ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The acknowledgement here must go to Mr.Naga, whom has guided me

through this assignment. Purpose of this project assignment is to get more
knowledge about how a menu is organized and created. Furthermore, to
know about the food and beverage products and their standard of
executing a menu. Moreover, get knowledge about the fundamental of
menu on how to carefully plan purchasing, receiving, storing, issuing,
production, and serving control points.
INTRODUCTION

The menu is the primary selling tool of any establishment that offers food
and beverage for sale. For the customer it identifies the item that is
available, shows prices and any other charges and together with other
external features may characterize the style of food service offered. From
the establishment perspective the menu should meet the objective of the
marketing policy, the catering policy and the financial policy
MENU PLANNING

Everything starts with the menu. The menu dictates much about how your
operation will be organized and managed, the extent to which it meet its
goals, and even how the building itself certainly the interior should be
designed and constructed.

The concept of planning and preparing 3 meals a day, 21 meals a week or

1,092 meals a year is pretty mind boggling when you stop to think about it.
Doing it all while short on cash is even more challenging. This is where the
art of menu planning comes into the picture. By taking the time to plan
ahead of time we are more likely to stay within our budget and we are able
to find ways to use up what we already have on hand. Using up food we
already have is the best way to stretch limited funds.

Three Menu Planning Methods

The Night Before: This is the method that takes the least forethought. It
provides the most control over waste and the opportunity to use up
leftovers. Plan at least the dinner you intend to serve the next day and have
a good idea for lunch.

A Week, Fortnight or Month at a Time: I prefer to plan a fortnight at a

time. Others prefer to plan for a week or month. Whichever times pan you
choose the process is the same. This method allows you to take good
advantage of weekly supermarket sales. It requires you to shop once a
week.

Rotating Menus: When you are seriously pressed for time and your family
is very picky, this is the best method to use. You plan out 10 to 20
complete menus and then rotate them, serving a different one every day. It
limits variety, but there are no surprises. Since you are so familiar with
each meal you are able to prepare it more quickly, or make and freeze
several batches at once and spend the least amount of time in the kitchen.
OBJECTIVE

 To explain the importance of a menu

 To explain the basic rules of menu planning
 To identify factors to be considered when planning a menu
 To identify constraints in menu planning
 To plan and write a menu
 Reflect your guests’ tastes
 Reflect your guests’ food preferences
 Ascertain your guests’ needs

MARKETING OBJECTIVE

 Locations
 Times
 Prices
 Quality
 Specific food items

QUALITY OBJECTIVE
 Quality standards: flavor, texture, color, shape, flair, consistency,
palatability, visual appeal, aromatic apparel, temperature
 Nutritional concerns: low-fat, high-fiber diets, vegetarian
MENU PLANNING CONSTRAINTS

Facility Layout, Design and Equipment

 Space
 Equipment available
Work flow
 Efficiency

Available Labor
 Number of Employees
 Required Skills
 Training Programs

Ingredients
 Standard recipe
 Availability of the ingredients required during the life span of the menu
 Seasonal ingredients
 Cost
 Miscellaneous cost (flight charges, storage)

Marketing Implications
 Social needs
 Physiological needs
 Type of service (fast food, leisure dinning)
 Festival
 Nutrition

Quality Levels and Costs

 Guests’ expectation
 Employees’ skills and knowledge
 Availability of equipment
 Specific ingredients
 Food costs and selling prices
THE MENU AND THE FOOD SERVICE OPERATION

The Menu Helps to Determine Staff Needs

 Variety and complexity increases, number of personnel increases
 Production staff
 Service staff
 Back-of-house staff

The Menu Dictates Production and Service Equipment Needs

Tableside service
 carving utensils, trolleys, gueridon, salad bowls, suzette pans, souffle
dishes, soup tureens, large wooden (heated cart for serving
salad bowl, rechaud, Voiture roasts)

The Menu Dictates Dining Space

 A take-out sandwich or pizza operation would require no dining space

and the amount of square feet required per person would be minimal.
 On the other hand, if a restaurant offers a huge salad buffet, dessert
selection or an after-dinner trolley, wide aisles would be needed to allow
guests ease of movement and moving of equipment.

