MENU PLANNING

What is menu planning? For investors searching for “how to prepare a restaurant menu,” “how to create a profitable restaurant menu,” “how should restaurant menu planning be done,” “how is menu pricing calculated,” “why is menu cost analysis important,” or “do I need food menu consulting,” this subject is one of the most important factors that determine the future of a restaurant.

 

In restaurants, the food menu is not only a list of product names presented to the guest. The food menu is the main system that determines the restaurant concept, kitchen capacity, equipment needs, staff number, supply chain, stock management, service speed, cost control, sales strategy and brand perception. Therefore, menu planning must be at the center of restaurant setup and restaurant consulting.

 

A poorly planned food menu tires the restaurant from the day it opens. The number of products becomes unnecessarily high, the kitchen gets blocked, equipment becomes insufficient, staff cannot explain the products, supply becomes complicated, waste increases, costs rise and profit decreases. A correctly planned food menu clarifies the identity of the restaurant, helps guests make decisions, keeps the kitchen working properly and strengthens the profitability of the business.

 

Under the consultancy of Chef Ahmet Özdemir, menu planning is handled as an applicable, sellable, producible and cost-controllable system for investors who want to open restaurants in Turkey and in different countries around the world, for businesses that want to strengthen their existing restaurants, for brands that want to renew their food menus, and for entrepreneurs who want to create a profitable restaurant menu.

 

WHY IS MENU PLANNING THE BACKBONE OF A RESTAURANT?

What the restaurant will sell, how it will produce it, which equipment it will use, how many people it will employ, which suppliers it will work with and which products will generate profit are all determined by the food menu. For this reason, preparing a restaurant menu is not only choosing delicious products. Menu planning means calculating the concept, guest profile, kitchen capacity, product cost, sales price, service time and profitability target together.

 

A restaurant kitchen cannot be planned correctly before the restaurant menu is planned. A restaurant kitchen is planned according to the food menu. If equipment is selected before the menu becomes clear, unnecessary equipment may be purchased or service may be disrupted after opening because of missing equipment. Therefore, menu planning is directly connected with kitchen setup and equipment selection.

 

Correct menu planning answers the following questions:

 

Which concept will the restaurant operate with?

Who will be the target guest?

How many sections will the food menu include?

Which products will carry the main sales power?

Which products will generate high profit?

Which products will create brand value?

Which products will unnecessarily tire the kitchen?

Which products will create stock burden?

Which products will slow down service speed?

Which products will make the guest return?

 

A food menu prepared without answering these questions is prepared by guesswork. A menu prepared by guesswork returns after opening as cost, confusion and sales loss.

 

HOW IS A RESTAURANT MENU PREPARED?

When preparing a restaurant menu, the first step is to clarify the concept. The menu of an investor saying “I want to open a steak restaurant” cannot be prepared with the same logic as the menu of an investor saying “I want to open a seafood restaurant.” Those who want to open a Turkish cuisine restaurant and those who want to establish a Mediterranean cuisine restaurant need different product groups, preparation processes, supply structures, portion language and presentation standards.

 

For those saying “I want to open a cafe” or “I want to open a coffee shop,” menu planning must calculate coffee, beverages, desserts, fast service, takeaway service, display products and average check amount. For those who want to open a fast food restaurant, the menu must be simple, fast, standardized and suitable for serial production. For those who want to open a high-class restaurant or set up a fine dining restaurant, the menu must be prepared with story, product quality, plate language, service rhythm, refined guest expectations and profitability balance.

 

The following topics must be evaluated together when preparing a restaurant menu:

 

Restaurant concept

Target guest profile

Location

Price level

Kitchen capacity

Service model

Product groups

Recipe standard

Portion cost

Sales price

Supply ease

Waste risk

Service speed

Staff explanation power

Brand language

 

Menu planning must consider not only the opening of the restaurant today, but also its future growth. Products that cannot be sold, are difficult to produce, have high cost or cannot be explained by staff will weaken the future profitability of the restaurant.

 

HOW IS A PROFITABLE RESTAURANT MENU PLANNED?

A profitable restaurant menu is not simply a menu that sells expensive products. A profitable restaurant menu is a menu that produces the right products at the right cost, sells them at the right price, helps the guest make decisions easily and does not unnecessarily tire the kitchen.

 

A product may sell a lot but leave low profit. Another product may sell less but create strong contribution when positioned correctly. Some products may become signature products of the brand. Some products only occupy space on the menu, create stock burden and tire the kitchen. Menu planning must be done by seeing these differences.

