Menu Planning and Product Development Report - Bella Italia Analysis

This report examines the principles of menu planning and product development within the context of the Bella Italia restaurant chain. It begins by discussing recipe development, considering creativity, cookery style, and product consistency. The report then assesses factors influencing menu planning...Read More

Menu planning and
Product Development

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
TASK A (Written Report)...............................................................................................................4
1.1 Discuss the principles of recipe development.......................................................................4
1.2 Assess factors that influence menu planning decisions........................................................4
1.3 Discuss factors that influence service methods.....................................................................5
2.1 Discuss the stages of menu product development planning..................................................6
2.2 Evaluate influences on the development process..................................................................7
TASK B ( Presentation)...................................................................................................................7
3.1 Justify a menu design to reflect the menu compilation and recipe development..................7
3.2 Justify the development of the food service environment to support the menu, recipe and
service style.................................................................................................................................8
4.1 Research customer requirements for a new food concept.....................................................9
4.2 Justify choice of new food concept.......................................................................................9
4.3 Justify recommendations on the launch/implementation of new food concept..................10
4.4 Review own performance in relation to developing and implementing new food concepts.
...................................................................................................................................................10
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................10

INTRODUCTION
Menu planning refers to a process where staff or chef of a restaurant decide and choose
about what has to kept for each meal. It can include a variety of dishes namely main course, side
dishes and desserts as well. Regularly changing the menu or scheduling any sort of variations can
be a lot complicated and also affect menu planning (Bégin and et. al., 2014). This report has
been based on a UK based restaurant chain named Bella Italia. This restaurant was initially
known as Bella pasta and is known for its authentic taste in Italian dishes. It happens to be part of
casual dining groups. This report focusses on developing a menu along with various factors
which have an impact on methods of service. Also this report considers various needs and
requirements of customers along with measuring performance so as to achieve effectiveness in
implementing new food concepts.
TASK A (Written Report)
1.1 Discuss the principles of recipe development
As per the concept of recipe development it is quite important that chef of each and every
restaurant to keep their focus on their recipes . It will further be beneficial in bringing any sort of
modifications either as per requirements of customers or as per any recent trends as well. In
Bella Italia there are a number of policies or principles that are developed. These principles have
further been stated as under:
Creativity: Creativity is an important concept which helps in developing a customer
oriented recipe . People today have different tastes and also wish to keep their focus on health
oriented food as well. This has become an integral part of Bella Italia.
Cookery style: Cookery style basically refers to a way which is adopted by restaurants for
preparing a certain meal. For example, for preparing cakes baking techniques are used by chefs
(Daoust, 2017). Similarly in present context chefs of Bella Italia use baking as well as low flame
cooking and sauteing techniques for preparing dishes.

Consistency of product : Consistency refers to maintaining a stable taste and quality of a
dish. In present scenario chefs of Bella Italia maintain their authenticity and flavors by infusing
hand crushed and freshly ground spices in them.
1.2 Assess factors that influence menu planning decisions.
Menu planning refers to a process in which managers and chefs of restaurant design a
menu in an effective way so as to attract and influence customers . It is a quite complex and time
consuming process where effective planning is required as it also affects brand image of a
restaurant. Menu should always be planned in such a way that it fulfills each and every
requirement of customers and also provides steady profits to restaurants as well. There are a
number of factors that need to be considered such as budget quantity time available etc. Various
factors that affect or influence planning decisions are stated as under:
Age groups: Nutrition needs of each and every age group is different from another. So it
is important for chefs of restaurants to have a special or customized menu for people of different
age groups.
Ambiance: Ambience refers to overall atmosphere of a place. It happens to be the first
thing that attracts or influences customer base of a restaurant (Davison, Lawson and Coatsworth,
2012). Menu should be designed in such a way that it is attractive and colorful. It can involve a
number of factors such as designs, shapes, textures etc.
Time factor: Time factor is calculated by amount of time that is required in preparing a
dish. If any dish will take extra time in preparation then it is important that time should further be
managed in accordance with it.
Budget: Budget is an estimate of cost that will be incurred while preparation of a dish. In
this context chefs of Bella Italia need to set a budget for their daily expenses so that no extra
money or funds are wasted.
Service: Service is an important factor which needs to be considered by planning the
menu. It happens to be an important factor that helps in gaining satisfaction from customer's end
and also enhances overall customer base of a restaurant.
1.3 Discuss factors that influence service methods
Menu planning is the initial step of restaurant which infuses servicing to customers after
the food is prepared (Din, Zahari and Shariff, 2017). It is quite necessary that customers are

