How can you use menu engineering to highlight sustainable ingredients?

1 What is sustainability in food and beverage operations?

Sustainability in food and beverage operations means minimizing the environmental and social impacts of your sourcing, production, and service processes. This can include reducing food waste, energy consumption, and water usage, as well as choosing local, organic, fair trade, and seasonal ingredients. By adopting sustainable practices, you can not only lower your costs and improve your efficiency, but also appeal to customers who value environmental and social responsibility.

2 How to identify sustainable ingredients for your menu?

When using menu engineering to highlight sustainable ingredients, the first step is to identify which ingredients are sustainable and which are not. Various criteria can be used to evaluate sustainability, such as origin, production method, transportation, packaging, and certification. For instance, you can look for ingredients that are locally grown or produced to reduce the carbon footprint and support the local economy; organic to avoid synthetic pesticides, fertilizers, and hormones; fair trade to guarantee fair prices and working conditions; seasonal to reduce the need for artificial preservation and storage; or certified by organizations like the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), the Rainforest Alliance, or the Global Animal Partnership (GAP).

4 How to use menu engineering to design your menu layout?

The third step to use menu engineering to highlight sustainable ingredients is to design your menu layout. To draw attention to dishes featuring sustainable ingredients, you can position them in strategic spots on the menu, such as the top right corner, the center, or the first and last items in a section. Additionally, you can use visual cues like icons, logos, colors, fonts, or images to indicate the sustainability of your ingredients or dishes. Descriptive language like adjectives, narratives, or stories can emphasize the quality, origin, or benefits of your sustainable ingredients or dishes. Moreover, price anchoring such as placing a high-priced dish next to a lower-priced dish can make the lower-priced dish seem more affordable and attractive. Lastly, price formatting such as removing the dollar sign or decimal point can reduce the perceived cost and increase the perceived value of your dishes.

5 How to use menu engineering to test and improve your menu performance?

The final step to use menu engineering to highlight sustainable ingredients is to measure and evaluate the impact on your sales, costs, and customer satisfaction. You can track your sales data before and after the menu engineering, conduct customer surveys to collect information on preferences, and perform menu audits or reviews. Ultimately, using menu engineering to highlight sustainable ingredients can help increase profitability and popularity, while showcasing your brand identity, differentiating yourself from competitors, and building loyalty and trust with customers.

6 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?