 

The following topics are analyzed in profitable menu planning:

 

Product cost

Recipe cost

Portion cost

Sales price

Contribution margin

Waste ratio

Preparation time

Service time

Supply risk

Stock burden

Guest demand

Sales volume

Product profitability

 

Every product on the menu must have a purpose. Some products create sales volume, some carry profit, some increase brand value, and some attract the guest to the menu. A product without a purpose only creates crowding on the menu.

 

MENU PLANNING AND MENU ENGINEERING

Menu engineering is the evaluation of menu items according to sales volume and profitability contribution. In international menu engineering approaches, products are generally analyzed according to sales power and contribution margin. This analysis shows which products make money for the restaurant, which products tire the kitchen and which products should be removed from the menu.

 

Designing a menu without menu engineering is not enough. A menu that looks beautiful may not make money for the business. The real issue is to see which product creates profit, which product wastes time, which product holds stock and which product builds guest loyalty.

 

Menu engineering answers the following questions:

 

Which products sell the most?

Which products sell the least?

Which products generate high profit?

Which products generate low profit?

Which products slow down service speed?

Which products create stock burden?

Which products should be more visible on the menu?

Which product recipes should be corrected?

Which products should be removed from the menu?

 

The basic approach emphasized in Cornell University’s menu design and menu engineering training is also that the menu is not only a product presentation tool, but a revenue management and profitability tool. Product names, descriptions, order, price placement and visibility on a restaurant menu affect the purchasing decision.

 

MENU COST ANALYSIS

Menu planning cannot be considered complete without menu cost analysis. A product whose recipe cost is unknown cannot be priced correctly. If the sales price is not correct, the restaurant may make high sales but still fail to achieve the expected profit.

 

Menu cost analysis must be done with the following data:

 

Gross product cost

Net product cost

Preparation loss

Cooking loss

Portion weight

Garnish cost

Sauce cost

Presentation cost

Total recipe cost

Sales price

Profit ratio

Target cost percentage

 

Resources such as the USDA Food Buying Guide clearly show the importance of yield, portion and purchasing quantity calculations for cost control and waste reduction. The same logic applies to restaurant menu planning: how many kilograms of product will be purchased, how much net product will remain after preparation, how many portions will be produced and what the real cost of one portion is must be known.

 

Setting prices without menu cost analysis may put the restaurant into hidden loss. Looking only at competitors when writing prices is not enough. Every restaurant has a different rent burden, staff cost, supplier price, portion standard, service level and guest profile.

 

RECIPE STANDARDIZATION IS THE FOUNDATION OF MENU PLANNING

Menu planning remains incomplete in a restaurant without recipe standardization. If the same product is served on different days with different weights, different taste, different presentation and different cost, the food menu cannot be controlled.

 

A standard recipe must include the following information:

 

Product name

Ingredients used

Gross weight

Net weight

Preparation method

Cooking method

Cooking time

Portion size

Presentation style

Waste ratio

Product cost

Allergen information

Storage condition

Service note

 

With recipe standardization, the kitchen stops depending only on individuals. New staff are trained faster, product quality is protected, portion cost is controlled and the guest receives the same quality at every visit.

 

MENU PLANNING AND KITCHEN CAPACITY

One of the biggest mistakes in menu planning is preparing a menu too wide for the kitchen to produce. If the kitchen area, equipment number, staff power, cold room capacity, preparation time and service speed cannot carry the menu, product quality drops.

 

A restaurant kitchen is planned according to the food menu; however, the food menu must also consider the real capacity of the kitchen. If there is not enough preparation area in the kitchen, products requiring heavy preparation slow down service speed. If cold storage is insufficient, wide product groups create stock burden. If the cooking line is narrow, sending many hot products at the same time becomes difficult.

 

For this reason, the following topics must be evaluated during menu planning:

 

Kitchen square meter capacity

Equipment adequacy

Preparation areas

Cooking line

Service pass speed

Cold room capacity

Storage order

Staff number

Peak service hours

Daily production plan

 

A well-planned food menu does not tire the kitchen. It uses the kitchen’s strength correctly, makes the staff’s work easier and protects service speed.

 

MENU PLANNING AND SUPPLY MANAGEMENT

Supply management must always be considered during menu planning. Every product on the menu must be supplied regularly, with quality, at a suitable cost and reliably. Otherwise, the menu may look good on paper but cause problems in real operation.

 

A seafood restaurant menu requires daily supply, cold chain and freshness control. A steak restaurant menu requires correct cuts, resting, waste control and supplier reliability. Turkish cuisine and Anatolian cuisine menus require seasonal products, preparation time and traditional recipe knowledge. In cafe and coffee shop menus, display products, beverage raw materials, dessert production and takeaway order are important.

