Can You Make Your Menu More Profitable?
A scrumptious menu to tempt diners is, of course, a top priority in the food industry. However, when’s the last time you examined your menu for profitability?
You might be surprised to learn that a few tweaks can make all the difference when it comes to maximising profits without losing any of the flavour! Here are a few things to consider.
1. Ensure the price is right
It makes sense to increase the price of menu items when your costs increase. While it’s a must in challenging times, it’s not usually a change that’s popular with diners, especially regulars.
To take the sting out of price increases, avoid raising them across every item all at once. Get creative with how you list dishes as well - focus on enticing descriptions or pictures to make the mouth water rather than on prices.
You might also consider updating your menu entirely - a range of new dishes with new pricing to match!
2. Introduce tasty twists
Are there dishes on your menu that are less popular but cheaper to prepare? You might be able to give these a tweak to make them more enticing to customers.
3. Review your top sellers
No doubt you know what your top sellers are because people keep lining up for more! Look for ways to increase the margin on your most popular menu items - for example by reviewing your ingredients to see if there are more affordable options.
4. Streamline your menu
Rising costs and staff shortages mean it’s more important than ever to streamline and consolidate your menu. Focus on those dishes that are quick to prepare. Use cost-effective key ingredients across dishes. Using ingredients across multiple dishes also helps to reduce food waste.
Digital menus can help, as they offer the flexibility of changing dishes and prices with ease. They are also a great idea for seasonal menus that make the most of ingredients when they are their cheapest and freshest.
5. Make your menu work harder
Delivery and takeaway services are very popular, so it’s time to jump in on the action if you haven’t already. When you're consolidating your menu, do so with takeaway in mind as well. Make sure dishes can be packaged well for travel so you don't need separate menus. You might also consider whether you can value-add by offering some of your dishes as meal kits.
The key takeaway is to remember that every little bit counts. It’s entirely possible to keep thrilling your customer’s taste buds while making small changes towards bigger profits on the menu for you.
And if you'd like to jazz up some of your dishes, check out our range of wholesale relish products that can add the wow factor to the most basic of menus!