Menu engineering: which dishes earn money and which just take up space
How to sort your menu into stars, plowhorses, puzzles and dogs by popularity and margin, and what to do with each group of dishes.
Vitrina team5 minute read
Contents
In short
Menu engineering looks at two things: how well a dish sells and how much money it leaves from each sale.
Dishes fall into four groups: stars, plowhorses, puzzles and dogs, and each needs its own decision.
Margin in money matters more than food cost percentage: a dish with cheap ingredients can earn less than a pricier one.
Without recipes you can’t calculate margins, so start with the cost of every dish.
Where the method comes from
The method was proposed by Michael Kasavana and Donald Smith in their 1982 book “Menu Engineering”. The idea is simple: a dish is judged not by the feeling that “people love it” but by two numbers. The first is popularity, the dish’s share of sales within its category. The second is margin: how much money is left from each sale after the cost of ingredients.
Four groups of dishes
| Group | Popularity | Margin | What to do |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stars | High | High | Protect the quality, keep them prominent, don’t touch the recipe |
| Plowhorses | High | Low | Review the portion, side or price; sell them together with high-margin dishes |
| Puzzles | Low | High | Move them up the menu, rename them, add a photo, have servers recommend them |
| Dogs | Low | Low | Remove or rework them |
How to run the analysis
- 1
Pick a period and one category
For example, a month and main courses only: compare soups with soups, not with desserts.
- 2
Calculate each dish’s margin
The price minus the ingredient cost according to the recipe. Without a recipe the margin is guesswork.
- 3
Calculate popularity
This is the dish’s share of sales in its category. A dish counts as popular when it reaches at least 70% of an equal share: in a category of eight dishes that is 8.75% of sales. This is how the rule is described, for example, in the FIU Hospitality Review.
- 4
Compare with the average margin
A margin above the category average counts as high, one below it counts as low.
- 5
Sort the dishes into groups and act
Each group gets its own decision from the table above. Repeat the analysis after a quarter and see what has changed.
An example: a category of eight dishes
| Dish | Share of sales | Margin | Group |
|---|---|---|---|
| Varenyky with potatoes | 22% | Below average | Plowhorse |
| Potato pancakes with mushrooms | 18% | Above average | Star |
| Borscht with garlic buns | 15% | Above average | Star |
| Cabbage rolls | 12% | Below average | Plowhorse |
| Pot roast | 12% | Below average | Plowhorse |
| Grilled fish | 8% | Below average | Dog |
| Chicken Kyiv | 7% | Above average | Puzzle |
| Duck with apples | 6% | Above average | Puzzle |
What follows from this: guests love the varenyky, cabbage rolls and pot roast, but they earn little, so their portion or price is worth reviewing. Chicken Kyiv and the duck earn well but are rarely ordered, so they need a better spot on the menu, a photo and a server’s recommendation. The grilled fish should be reworked or removed.
Before you remove a “dog”
Four checks before removing a dish
Does it pull in other sales? A children’s dish can bring the whole family.
Is the cost in the recipe calculated correctly?
Have you tried a new name, a photo or a different spot on the menu?
If nothing has changed after a quarter, remove it without regrets.
How Vitrina does it
In Vitrina, recipes calculate the cost of every dish and portion from the latest purchase price. The “Margins” report shows the margin of every dish (the worst ones at the top, dishes without a recipe listed separately), and the owner’s analytics show the best-selling dishes and the average check. Stock, recipes and owner analytics come with the “Full” plan.
Frequently asked questions
How often should I do menu engineering?
Once a quarter and after every big change: a new menu, new prices or a new supplier. More often makes little sense, because sales need time to show the effect of a change.
Can I remove a popular dish with a low margin?
It is better to review its portion, side or price first: a plowhorse keeps guests coming. Remove it only if nothing can be changed and it takes sales away from high-margin dishes.
What do I need to get started?
Sales per dish for a period and the cost of every dish according to its recipe. More about recipes and stock on the stock page.