Menu Development, Planning and Design

This document discusses menu development, planning, and design for the hospitality industry. It covers the principles of menu planning and design, analysis of menus, customer and business requirements, and key performance indicators for menu planning. The case study focuses on E Pellicci, a restaurant cafe in London, UK, and provides a detailed plan for a selected menu.

Menu Development ,Planning
and Design

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
Principles of menu planning and design.....................................................................................3
Analysis of Menus.......................................................................................................................4
Customer and business requirements that influence planning of menu......................................6
Plan for menu and Key Performance Indicators.........................................................................7
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS............................................................................8
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................12

INTRODUCTION
The study deals with menu planning to meet company's objectives and to attract new customers
while retaining the old ones. It reflects how a change in menu can meet customer expectations
who have changing tastes and this can help increase customer segment. The organisation taken
here for case study is E Pellicci in London,UK. The restaurant cafe started in 1900 and serves all
three meals. It has been awarded Grade II status by the English heritage. There is an overview of
different types of menu which are based on principles of menu planning and design. It has been
emphasised how the customer and business expectations both are met by menu planning. Lastly,
a detailed plan of a selected menu is given which can help in achieving KPIs and solutions for
any problems which might occur.
Principles of menu planning and design
Speaking of the menu, Table d'hote menu, the menu is a complete meal which is at a fixed price
although does not have much choice in number of dishes. It needs more time to prepare and
booking needs to be done in advance. The menu has a limited choice within each offering. This
although ensures that there is minimum wastage of food. This reduces excess costs, utilises less
kitchen space and service equipment (Mathews, Patten and Stokes, 2019).
The principles of menu which can be seen here is that it is a complete meal which is
offering the balanced proportion of diet. This diet is generally looked for by people who are
health-conscious. But as the food has limited choices in variety, it can become too frequent for a
regular customer who is looking for change. Change in menu keeps the interest live.
Talking of A la carte Menu, the dishes are priced individually for each course. There are
also a wide choice of dishes for each course. The dishes here are priced separately instead of
collective charge taken like previous menu. They have a long waiting time to prepare and require
booking order in advance.
The menu principle followed here is emphasising on a large number of varieties. It
includes adequate nutrient intake and keeps the menu interesting and appealing. It adds contrast
of various textures, flavours and colours to the menu and appeals to many sections (Mathews,
Patten and Stokes, 2019).

Functional menu involve foods that are served in functions like weddings and parties.
This type of menu comes with little choice as the meals are fixed and is made according to the
number of people ordering. This has to be booking in advance and customer has to be charged at
a price decided.
The principle of menu followed here is that it can create an eye appeal as it is prepared
for a number of guests. It has a combination of colour and texture in its serving style which can
appeal to customers who have joined for get together (Saiki and et.al., 2020).
Talking of A la carte Menu, the dishes are priced individually for each course.
There are also a wide choice of dishes for each course. The dishes here are priced separately
instead of collective charge taken like previous menu. They have a long waiting time to prepare
and require booking order in advance.
The menu principle followed here is emphasising on a large number of varieties. It
includes adequate nutrient intake and keeps the menu interesting and appealing. It adds contrast
of various textures, flavours and colours to the menu and appeals to many sections (Mathews,
Patten and Stokes, 2019).
Functional menu involve foods that are served in functions like weddings and
parties. This type of menu comes with little choice as the meals are fixed and is made according
to the number of people ordering. This has to be booking in advance and customer has to be
charged at a price decided.
The principle of menu followed here is that it can create an eye appeal as it is prepared
for a number of guests. It has a combination of colour and texture in its serving style which can
appeal to customers who have joined for get together (Saiki and et.al., 2020).
Analysis of Menus
Analysing the Table d'hote menu, it can be said that people who like to have a fixed type
of meal which is wholesome will go for this menu. Youngsters who like to experiment with new
tastes won't stick for long. Also, middle-aged people who do not like changes frequently can go
for the menu. There is another factor of time required for food preparation. Generally, the
segment of elder population who have retired can book these meals in advance. The ones who
have a busy lifestyle won't be able to take time out frequently and would not go for the menu.

