MENU ENGINEERING

Menu engineering is a marketing oriented approach to the evaluation of a menu with regard to its present and future content, design and pricing. It is an interdisciplinary field of study devoted to the deliberate and strategic constructions of menus. It is also commonly referred to as menu psychology.

Menu engineering is a step-by-step process through which management can evaluate current and future menu pricing, design and content decisions identifying menu items for membership in 4 categories

The goal of menu engineering is to maximize profits by subconsciously encouraging customers to select the menu items that make the most money and steering them away from less profitable dishes 

Depending where an item occurs on the matrix, appropriate action should be taken

STARS (High POPULARITY & High PROFITABILITY):

Are profitable and popular items / leave them alone or perhaps consider raising their price

a bit. It is possible to increase their menu prices without affecting volume.

CASH COWS/PLOUGH HORSES (High Popularity & Low PROFITABILITY): 

Are relatively unprofitable but popular items / try to improve their individual contribution margins without decreasing volume. Optional actions are to increase price, reduce dish cost by modify the recipe, use less expensive ingredients, or reduce the portion size. Look for a way to keep them on the menu but increase their contribution margins without decreasing volume.

QUESTION MARKS/puzzles (High PROFITABILITY & Low Popularity): 

Are comparatively profitable but relatively unpopular items / keep them on the menu but try to improve popularity (volume) without substantially decreasing profitability. Optional actions include price reduction, the renaming of the dish, repositioning the item on menu, item promotion through staff selling, or removing it from menu.

DOGS (Low PROFITABILITY & Low Popularity):

These are items that are both unprofitable and unpopular, combining low volume and small contribution margin. These items need to be replaced. If they need to remain on the menu for some reason, alter them so that they move up to at least the QUESTION MARK classification. Optional actions include replacing the dish, redesign dish or removing it from menu. Remove from the menu unless there is a valid reason for continuing to sell them or profitability can somehow be increased.