Purchase Specifications May Be Dictated By the Menu

 If the menu offers such items as USDA Choice New York strip steaks,
quarter-pound lean beef burgers, grade AA eggs, freshly squeezed Florida
orange juice, or vine ripened tomatoes, back -of-house procedures will not
only include receiving, storing, issuing, and producing the menu items but
also purchasing the specific products described. (When such factors as
grade and portion size are not dictated by the menu, managers and chefs
must determine purchase specifications and related quality factors.)
How and When Items Must Be Prepared

 to stimulate guest interest, the menu planner may offer a dish prepared
in a variety of ways
 Cooking methods
 Poached, broiled, batter-dipped, deep fried
 the finished product must be prepared using the method indicated on the
menu
 Small quantities cooking (a la carte)
 Batch cooking

The Menu is a Factor in the Development of Cost Control Procedures

 As the menu requires more expensive food items and more extensive
labor or capital (equipment) needs, the property’s overall expenses and the
procedures to control them will reflect these increased cost.

The Menu and the Service Plan

 Type and size of dinnerware

 Types of flatware
 Garnishes (place be service or production staff)
 Timing requirement for ordering
 Additional dining service supplies to serve the item
 Special serving produces
 Special information (doneness of the steaks, over easy or sunny side
eggs, etc.)

Menu Design
 First impression is always important, the entire menu should
complement the operation
- Theme
- Interior Decor
- Design (Merchandising)
- Creativity
- Material
- Color
- Space
- Type style and/or lettering
- Names of food items
- Description
- Popular items are at the top of a list
- Clip-ones, inserts (daily specials)
- Operations address
- Beverage service notice
- Separate menus for each meal period
- Separate menu for host/hostess and guests

Menu Styles

 A table d'hôte (a complete meal for one price)

 A la Carte (items are listed and priced separately)
 Combination (combination of the table d'hôte and a la carte pricing
styles)
 Fixed menus: a single menus for several months
 Cycle menus: designed to provide variety for guests who eat at an
operation frequently - or even daily

Types of Menus

 Breakfast
(Offers fruits, juices, eggs, cereals, pancakes, waffles,
and breakfast meats)
 Lunch
(Features sandwiches, soups, salads, specials; usually
lighter than dinner menu items)
 Dinner
(More elaborate, steaks, roasts, chicken, sea food and
Pasta; wines, cocktails, etc...)
BASIC RULES OF PLANNING THE MENU

 Know your guest

- Food preference
- Price
- Age

 Know your operation

- Theme or cuisine
- Equipment
- Personnel
- Quality standards
- Budget

Selecting Menu Items

 Menu category:
Appetizers
Salads
Entrees
Starch items (potatoes, rice, pasta)
Vegetables
Desserts
Beverages

Menu Balance
 Business balance
- Balance between food cost, menu prices, popularity of items, financial
and marketing considerations
 Aesthetic balance
- Colors, textures, flavors of food
 Nutritional balance
ELEMENTS OF MENU COPY

 Headings
- Appetizers
- Soups
- Entrees
 Sub-heading
- Under entree: Steak, seafood, today’s specials
 Descriptive copy (describe the menu items)
- should be believable and made in short, easy-to-read sentences
- No description is needed for self explanatory item. Example Low Fat Milk

Truth-in-menu
 Grading (foods are graded by size, quality, in line with official standards)
 “Freshness” (cannot be canned, frozen or fresh-frozen)
 Geographical origin (cannot make false claims about the origin of a
product)
 Preparation (if the menu says baked, it cannot be fried instead)
 Dietary or nutrition claims (supportable by scientific data)

Supplemental Merchandising Copy

Includes information such as:

 Address
 Telephone number
 Days and hours of operation
 Meals served
 Reservations and payment policies
 History of the restaurant
 A statement about management’s commitment to guest service

Menu Layout
 Sequence:
 Appetizers, soups, entrees, desserts
 Depends on the operation (side orders, salads, sandwiches, beverages)
 Depends on popularity and profitability
 Placement:
 Artworks, space, boxes, clip-on, etc.
Menu Layout

Format:
 Menu’s size
 General makeup

Typeface:
 Printed letters
 Font size
 Type face

Artwork:
 Drawings, photographs, decorative patterns, borders
Paper:
 Texture
Cover:
 Color
 Texture

Common Menu-design Mistakes

 Menu is too small

 Type is too small
 No descriptive copy
 Every item treated the same
 Some of the operations’ food and beverages are not listed
 Clip-on problems
 Basic information about the property and its policies are not included
 Blank pages

Evaluating Menus

 Must set standards

 Determine how menu is helping to meet standards
Questions Most Often Asked

 Is the menu attractive?

