How to Increase Customer Satisfaction by Upgrading Menu Attributes

INDEPENENT CRITICAL ANALYSIS PROJECT 1
2019 INDEPENDENT CRITICAL ANALYSIS PROJECT
How can Eggshellent cafe restaurant increase customer satisfaction by upgrading the menu
attributes?
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INDEPENENT CRITICAL ANALYSIS PROJECT 2
Abstract
This report focus on upgrading menu attributes in Eggshellent restaurant. Implementing this will
greatly increase customer satisfaction thus increasing the number of customer turnover in the
café. Thus, menu development and marketing plays a very important part in product
development and is essential as a competitive advantage. Restaurants food menu are designed to
cater for customers’ needs so that they are spoilt of choices and sometimes opt to go two
different dishes at a go just to get the taste of each dish. Customer with special diets are also
offered an opportunity in the restaurant such as vegetarians suffering from gluten intolerance.
The menu interface at the moment offers a different section for their potential clients as a
payback for the support they are offering to the restaurant. Therefore, Eggshellent menu
communicate a number of implicit and explicit messages that are intended to persuade customers
to choose this café over its competitors. Therefore, upgrading the menu even further may
apparently increase customer’s satisfaction due to the signature created by having harmonized
menus. The research method adopted for this study was more theoretical and systematic
approach in order to obtained data to be analyzed. This approach is built up of structures,
strategies, models and segments that work concurrently to achieve the research objectives in a
more scientific and logical manner. Qualitative method was chosen to develop a detailed and in-
depth understanding of some phenomena. The research design included face to face interviews,
audio recordings, issuing semi-structured questionnaires and a literature review to support the
research question. The findings identified the problems that came about as a result of the new
menu which included poor design of menus, lack of dish signature, food quality and pricing.
Finally, recommendation were presented with the aim of reviving the glory of Eggshellent café
restaurant.

INDEPENENT CRITICAL ANALYSIS PROJECT 3
Table of Content
Abstract..........................................................................................................................................1
1.0 Introduction..............................................................................................................................4
2.0 literature review.......................................................................................................................6
2.1 menus and restaurants........................................................................................................................6
2.1.1 Definition of a menu...................................................................................................................6
2.1.3 History of a menu........................................................................................................................7
2.2 Taxonomy of menus..........................................................................................................................9
3.0 Research Methodology..........................................................................................................13
3.1 Research Philosophy......................................................................................................................14
3.1.1 Positivism.................................................................................................................................14
3.1.2 Interpretivism............................................................................................................................14
3.1.3 Realism.....................................................................................................................................14
3.2 Qualitative Approach....................................................................................................................15
3.3 Research Strategy..........................................................................................................................15
3.3.1 Data collection forms................................................................................................................16
3.3.2 Sample plan and size.................................................................................................................16
3.4 Data collection................................................................................................................................16
4.0 Finding. Discussing /Analysis...............................................................................................18
5.0 Recommendation/Implementation.......................................................................................20
7.0 Conclusion..............................................................................................................................21
8.0 References...............................................................................................................................22
Figure 2: Menu format.................................................................................................................................9
Table 1: Suggestions provided by customers.............................................................................................16
Table 2: Major influence while purchasing food in a cafe.........................................................................17
Table 3: Factors of influence on food features..........................................................................................18

INDEPENENT CRITICAL ANALYSIS PROJECT 4
1.0 Introduction
Eggshellent restaurant was introduced into the hospitality industry in 2017, located in Randwick
and well known as an opulence café in the center of the eastern suburb of Sydney. The café
offers casual dining experience with a capacity of 50 seats at a time with a menu price ranging
from $9 - $30 per dish. Eggshellent offers Australian food for breakfast and lunch including the
Italian cuisine for dinner. In 2017, Randwick City Council awarded Eggshellent with a prize for
being the best new business of the year (Randwick City Council, 2017). The restaurant offers an
exciting experience with the most delicious dishes and an all-day menu that incorporates acai
bowl eggs benedit (Randwick City Council, 2017).
Eggshellent main strategy works around continuously upgrading and updating their menu
to provide their customers with the best experience in terms of choices. The main highlights
include Eggshellent fritters, chilli scrambled eggs, bacon and egg roll, super Mario mushroom,
chicken curry, meat ball lovers, beef asado, omelet, veggie brekky and holloumi and wannabe
vegan (Randwick City Council, 2017).
Unlike in the past where menus were written on a blackboard and updated more for the
waiter’s gain than the customers, modern menus play an important role in marketing and are
determinants of a customer’s first impression. For a good menu to be created, it is crucial to
internalize tastes and preferences of customers to meet the customer needs. Antun and Gustafson
(2005) describe menus as the business card of the restaurant. Bahattin & Osman, 2015 describes
it as a “contract with the customer” specifying foods and beverages on sale and as “a marketing
tool for the establishment”. The menu has furthermore been termed the most important
marketing tool for restaurants by Baiomy at al., 2013. It is mainly intended to be inviting to
guests thus drawing their attention to the items being offered, as well as to enable predictions,

INDEPENENT CRITICAL ANALYSIS PROJECT 5
pricing and planning, and to describe a restaurant’s sales history. Menus influence the loyalty of
restaurant customers and can guarantee return visits to a significantly larger percentage than
location, extra services, and service quality. However, in December 2018, Eggshellent got it
wrong when they changed their menu by removing the unpopular dishes and adding new dishes.
The restaurant then increased the price from $1 to $3 per dish. What followed in 2019 January
onwards was heart wrecking, there was a drastic drop in there revenue generation, with food
showing a downward curve throughout the month unlike coffee that dropped in January but later
picked up in early February with a slow drag.
Meaning the demand and price curve were inversely proportional against each other, as
such, it showed that as the price goes higher, the demand for buying and eating in the restaurant
goes down. This clearly shows that the strategy Eggshellent restaurant took up was a flop. The
customers lacked the purchasing power due to low disposable income and wanted value for their

INDEPENENT CRITICAL ANALYSIS PROJECT 6
hard earned money. It was evident at the restaurant that the customers were not happy with the
new menu since there was negative feedback between the customers and employees during
service operations. In addition, the restaurant seemed to be less busy as usual showing lack of
loyalty among their customers.
This paper aims in exploring whether Eggshellent café and restaurant can increase their
customer satisfaction by upgrading their menu attributes. It can use this typology to analyse other
café menus included in 2018 World Best Restaurants with a primary objective of increasing their
customers’ needs which will in turn lead to high turnover for dishes at the restaurant by creating
loyalty with their customers. The paper will answer the following research question: How can
Eggshellent cafe restaurant increase customer satisfaction by upgrading the menu attributes?" the
research emphasizes that in order to be competitive in the already flooded, the organization must
be efficient in its operations and sharing the newly upgraded menu attribute to their potential
customers may extremely be an effective promotional tool for the restaurant.
2.0 literature review
2.1 menus and restaurants
2.1.1 Definition of a menu
Webster’s dictionary describes a menu as “a list of foods that may be ordered (as at a restaurant)
or that may be served (as at a banquet)” (Berstein, Ottenfeld, & Witte, 2008). Jim Heimann,
Steven Heller and John Mariani in their book, Menu Design in Americas explained a menu as a
word that has its origin in the French and Latin languages, and meaning something made small
or minute. In France, it signified a listing of items and is expounded to indicate a resume of items
offered by a service provider (Baiomy, Jones, & Goode, 2017). In short, it is a literal French
translation of the word, as Leonard Fellman stated, “a small detailed list of the foods available to
patrons” (Hu, Liu, & Prasad, 2003).