Menu mix is the percentage of sales that each menu item contributes to your total revenue. It helps you measure the popularity and profitability of your dishes and optimize your menu for customer satisfaction and food cost management. In this article, you will learn how to calculate your menu mix and how to adjust it based on customer preferences and feedback.
Menu mix is a simple formula that tells you how much each menu item contributes to your total sales. It is calculated by dividing the sales of each item by the total sales of all items. For example, if you sell 100 burgers and 50 salads in a day, and your total sales are $1,000, your menu mix for burgers is 100 / 1000 = 0.1 or 10%, and your menu mix for salads is 50 / 1000 = 0.05 or 5%. Menu mix helps you identify your best-selling and most profitable items, as well as your low-performing and high-cost items.
Menu mix is important because it helps you optimize your menu for customer satisfaction and food cost management. By analyzing your menu mix, you can see which items are popular and profitable, and which ones are not. You can then make informed decisions about pricing, portioning, promotion, and placement of your menu items. For example, you can increase the price or reduce the portion of your high-demand and low-cost items, or you can promote or relocate your low-demand and high-cost items to increase their sales.
To calculate your menu mix, you need to track the sales and food cost of each menu item over a period of time, such as a week or a month. This can be done using a spreadsheet or software tool. Then, to calculate your menu mix, you should add up the sales of each item to get the total sales of all items. Next, divide the sales of each item by the total sales of all items to get the menu mix percentage for each item. Then, divide the food cost of each item by its sales to get the food cost percentage for each item. Subtract the food cost percentage from 100% to get the contribution margin for each item. Finally, multiply the menu mix percentage by the contribution margin of each item to get the weighted contribution margin for each item.
Once you have calculated your menu mix, you can use a menu matrix to analyze the performance of your menu items. This graph plots the menu mix percentage and the contribution margin of each item on a four-quadrant grid. Stars are high-demand and high-profit items, with a high menu mix percentage and a high contribution margin. Plowhorses are high-demand, yet low-profit items, with a high menu mix percentage and a low contribution margin. Puzzles are low-demand but high-profit items, with a low menu mix percentage and a high contribution margin. Dogs are low-demand and low-profit items, with both a low menu mix percentage and a low contribution margin. You should consider increasing the price or reducing the portion of plowhorses to improve their profitability, promoting or relocating puzzles to increase their sales, and removing or replacing dogs with more profitable items.
To adjust your menu mix in accordance with customer preferences and feedback, you must collect and analyze data from surveys, reviews, comments, ratings, loyalty programs, and social media. This data can be used to identify trends, preferences, and expectations of customers, as well as their satisfaction or dissatisfaction with menu items. By making changes to your menu that will appeal to your target market, you can increase sales and profits. For example, you could add or remove items depending on customer demand and feedback; alter ingredients, flavors, or presentation; offer seasonal or limited-time items; create bundles or combos; or test prices, portions, promotions, and placements of your items.
As far as customer reviews and basing it on that as such You can do that as long as you are getting all a aspects of customer feedback. I remember when I was head chef at an assisted living facility and I started making them eggs Benedict every Sunday, different variations aside, they got it every Sunday morning. For 3 months would, tell me everything's fine, they love it. Finally one day they told me that they didn't want fancy food that they wanted more simple food. So they got biscuits and gravy on Sundays. My point being is you're not always going to have the right information or the complete information and you have to wing it talk to your guests talk to your customers know your demographic.
Understanding the demographic, sexing it up, tracking numbers and adjusting as necessary. What I’ve found helpful is understanding that opinions and preferences are purely subjective. Knowledge and ability says I could produce technical and aesthetic PERFECTION by the standards of the best in the world. Wisdom is knowing whether or not it will be sold and loved where I’m at.