How do you overcome menu engineering pitfalls?

2 Menu balance

Another challenge of menu engineering is finding the right balance between variety and simplicity, quality and profitability, and customer preferences and business goals. You want to offer enough options to satisfy different tastes and needs, but not too many that overwhelm or confuse your customers. You want to maintain high standards of quality and consistency, but not at the expense of your margins or efficiency. You want to cater to your customers' wants and expectations, but not neglect your brand identity or vision. To overcome this challenge, you need to conduct market research, test your menu items, and monitor your performance indicators. You also need to be flexible and willing to adapt to changing demands and feedback.

3 Menu design

A third challenge of menu engineering is creating a menu that is visually appealing, easy to read, and persuasive. You need to consider the layout, typography, colors, images, and wording of your menu, and how they affect your customers' perception and behavior. You need to use menu psychology techniques such as primacy and recency, decoy effect, anchoring, and framing, to highlight your star items and influence your customers' choices. You also need to avoid common menu design mistakes such as clutter, typos, dollar signs, and too many modifiers. To overcome this challenge, you need to hire a professional menu designer or use a menu engineering software that can help you create a stunning and effective menu.

4 Menu implementation

A final challenge of menu engineering is implementing your menu changes and ensuring that they are communicated and executed well. You need to train your staff on the new menu items, their ingredients, preparation, and presentation, and how to upsell them to your customers. You also need to update your inventory, supply chain, and kitchen operations to accommodate the new menu items. You also need to promote your new menu to your existing and potential customers, using various channels such as social media, email, website, and signage. To overcome this challenge, you need to plan ahead, involve your staff, and monitor your feedback and results.

5 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?