Menu Development, Planning and Design

This report discusses the principles of menu planning and design, identifying customer and business requirements for maximizing profits, producing a realistic plan for developing menu, and testing and evaluating the menu. It also includes a sample menu for Anatolia Grill Restaurant and methods for testing and evaluating the menu. The subject is menu development, planning and design, and the course code and college/university are not mentioned.

Menu development, planning and design

CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION..........................................................................................................1
TASK – A (LO: 1 & LO: 3)............................................................................................1
Principles of menu planning and design...................................................................1
Identifying customer and business requirements for maximizing profits..................2
Producing a realistic plan for developing menu........................................................3
Producing a menu for meeting customer and business requirement.......................4
Testing and evaluating the menu..............................................................................5
TASK – B (LO: 2)..........................................................................................................6
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................6
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FUTURE WORK............................................................6
REFERENCES.............................................................................................................7

INTRODUCTION
Speaking about menu, it is referred as the list of food items along with
beverages with their prices which is provided to the visitors at a restaurant. Planning
of menu is very significant activity within each and every restaurant because it saves
time as well as money of both the customers and owner of the restaurant and helps
in promoting healthy eating options. Further, a menu should be planned by
considering different points in intellect such as obtainability of the ingredients, type of
people to be served, accessibility to the market, availability of cook and so forth
(Marshall, Mcvety and Ware, 2014). Considering this, the main aim of the current
research report is to plan and design menu for a food & beverage outlet. For this
purpose, Anatolia Grill Restaurant situated in Stourbridge, UK is being selected. The
report will going to explain the principles related to menu planning for meeting the
requirements of both business and customers and will analyse and produce a
realistic menu for maximizing the profitability of the business.
TASK – A (LO: 1 & LO: 3)
Principles of menu planning and design
According to Ducrot (2017), Menu planning as well as design is being
regarded as the most crucial element within a restaurant as it supports in saving time
and money. Additionally, it also offers different kinds of food and beverage choices to
the customers. There are varied principles related to designing and planning of menu
which needs to be considered by Anatolia Grill Restaurant and are being explained
underneath:
 Balance – At the time of planning a menu, it is vital that the restaurant should
consider in intellect different dishes, nutrition and flavours and balance them
together. All the items of food should be balanced based on the low as well as
high fat.
 Variety – In addition to this, the menu should also provide assortment of food
items to the visitors so that they can select from that and their choice does not
remain limited to particular dishes. Further, the dishes need to be dependent
on the main course which are served by the organization (Ahn and et.al.,
2018).
 Simple format – It is also important to note that all the dishes mentioned in the
menu should be stated in simple and clear way devoid of any confusion. It
should not be flowery and over covered.
 Sequence of dish – Anatolia Grill Restaurant is required to mention their food
items first in the menu which are lighter and then they need to add the richer
ones in their menu.
Furthermore, as per Kallel, Kanoun and Dhouib (2022), menus can be tested
through making use of questionnaires which are being provided to the clients to have
an overview of the manner of successfulness of the menu and the areas which
needs to be revised and enhanced. The above defined principles will also help in
meeting out the needs of both clients and business. Moreover, there are varied types
1

of menus which are provided at restaurants on the basis of their business and these
are as follows:
 À la carte – This is being defined as the menu which offers different choices to
the customers to order individual items in a restaurant. The menu also
includes list of all the dishes prepared by the restaurant with their individual
price. Currently, Anatolia Grill Restaurant is offering à la carte to its clienteles
(Mcvety, Ware and Ware, 2009).
 Table D’hôte – Again this is defined as that menu in which few choices are
provided to the clients related to multi-course meals at fixed prices.
Constraints of menu planning
Some of the constraints of menu planning are skill shortage, design facility,
target market, availability of equipment and many more. Important among them are
as follows:
 Obtainability of elements – each and every dish is prepared using different
ingredients and there might be time when elements of some dishes might not
be obtainable in the market and this can be an important constraint in
designing and planning a menu.
 Type of Target Market – There are different target markets and they have
their own taste and preferences. At the time of developing menu these factors
should be considered significantly (Traster, 2014).
Identifying customer and business requirements for maximizing profits
Customers and the business have varied needs which needs to be fulfilled by
Anatolia Grill Restaurant for attaining higher number of profits. Some of the
requirements of both business and customers are as follows:
Requirement of the customers
 Current trends impacting menu choices – It is quite essential for the company
to carry out thorough analysis of the market for the purpose of identifying the
current trends. With this identification, restaurant will be able to develop their
menu easily and will also going to attract more customers. For instance, In UK
more and more people are becoming health conscious and becoming vegan
and thus, this should be considered while developing menu (Schirmbeck,
2019).
 Taste and preferences – The Anatolia Grill Restaurant is also required to
consider the taste and preferences of the people for augmenting the sales.
There are different needs of different customers such as some desire to have
fat free food, some needs completely gluten free and vegan etc. If these
needs are met then it will help the firm in creating strong image in the market
(Brown, 2017).
 Target market – The target market of the restaurant specifically includes
travellers and the workers working in different organizations. They also expect
their food items to be fat free and sober. Furthermore, they should include that
dishes in the menu that can be prepared within short period of time.
2