 

The following questions must be asked in menu planning from the supply perspective:

 

Can the product be found regularly?

Does its price change too much during the season?

Is there an alternative supplier?

Can the cold chain be protected?

Can product quality standards be sustained?

Is the stock burden high?

Is waste risk high?

Does preparation time strain the business?

 

A menu that is not compatible with the supply system strains the daily operation and cost of the restaurant.

 

MENU PLANNING AND SERVICE STRATEGY

Menu planning is not done only for the kitchen; it is also done for service and sales. If service staff do not understand the menu, they cannot explain it correctly to the guest. If the products on the menu are not clear, the guest has difficulty making a decision. If product descriptions are weak, price perception becomes weaker.

 

Service strategy must also be established during menu planning:

 

Which products will staff recommend?

Which products will be explained as signature products?

Which products will provide high profit?

Which products will be sold together?

Which beverages will be recommended with which foods?

Which products will be served quickly?

Which products will require special explanation?

 

The menu language must increase the sales power of the service staff. It must offer the guest a clear, appetizing and confidence-building explanation rather than a complicated one.

 

MENU DESIGN AND MENU LANGUAGE

Menu design is not only a visual task. Menu design affects how the guest sees the product, which product they notice, how they perceive the price and how quickly they make a decision.

 

The following topics are important in menu design:

 

Category order

Product names

Product descriptions

Price placement

Highlighted products

Readability

Brand language

Visual balance

Ease of guest decision-making

Explanation power of service staff

 

A high-class restaurant menu and a fast service restaurant menu cannot be written in the same language. A steak restaurant, seafood restaurant, cafe, Turkish cuisine restaurant, Ottoman cuisine concept, vegan restaurant or Mediterranean restaurant requires a different menu language.

 

MENU PLANNING AND MENU REPAIR IN EXISTING RESTAURANTS

Menu planning is not only for new restaurants. In restaurants that have opened but cannot reach expected profitability, the menu must also be reconsidered. If there are sales but no profit, if the menu is too wide but the kitchen is strained, if some products constantly create waste, if supply problems are experienced or if the guest has difficulty understanding the menu, menu repair is required.

 

Menu repair may include the following work:

 

Removing unnecessary products

Combining similar products

Correcting high-cost products

Standardizing recipes

Recalculating portions

Highlighting profitable products

Reducing products that slow down service

Changing products that create supply problems

Rewriting product descriptions

Updating menu prices

 

Correct menu repair reduces the kitchen burden of the existing restaurant, makes staff training easier, increases service speed, reduces waste and strengthens profitability.

 

WHO NEEDS MENU PLANNING CONSULTING?

Menu planning consulting is necessary for investors and businesses with the following searches:

 

I want a restaurant menu prepared.

How is a restaurant menu prepared?

How is a profitable restaurant menu created?

I want menu planning consulting.

I want menu engineering.

I want menu cost analysis.

I want to renew my restaurant menu.

I want to simplify my food menu.

My restaurant menu does not make money.

I want a steak restaurant menu prepared.

I want a seafood restaurant menu prepared.

I want a cafe menu prepared.

I want a coffee shop menu prepared.

I want a fast food restaurant menu prepared.

I want a high-class restaurant menu prepared.

I want a Turkish cuisine restaurant menu prepared.

I want an Ottoman cuisine concept menu prepared.

I want a restaurant menu prepared abroad.

 

Each of these searches requires a different menu plan, different product structure, different cost calculation, different kitchen capacity and different service strategy. Professional menu planning consulting does not only give the investor product names; it shows how the restaurant will produce, how it will sell, which products it will earn from and which products it will lose from.

 

CONCLUSION: MENU PLANNING IS THE PROFIT MAP OF A RESTAURANT

Menu planning is a professional process that manages the restaurant concept, food menu, kitchen capacity, equipment need, recipe standard, portion cost, supply system, service speed, sales strategy and profitability target together.

 

One of the biggest mistakes for an investor who wants to open a restaurant is leaving the menu to the end. The correct order must proceed as concept, target guest, food menu, recipe standard, cost analysis, kitchen capacity, equipment selection, service strategy and pre-opening trial productions.

 

Chef Ahmet Özdemir provides consulting services in menu planning, food menu consulting, menu engineering, menu cost analysis, recipe standardization, restaurant setup, kitchen setup, staff training and opening management in Turkey and in different countries around the world as an international restaurant consultant and kitchen consultant.

 

A correctly planned food menu does not only show what will be sold. A correctly planned food menu is the profitability map that determines how the restaurant will operate, which products it will earn from, how it will appear to the guest and how the brand will grow.