Talking of business point of view, the menu can be marketed as a wholesome meal. The
menu can also be introduced as one having fixed price being reasonable on customer's pocket. In
one price range customer can get all the benefits of a wholesome meal. This can bring in
customers who are looking for a balanced meal in affordable price range (Saiki and et.al., 2020).
Analysing the A la carte menu, it can be said that individual pricing can help make
customers decision and choice which quantity to be bought and also gives a satisfaction to the
consumer that he is paying for what was ordered. Having a wide variety of choices, it can cater
to people who prefer to have a change in food items. The young population and families would
prefer such menu for outing food. This menu allows choices to make and an individual can
consume as per own wish say, of a family. The only drawback here is that the dishes require a lot
of time to prepare, thus booking of an order has to be done in set time, that is in advance. The
kitchen would thus be occupied for a longer time and orders implemented would be less.
Talking of the business perspective, this menu can be immensely helpful. It will not only
help in appealing to customers but also through word of mouth, people will visit more in
numbers. The marketing slogan can be put as 'Pay what you eat for' can be a catchy one as it
wholly depends on the customer whether to take appetizer, have a full course meal or have a
combo. The customer can also make menu a balanced meal as they are free to order their
requirements. Therefore, this menu can be a multi-purpose.
Analysing the Functional menu, it can be said that it would cater to people who are
planning a get together or a wedding. This is not a regular menu as the name goes. Bookings will
have to be done much prior in advance and it would be for a once purpose. It would not be in a
way that customers would like to go frequently.
Talking of business point of view, menu will be beneficial in season times when
weddings are going on, during vacations etc. The caterers will know what to make and a
repetition of the same will improve their efficiency to take orders more which means more
revenue in season time. Company can use this time for increasing their profitability as people
come in large numbers to dine. The appeal of the menu generally has a eye appeal which would
gather more bookings from word of mouth and referrals.

Customer and business requirements that influence planning of menu
Planning of menu is a decision which involves both customer needs as well as the business
budget. The factors which influence the decision making are:
Customer satisfaction: The business has to be firstly aware of the customer tastes and habits. If
a business can supply the exact product customer is looking for, it will help in building a
customer relationship and increase business through their referrals. Talking of the company, E
Pellicci, it has been in business for over a hundred years ago and this time line has made it aware
of the socio-cultural backgrounds its customers are from and what are their food habits and
preferences. There are a certain section of customers who prefer home food and this segment has
been catered to by the organisation who would like to have things in a nutritious way (Baiomy,
Jones and Goode, 2019). The organisation has variety to offer them preparing dishes by home
used recipes to offer them the same taste with a great appeal. The restaurant has customers of
British as well as Italian base, thus their needs are too incorporated in menu and hence different
cuisines are prepared. Thus , this factor certainly is prominent in deciding the menu.
Business requirement of expansion of customer base: The business while following the
customer demands also makes use of innovation to give an aesthetic look to the product or add
some new distinguished features which while keeping the taste and quality intact make the
product more appealing (Buhalis and Leung, 2018). This is done to gather more customers who
are looking for a change when visiting outside. E Pellicci, has added to the menu dishes like
pasta and a variety of desserts apart from meals. The complementary products can add up to the
business. The ambience added to the restaurant motivates more customers to visit the place. The
restaurant can also give offer and discounts to its customers or give offer to customers on their
first meals which helps make a customer relationship sound. At season times, the restaurant
comes up with special dishes apart from regular which influences a change in menu. This also
helps in getting customer appreciation (Baiomy, Jones and Goode, 2019).
Apart from this, restaurant has features like outdoor seating which brings to mind that
some cuisines go with open air seating. Thus , it can also be one of the factors influencing menu
card which customer would like to have sitting outside. There can be cuisines made which can be

