Smart menu planning is an essential component to every restaurant’s financial success. No matter what the price point of your restaurant, the decisions about what you put on your menu and for what price can make or break any restaurant’s bottom line. Because there are so many costs in operating a restaurant – labor, physical space, the costs of marketing, not to mention the actual costs of food and drink, when you tally it up, you may well just be tempted to stop menu planning and just serve water and crackers to your guests at very high cost. Nevertheless, smart menu engineering can give you the freedom to run your restaurant successfully and without running headfirst in debt. When you spend an adequate amount of time menu planning, you’ll be amazed at how your food cost can become a manageable part of your total cost structure. So – what are some ways to do your menu planning responsibly?
First, it’s important to stay on top of it. Too often in the industry, menu planning is put off until the last second, without a sense of strategy or cost. Give yourself enough time to get a sense of the real costs of food from your purveyors. And keep updated on what everyone else is charging. A smart restaurateur will ask for price sheets from each purveyor on a weekly basis to give themselves the opportunity to get the best price from week to week. Remember, knowledge is power! If you’re going to be successful, you must understand where your money’s going on a weekly if not daily basis.
On a similar note, it’s important when menu planning to know what’s coming up with your restaurant accounting. Do you know the average cost per customer of your fixed costs and how much you need each customer to purchase to cover that cost? If you don’t known it already, it’s time to start restaurant accounting – you need to know these numbers! You also need to know your rush periods and your periods of decline. Most restaurants experience an increasing rush from September through the top of January, while experiencing an increasing slump from January until the end of summer. It’s absolutely essential to know what’s coming when you want to keep your menu planning efficient.
Lastly, consider joining the trend of going local – that is, sourcing the food your restaurant serves from local farmers and providers. When you stay local in your menu planning, you serve what’s in season and keep your costs low. After all, what’s in season is always cheaper than what’s not in season. Ever tried to buy fresh raspberries or even peaches in the middle of winter? If you have, you’ll understand that buying out of season for your area can cost an obscene amount of money. So don’t spend it. And buy local.
When you make a plan, you plan to succeed. Menu planning is an absolutely essential part of any restaurant’s success, and because it is so important, it deserves your time and attention. Get started today and see where you can cut costs – you’ll be amazed at what you can save!
