the restaurant industry due to the latest trends and tastes, and therefore if you are into the restaurant design business, you have to adapt to these current changes so as to keep your business working successfully. During restaurant operations, the one area that needs regular check is the menu. A timely upgrade of your restaurant menu would definitely generate more revenue, attract more customers while cutting down on costs. While planning a restaurant design, think about how often your restaurant menu needs an upgrade. Let us discuss the many reasons why a restaurant menu would need an upgrade.
Upgrading your restaurant menu would come with a lot of benefits, but you need to set the right time to do this upgrade of your restaurant menu so that you can earn a reasonable amount of profit in your business.
- eep changing during the year, it is important that you analyze your food costs on a regular basis. While planning your restaurant design, your menu prices are decided based on the ingredients used, but when certain ingredients increase in price and eat into your profit, you should know it is time to upgrade your restaurant menu. Firstly find out the actual cost of that dish, secondly talk to your kitchen staff about food wastage. Then as a general practice, compare the prices of other vendors and current suppliers.
- When a menu item is not being ordered by customers – Check out for items in your restaurant menu that are not being ordered regularly, they might not be worth the expence. Analyze your menu and profit per dish twice a year, and in case some menu items are affecting your overall ROI, lower the menu price or eliminate that particular item from the menu. If you are eliminating an alternative diet item from the menu such as keto, vegan, etc, then ensure that a similar item is added to your menu.
- When POS reports show loss on menu items – While you generate your annual report on your restaurant POS, do analyze the item that is top-selling and is consistently ordered, then these items are the ones that are generating high revenue for your business. Now you must look for ways to enhance your margins on these items. A robust POS system can be of great help if it can also identify the least selling items on the menu. These items would be rarely ordered and thus they can hardly impact your bottom-line. Calculate the actual maling charge against the revenue they are generating, and if the cost of preparing them is higher than the selling price, you must take a decision to eliminate these items from your menu list. By this method of upgrading your restaurant menu, you would increase the profitability as well.
- Difficult to maintain margins – It is a well known fact that the restaurant market is unpredictable and volatile, as a result restaurant designs would be struggling to maintain profitability in terms of food costs. You should analyze your restaurant menu on a regular basis to improve menu margins without compromising on quality. You should do some research with food vendors, bring about some changes in the portion size and alter menus whenever necessary. When you find our restaurant profit margins are shrinking, you need to understand the root cause and hence bring changes to your menu.
How often should the menu be changed – When your restaurant design is planned strategically, the restaurant menu has the power to revitalize your business, optimize food costs, and also persuade customers to return to your premises. Therefore, it is suggested that you upgrade your restaurant menu often in order to grow in your business. To maintain the profits, you should upgrade your restaurant menu at least once a year and also make sure that the food costs are in sync with the menu prices. Ensure to drop some items from your menu when they start dropping to the bottom of your sales report.
Plan your restaurant design so that your menu is neither too long or too short, instead outline the ongoing trends and customer expectations and bring about changes in the menu according to those markers.
Perform a Yearly Audit
While you review your restaurant menu prices, do look at the seasonal ingredients, current food trends as well as portion size. Your robust POS system would be able to access the consumption reports on individual menu items, and a review of this would tell which items in the menu are not doing well. Then you can analyze if there is a way to add more variety or there is a need to eliminate some menu selections to entice your customers. These steps will help your restaurant design to have continuous profits year after year.
Since the restaurant industry is evolving at good speed, it is essential that you upgrade your restaurant menu to keep up with the latest trends. While planning a restaurant design, remember that the menu is not only a marketing tool but it is an important source of profitability. So implementing these steps while you upgrade your menu will help your restaurant design to stay on top rendering continued profits throughout the year.
