THE MENU

Foodservice Management: Principles and Practices

By June Payne Palacio and Monica Theis
What is Menu?

 Menu is a single most influential plan in Foodservice Operation

 Key concept: Menu is a single most impactful management tool in a Foodservice Industry
 For Foodservice Manager: Menu  Plan to each business unit and make sure the menu meet the
standards of quality when it served.
Type of Menu

 Static Menu: A set menu with the same offerings every day
 Single-use Menu: planned for a specific event and typically used once
 Cycle Menu: a carefully planned set of menu that rotated at definite time intervals
Type of Menu (pricing methode)

 The à la carte menu: food items are priced separately. This type of menu allows the patron
to select only the foods wanted.
 The table d’hôte menu: offers a complete meal at a fixed price
 The du jour: the menu of the day.
Type of Menu (extent of selection)

 (Full) Selective menu: two or more food choices in each menu category
 Semi selective menu: one or more food choices in at least one menu category
 Non-selective menu: only one item per menu category
Menu Plan and Menu Patterns

 Menu Plan: The number of dining options offered within a specific time period
 Menu Patterns: An outline of food to be included in each meal and the extent of choice
at each meal
Menu Planning Process

 begins the process with thoughtful reflection on the purpose of the menu planning
process, clear objectives that reflect desired outcomes
 Consider the external and internal factors
 External factor incl. Political, economic, and social trend and issues
 Internal factor incl. organizational mission, customer, inputs, and operations
Internal factor (organizational mission)

 the menus must reflect the organization’s stated purpose as defined in the mission
statement. This can sometimes present a challenge for the menu planner, especially
when there is a conflict between what customers want and the mission of the
organization.. This conflict can be further aggravated if the foodservice is required to
 Whatever the facility-specific goals, all foodservices strive to offer menus that meet the
quality expectations of the customers (Variety and Familiarity)
Internal factor (customer)

 Demographics
 Socio-cultural influences
 Nutritional requirement
 Dietary reference intakes
 Food consumption, trends, habits, and preferences
Internal factor (input)

 Budget  Guidelines
 Personnel
Internal factor (operation)

 Production and Services Capabilities

 Equipment and physical facilities
 Purchasing and availability of the food
 Style of services
Menu Development

 Menu planning should be ongoing, current, and flexible enough to respond to changing
conditions  Menu development

 Consideration:
 When: timetable for planning, d!evelopment, and implementation
 How: need step for development
 What: Food characteristics and combinations ( colour, texture, consistency, shape, flavour,
variety
 Menu evaluation!
 Writing Menu (Menu documents
The Posted Menu

 Application of menu design principles for the posted menu maximizes its value as a
marketing and education tool  design the menu
 Menu design and format need descriptive wording and truth in menu legislation
Menu Engineering

 Why Menu Engineering important?

Help making decision to get more profit regarding menu based on data and facts
 Three step process of Menu Engineering
 Gather the Data
 Process the Data
 Analyze Data
Example of
Menu Engineering
Worksheet

Popularity: (Item number sold/ total

number sold)