served in an effective manner and they do not face any issues or difficulties. Various types of
services that are provided by Bella Italia to its customers are stated as under:
 Buffet or Self Service : Buffet or self service meal refers to a special or personalised type
of meal that is hand-picked and chosen by customers themselves from a variety of
dishes. In this type of meal food is generally presented on a table from where customers
or guests can access it quite quickly (Eldredge and et. al,. 2016). At Bella Italia buffet
system is generally present in day time during unlimited meals and for choice of salads
and soups as well.
Advantage Disadvantage
 It requires comparatively less labour,
space and tableware required. Also
efforts required in this are quite lower
as compared to table serving.
 This is a quite effective method in
context of time as well as cost.
 One major disadvantage in this part is
that a lot of wastage happens and cost
of plates and cutlery also increases in
this method.
 Temperature and appearance of food is
difficult to be maintained in the line of
buffet.
 Table Service : Table service refers to another method of serving food . In this method
customers sit on their seats and order from the menu whatever they wish to consume .
Waiter bring the food and serve customers. All they have to do is just simply sit and
enjoy their meals.
Advantage Disadvantage
 Customers get ample of quality time to
spends with their friends and family.
 Food is served by nice staff in most
cases and good choice of food from the
menu (Eldredge, and et. al., 2016).
 Food may be cold when served.
 Food may take long time to served and
also long time to be seated on one
place.

 Counter service : It is a type of strategy or process that is basically used in bars, pubs and
restaurants. In this food is served at a counter rather than tables. In this customers
generally pick their food from counters and leave after that.
Advantage Disadvantage
 One major advantage of this method is
that it allows the guest to visualise food
before they decide.
 Also there are ample of chances to
make additions before it is served.
 It is a quite time consuming process.
 Space required for moving carts.
2.1 Discuss the stages of menu product development planning.
Menu planing or product development refers to a process which is understood as a list of
articles or food items which are infused in a menu for selling purpose. Various steps that are are
infused in menu planning or product development have been stated as under:
Types of Customers: First step in menu planning process is to find out the types of
customers. All these customers can either be differentiated based on gender age group religion
and so on (Hernández-Ocaña and et. al., 2018). Also spending power and needs of customers
needs to be assessed in this concern.
Season of Availability: Availability season refers to a time period when any particular
food item will be made available in market. For example things made from mangoes cannot be
manufactured in winters.
Cost of The Menu: It is the most significant factor that affects decisions regarding menu.
Also managers of Bella Italia need to set selling price and accordingly keep dishes in their menu.
It should never affect pockets of customers.
Capability of Kitchen and Service staff: Another important factor in this context is
examining ability of staff members and chefs of a restaurant. Also the presentation and taste of
dishes needs to be studied in this process.
2.2 Evaluate influences on the development process
Menu planing is a quite important concept that helps in enhancing and improving sales as
well as profits of a restaurant or any other business concern that operates in both food as well as

beverages sector. Managers of such business concerns need to carefully evaluate and focus on
certain key elements such as customer preferences, costs, raw materials, unique identity of
business etc (Hodges, 2017). All these factors are quite important and help in enhancing the
overall process of developing menus. For undertaking this managers of Bella Italia will have to
further examine various concepts.
The various aspects or concepts that managers need to evaluate are sales volume of
business which further explains ore defines the overall development process. Other than this
various factors that infused in menu development are gap between expected as well as actual
sales volume which further plays a quite significant role in analyzing selling price strategies.
Skills and expertise of workers or chefs are also considered in this (Howell, 2013). Managers can
even measure feasibility regarding ideas, for this idea screening can also be done. This will be
quite helpful in comparing between both forecasted as well as actual quantities sold.
TASK B ( Presentation)
3.1 Justify a menu design to reflect the menu compilation and recipe development.
Menu design is a quite complex and lengthy process which further infuses a number of
steps. For designing a specialized and authentic menu various factors are needed to kept in mind
such as lingual basis ( everything should be mentioned related to Italian dishes), attractive food
pictures which have been originally clicked by chefs before presenting them, theme and
ambience of the restaurant. All these factors have a quite significant impact on development of
an attractive and effective menu so as to maintain a stable customer base along with maintaining
authenticity of taste. In context of Bella Italia chefs will need to modify their menu and recipe
development. Various such factors have been stated as under:
Terminology: Chefs and managers at Bella Italia have use certain specific key terms for
their dishes which attracts and influences their customers by great deal. Also it stumps or
develpos a feeling of fondness in newly visiting customers.
Pictures: Bella Italia is a quite attractive and hygienic restaurant with pictures of freshly
prepared dishes all around. Also they have a specialized photo booth with attractive slogans for
their customers.
Language: Language happens to be a major barrier in almost all areas. As Bella Italia is
a UK based restaurant chain so they choose to keep their official language English which makes