Requirement of the business
 Experienced staff – For the purpose of maximizing the profits of the
restaurant, it is important that they should hire experienced and skilful staff
who can lead the organization to the path of success with their capabilities.
 Conducting training – The Restaurant is also required to offer training to their
workers with a view to augment their skill level so that they can prepare good
dishes and provide extra-ordinary services to the customers.
 Equipment and facilities – In addition to this, the restaurant is also required to
make sure that their employees, chef, helpers and other members of the
organization are equipped with effective equipment so that activities can be
carried out effectively. Additionally, all the equipment must be synchronized
with the latest trends of the market (Jones and Mifll, 2015).
 Meeting current legislation – It is also equally crucial to take into consideration
every single legislation stated by the government regarding health and safety,
requirements of hygiene, considerations related to diet and so on. Seeking
help from this, restaurant will be able to make sure safety as well as health of
their clients. According to Roberto and Khandpur (2014), All this will help in
increasing the brand image and goodwill and in turn profitability.
Producing a realistic plan for developing menu
At the time of developing a new menu for the Anatolia Grill Restaurant, there
are varied kinds of factors which needs to be considered for meeting out the needs
of both the business and customers effectively. Seeking help from this, the
restaurant will be able to achieve higher level of profits significantly. Some of the
factors that needs to be taken into account for producing a realistic plan are as
follows:
 Legal requirements – It is important for each and every restaurant to set their
activities of business and all the functions as per the prescribed rules and
regulations by the respective government (Hernández-Ocaña, 2018). Legal
requirements concerning to health and safety, requirements of hygiene,
considerations related to diet and so on. Seeking help from this, restaurant
will be able to make sure safety as well as health of their clients. All this will
help in increasing the brand image and goodwill and in turn profitability
 Menu balance, creativity and imagination – Furthermore, it is also significant
that the restaurant should always develop and design their menu in such a
manner that helps in attracting more and more customers. A good menu with
attractive dishes entices each and every individual. In relation with the current
case restaurant, it is significant that should make use of attractive images of
dishes and food items, appealing name of food with captivating font style and
good use of colours and combination. With this, the customers will more likely
to visit the restaurant and in turn help in augmenting the overall sales and
profitability of the concern. Such restaurants can also make their customers
highly contended with their services and quality food.
3

 Menu as per diverse functions – Other than this, the restaurant should also
make good efforts to create varied menu as per the varied functions. For
instance, a restaurant should plan different menu for breakfast, lunch, high
tea, brunch, every day, special day, dinner, conference and party (Ioppolo,
2016). This will help in gaining more footfalls as people will get their desired
menu for different function at one place. Thus, in relation with Anatolia Grill
Restaurant, they should focus on developing every day, normal day,
conference, wedding and fine dine menu.
 Taste and preferences of the customers – Menu should also be developed as
per the taste and preferences of the target market. For instance, most of the
people in UK are opting for vegan and gluten free dishes along with food
items which are free from fat. So, restaurant should inculcate this thing while
designing and producing a menu.
 Seasonal foot items – Another important factors that should be taken care at
the time of producing a menu is making use of seasonal or local food
elements in preparing any dish. This is due to the fact that local people always
relish and love to eat food items they are grown and found in their local
environment (Bernstein, Ottenfeld and Witte, 2018).
Producing a menu for meeting customer and business requirement
4

With the evaluation of the above menu it is clear that the nutritional balance is
good of the menu because this menu involves all the vegan dishes. Thus this makes
the menu more attractive and this will increase the working of Anatolia Grill
Restaurant in better and effective way. Along with this the design of the menu is also
good and as a result of this it will attract the consumers and this will also increase
interest of other people as well to come to the restaurant and have a leisure time.
Also there is a proper blend of starter, dessert and main course. Hence, this will
definitely satisfy the need of any kind of person coming the restaurant.
Testing and evaluating the menu
The menu being developed above can easily be tested and analysed by the
owner of Anatolia Grill Restaurant through adopting different methods. Explanation
of all these methods is being elaborated underneath:
For the effective testing of the menu being prepared the use of menu
engineering matrix is being used. This is a matrix which has four different quadrant
based on profitability and popularity of the dish. Hence, it is necessary for Anatolia
Grill Restaurant to effectively test the new menu being developed on basis of this,
menu engineering. The four quadrant of this model involves dog, puzzle, plow horse
and star. All these four element have their own level of popularity and profitability.
With respect to the current restaurant that is Anatolia Grill Restaurant the menu
engineering is as follows-
 Dog- this is the category in which both the popularity and profit is low and in
accordance to it the Carrot Cake is the one which falls in this category.
 Star- the star is the one wherein both profit and profitability is high and this
involves the dish Legend veggie burger.
 Puzzle- this is the category wherein the popularity is low and profit is high and
in accordance to it American Veggie burger falls in this category.
 Plow horse- this category involves the popularity high and low profit and in
accordance to the menu Sweet chili Totu sizzler and Plain Nachos is the one
which comes in this category.
Further for the evaluation of the menu there are different methods and strategies
which can be used by Anatolia Grill Restaurant and these are as follows-
 Online reviews – Reviews being posted by the people on online websites
should be checked and analysed effectively. Further, it is important to check
which food item or table has generated highest revenue (Davis, 2013).
 Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) – Key Performance Indicators are being
referred as an important approach which is being utilized by the organization
for measuring the performance of the business in which they are involved. In
relation with the Anatolia Grill Restaurant, development of KPI will support
them in understanding the percentage increase in the amount of sales by
producing a new menu.
 Feedback recording and evaluation system – It is important on the part of
restaurant to develop such system which helps in getting feedbacks from the
customers and analysing their opinions and thoughts in relation with the new
5