 Do the colors and other design elements match the operation’s theme
and decor?
 Are menu items laid out in an attractive and logical way?
 Is there too much descriptive copy? Not enough? Is the copy easy to
understand?
 Is attention called to the items managers most want to sell, through
placement, color, description, type size, etc.?
 Is the typeface easy to read and appropriate to the restaurant’s theme
and decor?
 Is the paper attractive and stainresistant?
 Have the menus been easy to maintain so that guests always receive a
clean, attractive menu?

MENU PRICING

SUBJECTIVE PRICING:

 The reasonable price method: from the guest’s perspective, what charge
is fair and equitable.
 The highest price method: sets the highest price that the manager thinks
guests are willing to pay.
 The loss leader price method: an unusually low price is set for an item to
attract guests.
 The intuitive price method: takes a wild guess, trial-and-error.

Menu Pricing

DESIRED FOOD COST PERCENTAGE PRICING

METHOD:
 Manager determines a reasonable food cost percent
 Then divides a menu item’s standard food cost by its
reasonable food cost percent
Selling price = $1.50 (item’s standard food cost) = $4.55
0.33 (desired food cost percent)
COMPETITION AND PRICING:

 Know competitor’s menus, selling prices, and guest preferences

 Lower your prices
 Raise your prices
 Elasticity of demand:

Elastic: price change creates a larger % in the quantity demanded (prices-

sensitive).

Inelastic: the % change in quantity demanded is less than

the % change in price.

THE MENU INFLUENCES

 Product Control Procedures

Every item on the menu represents a product to be controlled.

 Cost Control Procedures

Careful cost control procedures must be followed, particularly when
expensive products and labor-intensive service styles are used.

 Production Requirement
Product quality, staff productivity and skills, timing and scheduling, and
other back-of-the-house functions are all dictated by the menu.

 Equipment Needs
Equipment must be available to prepare products required by the menu.

 Sanitation Management
Management must consider menu items in light of possible sanitation
hazards.

 Layout and Space Requirements

The physical space within which food production and service take place,
must be adequate for purchasing, receiving, storing, issuing, producing,
and serving every item on the menu.
 Staffing Needs
As menu becomes more complex, greater demands may be placed upon
the staff.

 Service Requirements
The menu affects the skill levels required for service personnel, along with
equipment, inventory, and facilities needed in the front of the house.

 Sales Income Control Procedures

Elaborate menus require more stringent controls than simple
Menus.

 Sales
Lists the items an operation is offering for sale.

 Advertising
Communicates a property’s food and beverage marketing
Plans.

 Merchandising
Target market expectations - products, service, ambience (theme and
atmosphere), and perceived value.

 Marketing Tool
Strive to meet or exceed the expectations of its target market.

Menu Planning Strategies

Rationalization
Its objective is simplification for the sake of operational efficiency
Example cross-utilization menu items use the same raw ingredients.

- Menu when carefully plan can be a streamlining of the

purchasing, receiving, storing, issuing, production, and
serving control points.

- High-quality convenience foods make it easier to offer new

items without having to buy additional raw ingredients.
IMPORTANT PRICING CONSIDERATION

 The Concept of Value (price relative to quality)

 The Basic Law of Supply and Demand
 Volume Concerns Must be Considered
 Price Charged by the Competition for a similar Product

Evaluating The Menu:

Menu Engineering

Basic Menu Engineering Process:

 Stars - items that are popular profitable
 Plow horses - items that are not profitable but popular
 Puzzles - items that are profitable but no popular
 Dogs - items that are neither profitable nor popular
CONCLUSION

Menus, whether for food and beverage have significant impact on attracting
diners to an eatery. The colour, design and content description all play their
part in persuading diners to enter the premises.The menu becomes the key
selling tool together with service staff that promote profitable dishes and
drinks.The menu aids the creation of a theme or style and promotes
creativity and expressions for both kitchen and service staff.The menu
produces the revenue and with careful management can deliver high
profitability.Provided that other aspects of the meal experience meet
customer expectations the menu can become a talking point long after the
customer has gone.It is of the utmost importance that the menu reflects
accurately and honestly the food and beverage product being sold so that
customer expectation and restaurant delivery match.