it easier to communicate with customers. Also it helps in maintaining a friendly environment all
around.
Color: Bella Italia has chosen a light turquoise and off white shade for its furniture and
ambience. Both these colors quite reflect their restaurant design and cuisine.
Design styles: A simple sober and authentic furniture has been designed at Bella Italia.
Also they use a soft color and texture for their menu and cutlery as well.
3.2 Justify the development of the food service environment to support the menu, recipe and
service style.
Ambience: Ambience is a broad key term which defines overall atmosphere of a place at
any given point of time. At Bella Italia the ambience is quite soft and subtle and they always
have some excellent quality of young and fresh music playing. Also they have specialised seats
designed for kids as well.
Theme relationships: Theme relationship generally refers to a concept that brings two or
more cuisines or themes together and combines it into one. In context of Bella Italia chefs have
further fussioned or combined Italian cuisine with sea food such as prawns, squids etc. Also they
have a small beer bar set for their customers who enjoy lively parties.
Meal experience: For examining customer's satisfaction and meal experience visitors are
made to fill in their experience in guest memories board at Bella Italia. Also chefs of Bella Italia
have been specially trained from 5 star Michelin restaurants.
Staff uniform: Bella Italia has been rewarded as best restaurant chain for its its ambience
and cleanliness. Staff and chefs of Bella Italia are quite well trained about how to treat
customers. Also they need to adhere to their code of conduct and always wear a uniform. Their
uniform is also a Turquoise shade suit.
4.1 Research customer requirements for a new food concept.
Chefs at Bella Italia wish to launch a new variation or concept in food. For this they will
first have to do a market research so as to analyze demands of customers and well as market
trends. This will further help them in understanding what all concepts or food choices will be
preferred by customers. Customers or people of UK are quite lively and love to enjoy their lives
to the fullest. People nowadays generally prefer authentic taste along with fusion among two or
more cuisines whereas some people may like health oriented food such as salads, sprouts, fruits
etc. Nowadays people of UK re expecting another concept of fusion food which includes

mixture of salad dressings and soups in breads. Hence seeing all these trends Bella Italia has also
chosen fusion as its concept which is to be brought in their menu.
Choosing fusion as their new food concept will be helpful for overall productivity as
well as profitability of Bella Italia. Before this dish is added in the menu it will be marketed in
competitive markets. For this managers of restaurants can adopt various platforms such as online
modes, digital marketing, printing in books and magazines etc. This will further help in raising
profits of the restaurants.
4.2 Justify choice of new food concept
After examining needs of customers in UK, managers of Bella Italia have chosen a fusion
dish named as Baked Tortillas with Spaghetti cooked in mushroom and garlic sauce. It is a
fusion dish as Spaghetti is a Thai cuisine dish and Tortillas are a part of Mexican cuisine.
Mangers at this restaurant expect this dish to be highly liked by people of UK as they are always
open to any new innovations. This will further be helpful in raising customer base as well as
profitability of the restaurant. This new dish is advertised to target customers in order to attract
more number of customers.
In context of promoting or advertising the dish it is possible by a variety of means such as
online platforms, digital media, social media, websites of restaurants etc. Also managers of
restaurant need to keep a continuous check whether they are maintaining nutrition and taste as
per standards or not. Customers of UK are quite health conscious hence Bella Italia chooses to
provide healthy and nutritional value based food. If in any case dish does not earn specified
profits then this dish will further be stopped from serving any further. For this managers will
have to further conduct a survey and fetch feedback from its customers. This will provide a clear
idea as to whether the dish is apt for the menu or not.
4.3 Justify recommendations on the launch/implementation of new food concept
In present context while Bella Italia is adopting a new concept of food it has been
recommended that restaurant should further focus on their backup plans so that if this dish does
not work it does not have a major effect on market image of the restaurant. Also they can further
minimize their risk factor by maintaining authenticity of taste and flavors. This will further help
in strengthening market position of the restaurant. This will further help in taking advantage
from market opportunities and further help in future development and growth as well.

All these strategies and techniques need to further be assessed so that ensure their future
growth and profitability. This will also help in maintaining healthy relationships with their
customers as well. Chefs of this restaurants can modify flavors and tastes as peer customers
demands from time to time. This way customers will feel more valued and homely. It creates a
positive impact on performance of restaurant.
4.4 Review own performance in relation to developing and implementing new food concepts.
If my performance level has to be evaluated while developing or implementing fusion
concept. I found that Thai style Spaghetti and Mexican Tacos has gained quite a lot of appraisal
from customers. In context of own performance while developing new concepts and flavors I
found out that I was quite positive an d optimistic in my approach while adopting new changes.
Also I was ready to face any sort of risks or uncertainties that may come in my way. In context
of Bella Italia it has been found out that restaurant is quite customer oriented and always focuses
on needs of customers. For example in regions where people prefer Chinese cuisine chefs
prepare dishes such as Manchurian flavored pasta along with fried rice and soups. This provides
with a variation in cuisines and also fulfilling needs of customers. It has been quite beneficial for
me and raised my overall performance as well.
CONCLUSION
From the above mentioned report it has been concluded that menu planing is an important
process which offers a variety of food items to its customers. An effective or good menu planing
helps restaurants in enhancing their overall sales and profit. Menu planning further includes a
number of factors such as recipe development, implementing new food items, developing food
items etc. There are a number of ways in which recipe development can further be implemented
such as design, color, theme etc. This report further focuses on reviewing own performance
along with providing recommendations to restaurants. This report also deals with requirements
of customers according to which new food concepts are developed.

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