menu so that it can be further improved. This system will support the
restaurant in comprehending the requirements of the customers effectively.
 Benchmarks – Another significant method of testing and analysing the menu
is benchmarking. It involves setting specific standard by the restaurant and
then meeting out the same in a particular period of time. For instance, a sales
figure is being estimated by the organization which they desire to achieve
from the new menu in a specified time period (Drysdale and Galipeau, 2018).
 Updating menus – As per the feedback being received from the customers,
the restaurant should update their menu. Accordingly, the design and food
items of the menu should be altered and modified. Suggestions of the
customers plays a major role in the development of business as it is the
customers on which the whole business is based upon. If their demands are
fulfilled, the restaurant will be able to fulfil their objectives.
 Engaging customers – Furthermore, the restaurant can also engage their
customers through making use of online social media platforms such as
Facebook and Instagram for keeping them updated in regards with the new
dishes and food items being added by them. It will help in gaining loyalty from
the customers and will develop relationship between restaurant and the
potential customers. Moreover, this association will support in determining
recent trends as well as their views regarding new menu (Schaefer, 2011).
TASK – B (LO: 2)
Covered in PowerPoint presentation
CONCLUSION
Thus, from the above report it can be concluded that planning of menu is
considered as the most important element for a restaurant or any cafe. For effective
management of menu different factors needs to be taken into account such as
expectation as well as preferences of the clients, abilities of the employees and so
forth. In addition to this, it has been also suggested that skills along with the
resources which are present with the firm needs to be used in their maximum
capability for the purpose of making sure higher profitability and performance to the
organization. The quality of products and services being offered by the restaurant
also helps in satisfying the needs of the customers.
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FUTURE WORK
From the evaluation it can be stated that the above work has been successful
enough in designing a menu for the restaurant. Moreover, the menu being set is quite good,
but there are some areas which needs to be focused in the future research work that is
existing products being offered by the restaurant should be upgraded with the latest trend in
the market and unique concept should be presented with individual choices, customer
preference research and so forth imbibed in it also areas of improvements.
6

REFERENCES
Books and journals
Ahn, Y. and et.al., 2018. Development of a Food Exchange Table and Food Pattern
for Nutritionally Balanced Menu Planning. Korean Journal of Community
Nutrition, 23(5), pp.411-423.
Bernstein, D., Ottenfeld, M. and Witte, C.L., 2018. A study of consumer attitudes
regarding variability of menu offerings in the context of an upscale seafood
restaurant. Journal of Foodservice Business Research, 11(4), pp.398-411.
Brown, D.R., 2017. The Restaurant Manager's Handbook: How to Set Up, Operate,
and Manage a Financially Successful Food Service Operation. Florida: Atlantic
Publishing Company.
Davis, B., 2013. Food and Beverage Management. Oxford: Routledge.
Drysdale, J.A. and Galipeau, J.A., 2018. Profitable Menu Planning. London: Pearson
Prentice
Hernández-Ocaña, B., 2018. Bacterial foraging optimization algorithm for menu
planning. IEEE Access, 6, pp.8619-8629.
Jones, P. and Mifll, M., 2015. Menu development and analysis in UK restaurant
chains. Tourism and Hospitality Research, 3(1), pp.61-71.
Marshall, S., Mcvety, P. and Ware, B., 2014. The Menu and The Cycle of Cost
Control. 5thed. Dubuque: Kendal Hunt.
Mcvety, P., Ware, B. and Ware, C., 2009. Fundamentals of Menu Planning. 3rd ed.
Chichester: John Wiley & Sons.
Schaefer, J., 2011. Serving People with Food Allergies and Menu Creation. Boca
Raton: CRC Press.
Schirmbeck, E., 2019. Restaurants, architecture and ambience. Germany:
Architectural Book Pub. Co.
Traster, D., 2014. Foundations of Menu Planning. Harlow: Pearson.
Kallel, D., Kanoun, I. and Dhouib, D., 2022. The Menu Planning Problem: A
Systematic Literature Review. Springer.
Ducrot, P., 2017. Meal planning is associated with food variety, diet quality and body
weight status in a large sample of French adults. Int. J. Behav. Nutrit. Phys.
Act. 14(1). pp.1–12.
Roberto, C. and Khandpur N., 2014. Improving the Design of Nutrition Labels to
Promote Healthier Food Choices and Reasonable Portion Sizes. International
Journal of Obesity. 38. pp.25–33.
7