Menu engineering is the process of building and structuring menus using psychology, graphic design, marketing, and managerial accounting to encourage the sale of profitable items. Menu items are categorized as stars, plows, puzzles, or dogs, and are strategically placed on the menu. Clear and precise design is crucial.
Menu engineering, also known as menu psychology, is an occupation all about building and structuring menus. Menu engineers are typically hired on a contract basis to work on an existing restaurant menu. Through various tactics including psychology, graphic design, marketing, and managerial accounting, these experts are able to create a menu that encourages the sale of some items while discouraging the sale of others.
The psychology behind menu engineering has to do with visual perception. A menu technician places the items an owner wants to sell the most within certain sections of a menu called “sweet spots.” These menu items are often the first and last things a customer sees when looking at a menu. Therefore, any item that a restaurant wants to sell the most will be placed at the top and bottom of each page.
Managerial accounting also plays an important role in menu engineering. In order to increase a restaurant’s profitability, a menu expert will calculate the costs associated with each item on a menu. To do this, you need to calculate food costs, labor costs, and packing costs. Once all items have been tabulated, the most expensive ones are placed at the top or bottom of a menu.
When applying marketing techniques to menu engineering, four main categories are considered. The term star rating is applied to menu items that are both popular and can contribute to restaurants’ profitability. If an item is considered a plow or a cash cow, it’s also a popular item, but one that doesn’t contribute too much to a restaurant’s bottom line.
Menu items called puzzles are not very popular, although they are profitable. Finally, dogs are objects that are unpopular and unprofitable. More often than not, dogs are removed from a menu altogether. These methods used to label dishes turn out to be quite effective. Today, many restaurants hire menu engineering experts to create, design and build their menus.
In addition to the tactics mentioned above, the graphic design of a menu is also crucial. Clear, welcoming, and precise dignitaries are preferred over menus that are crowded and confusing. Any restaurant looking to increase profitability would be wise to consider menu engineering.
This science is an ideal way to get customers to purchase items that will turn a profit for any hospitality business. While the menus may seem haphazardly thrown together, this is not the case. Instead, most restaurant menus go through several cycles of editing and creation before a menu is complete.
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