kept fresh if customer is preferring take out. Restaurant also offers special diets for its vegetarian
customers and with gluten free options. These have a place on the menu as well.
Plan for menu and Key Performance Indicators
The A la Carte menu discussed above would be the best suitable for the company as it offers a
variety of options in dishes. The number of dishes offered are in a variety of range from starters,
meal course and appetizers. The other factor which is prominent is that there is no fixed price bar
set up on it. The benefit for customer is that they are able to choose the dishes they would like to
have and giving them a satisfaction of paying appropriately. These things will also help the
business ultimately (Grewal, R. and Sridhar, S., 2021).
The menu can be designed in the same way but changed with cuisines of Italian and
British which are the customer base for the company. The restaurant special menu of vegetarian
dishes can be included in the main course meals. Desserts can be accordingly changed although,
company can do a bit of experimentation here by including french desserts as a new offering to
the customers of which pattern is the menu belonging to. A new product always help raise
customer curiosity to try it and this can increase sales as customers try this segment. Company
has a facility of asking customers what they would like to have apart from the offering. This can
be incorporated in the menu as per suiting the budget and availability of skilled staff to make the
dish (Lai and et.al., 2020).
The KPIs which can be assessed here are growth in revenue, profit margin, inventory
turnover and operational cash flow. With launch of menu with specifications above, restaurant
can increase customer base which will help in increase in sales and thus increase in revenue will
be registered. The growth in revenue will also happen due to launch of new product mentioned
and customers trying it out. This can however decrease the operational cash flow as new product
will require procurement of raw material and labour cost to make the same. This will be an
expense for the company in starting but can increase the revenues if served with appeal and
quality. Inventory turnover can increase initially as restaurant is adding new product but as the
sale rise, number of orders will increase in the form of take out or online ordering. This will help
optimise inventory level by lessening it and using same to complete order and generate sales.

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Thus it can be concluded that a suitable menu which incorporates feedback of customers while
doing study based innovation can help in making the business profitable. The base for the
customers needs getting assessed and offering them the product they require remains intact
though.
It can be recommended that the company can make some changes in aesthetics which
will make look the dish more appealing. The company caters to customers who need home food
but it can also launch a segment which is popular in youth or people who look for an outing to
take a break from home based food. A survey for this aspect can be done online to know the
exact requirements and some dishes can thus be offered within the budget allotted to manage the
operational expenses. A new investment done based on research may add some costs in the
beginning but may add up a new customer following for the future.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Mathews, M., Patten, E. and Stokes, N., 2019. Menu and Nutrition Characteristics of Student-
Operated Restaurants in Dietetics and Hospitality Programs: A Qualitative Study. Journal
of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, 119(10), p.A129.
Saiki, M. and et.al., 2020. Restaurant menu-planning in Japan: A qualitative analysis. Journal of
Foodservice Business Research, pp.1-12.
Baiomy, A.E., Jones, E. and Goode, M.M., 2019. The influence of menu design, menu item
descriptions and menu variety on customer satisfaction. A case study of Egypt. Tourism
and Hospitality Research, 19(2), pp.213-224.
Buhalis, D. and Leung, R., 2018. Smart hospitality—Interconnectivity and interoperability
towards an ecosystem. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 71, pp.41-50.
Konuk, F.A., 2019. The influence of perceived food quality, price fairness, perceived value and
satisfaction on customers’ revisit and word-of-mouth intentions towards organic food
restaurants. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 50, pp.103-110.
Grewal, R. and Sridhar, S., 2021. Commentary: Toward Formalizing Social Influence Structures
in Business-to-Business Customer Journeys. Journal of Marketing, 85(1), pp.98-102.
Lai, H.B.J. and et.al., 2020. A review of approaches to manage menu profitability. International
Journal of Revenue Management, 11(3), pp.151-171.
Rauch, E., Matt, D.T. and Linder, C., 2020. Lean management in hospitality: methods,
applications and future directions. International Journal of Services and Operations
Management, 36(3), pp.303-326.