How do you test and launch new menu items without wasting food or money?

2 Develop your recipes

Once you have some ideas for new menu items, you need to develop your recipes and calculate your food costs. Use ingredients that you already have in stock or that are easy and affordable to source. Experiment with different portions, presentations, and prices until you find the optimal balance between quality, value, and profitability. Keep track of your measurements, ingredients, and costs, and document your recipes in detail. You can use a recipe costing software or a spreadsheet to help you with this task.

3 Test your menu items

Before you launch your new menu items to the public, you need to test them and get some feedback. You can do this in several ways, such as offering samples to your regular customers, hosting a tasting event for a select group of guests, or running a limited-time offer or a special menu. The goal is to collect honest and constructive opinions from your potential customers and see how they respond to your new dishes. You can use surveys, comment cards, or online reviews to gather feedback and measure customer satisfaction.

4 Launch your menu items

After you have tested your menu items and made any necessary adjustments, you are ready to launch them and promote them to a wider audience. You can use various marketing strategies to attract new customers and generate interest in your new dishes, such as social media, email newsletters, flyers, or ads. You can also create some buzz by offering discounts, coupons, or loyalty rewards to your existing customers or by partnering with influencers, bloggers, or local media. The key is to communicate the benefits and value of your new menu items and make them stand out from the competition.

5 Monitor and evaluate your menu items

Once you have launched your new menu items, you need to monitor and evaluate their performance and impact on your business. You can use metrics such as sales volume, profit margin, food cost percentage, inventory turnover, and customer retention to assess how well your new dishes are doing and whether they are meeting your goals and expectations. You can also collect more feedback from your customers and staff and see if there are any issues or areas for improvement. Based on your findings, you can decide whether to keep, modify, or remove your new menu items from your menu.

6 Optimize your menu items

Finally, you need to optimize your menu items and ensure that they are delivering the best results for your business. You can do this by regularly reviewing your menu and making adjustments based on customer demand, seasonality, availability, and profitability. You can also use menu engineering techniques to optimize your menu layout, design, and pricing and influence your customers' choices and spending. By optimizing your menu items, you can increase your sales, reduce your food waste, and improve your customer satisfaction.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?