Menu Development, Planning and Design Report - Nelson College London

This report, prepared for Nelson College London's Hospitality Management unit, delves into the critical aspects of menu development, planning, and design within the context of a small high street cafe, specifically focusing on a Pizza Hut scenario. The report begins with a comparative analysis of various menu types—Du Jour, Prix Fixe, and Cycle menus—to introduce the principles of menu planning and design. It then explores how these menus meet customer and business requirements, followed by a discussion on the impact of these requirements on menu planning and design. The report offers recommendations for meeting customer and business trends and presents a detailed plan for a Du Jour menu, supported by market research, key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure success, and solutions for potential operational problems. The report emphasizes the importance of variety, balance, and truthfulness in menu design and highlights how customer preferences and business goals influence menu choices, ultimately aiming to optimize the cafe's offerings to attract customers and maximize profitability.

Menu Development,
Planning and Design

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................1
Comparative overview of at least three different types of menu to introduce the principles of
menu planning and design...........................................................................................................1
Analysis of three different types of menu to explore the way in which customer and business
requirements are met....................................................................................................................2
Discussion and analysis of the impact that customer and business requirements have upon
planning and design of menus......................................................................................................3
Recommendations for meeting trends in customer and business requirements for cafe.............3
Detailed plan for one of the menus supported by research, key performance indicators to
measure success and justified solutions for any problems that could occur................................4
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................4
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................6

INTRODUCTION
Menu development, planning and design are three different processes which are required
to be focused by all the food sector entities such as hotels, restaurants, motels etc. In order to
execute all the operations in systematic manner and reach to organisational goals it is very
important for such businesses to pay attention towards these elements (Baiomy and Jones, 2016).
Present report is based upon Pizza Hut which has asked its hospitality consultant to design a
menu for a small high street cafe with 20 covers. For this purpose different topics are discussed
in this report such as comparative overview of different types of menus, analysis of them to
explore customer and business requirements & discussion of impact of these elements on
planning and design of menus. Additionally, recommendations for meeting trends in customer
and business requirements and plan for the menu supported by research and key performance
indicators along with solutions for the problems are also covered in this project.
MAIN BODY
Comparative overview of at least three different types of menu to introduce the principles of
menu planning and design
The owner of Pizza Hut has asked the hospitality consultant to design a menu for
the small high street cafe with 20 covers so that large number of customers could be
attracted towards the entity. For this purpose market research will be conducted by the
consultant. For the purpose of designing a new menu different types of them are evaluated
(Baiomy, Jones and Goode, 2019). Comparison of all of them is as follows:
Du Jour Menu Prix Fixe Menu Cycle Menu
This type of menu is beneficial
for small and busy restaurants
and it also provides them
flexibility as it could be
customised through out the
day or every day.
It is a fixed price menu in
which different options are
available to the guests in
which different courses are
there.
Under this type of menu
restaurants rotate the items day
to day of the week or
according to seasonal
availability.
Such types of menus are
written on chalk boards or
It is mainly used for special
occasions such as Christmas as
It is not customises on daily
basis and it also provide
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displayed by digital media and
may also have a special item.
it has fixed prices for dishes
that will be offered to guests.
information about dishes
which will be offered in
upcoming days.
There are various types of principles which are required to be focused by cafes while
preparing above described menus. Description of some of them is as follows:
 Variety: This principle states that the menu which is prepared by a restaurant should be
focused with type of food, preparation style and visual appeal. For example, Personal
pan pizza is offered by Pizza Hut for 199 in which 4 pizzas could be selected by the
customers according to their choice. There are various verities of cooking methods which
includes diets, seasons, gender, religion and belief of customers.
 Balance: According to this principle food sector entities are required to pay attentions
towards placement, serving size, proportion and number of food items on the plate as it
can help to attract large number of customers.
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 Truthfulness: It demonstrates that the menu should be planned according to accurate
information and the details should be based upon truth guidelines as it can guide help to
meet expectations of targeted customers (Gordon and Brezinski, 2016). Pizza Hut
mention all the important information related to additional charges on its menu. For
example, charges of extra cheese are also mentioned in the menu.
Analysis of three different types of menu to explore the way in which customer and business
requirements are met
For all the restaurants such as Pizza Hut it is very important to analyse different types of
menus before designing a new menu as it can help to find the ways in which customer's and
business requirements could be met (Different types of menu, 2015). Description of some of the
types of menus is as follows which could be considered by owner of Pizza Hut:
Du Jour Menu: In this type of menu the food items which are offered by a restaurant are
changed constantly. It is selected by most of the cafes or motels for the purpose of providing
variety of eatables or beverages to the clients. It is also called chalkboard menu because the
information of dishes offered by this menu are mentioned on a board written by chalk.
The example of Du Jour Menu of Pizza Ht is as follows:
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Prix Fixe Menu: It is mainly used by such restaurants which are offering buffets or
meals on the basis of courses as the prices for them is fixed in advance. Whether guests eat or not
all of them will be required to pay the amount fixed in advance. It is mainly used for special
occasions such as Easter, Thanks giving etc.
Cycle Menu: Under this menu a restaurant set specific food items on the basis of days,
months or weeks. It could be customised on the basis of weather or climate but constant changes
are not made in it. One of the example of it is that Chicken items will be served on Monday,
Italian food will be served on Thursdays and Chinese will be served on Sundays. If it is used by a
cafe such as Pizza Hut then customers will be aware of the food items for upcoming days. An
example of this menu is as follows in context of pizza hut:
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Opening hours and servings: The opening hours of the organisation are morning 11
A.M. to night 11 P.M. There are various types of items that are served to the clients which
includes Chicken, Beef and Port. All the varieties of meat are provided to the clients so that they
can choose the best one that suits to their taste.
Production process: There are various production processes are used in Pizza hut which
are deep frying, baking etc. all of them are followed according to the item which is desired by
client who is visiting the outlet.
Style of serving: The style of serving in pizza Hut is unique because all the items that are
served by it are served on Hotplates so that all the dishes could be kept warm for long time and
customers an enjoy their meals.
With the help of all the above described menus customer's and business requirements
could be met as all of them will help the cafe to offer good food to the clients as their first
priority is tasty eatables. Business requirements such as satisfied consumers and higher profits
could also be met with the help of them because they can attract large number of customers.
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Discussion and analysis of the impact that customer and business requirements have upon
planning and design of menus
Customer and business requirements are two main elements which are required to be
focused by all the entities such as Pizza Hut as both of them have implications upon planning
and design of menus (Kim, 2017). All of them could be understood with the help of following
points:
 Pizza Hut is at a very busy location and requirement of customers will be getting their
food as soon as possible therefore while planning the menu it will be very important for
management to make sure that they add dishes which could be cooked quickly.
 Cafe is established near offices so the menu is required to be customised in regular basis
as it can help to provide new dishes to the individuals working in the offices. It is the
basic requirement of customers which will impact the menu planning as this point will be
required to be taken in consideration.
 The main business requirement is attracting large number of customers and generating
higher profits and it will impact the menu design and planning as the owner will be
required to design menu in such way which can help to fulfil requirements of business.
Recommendations for meeting trends in customer and business requirements for cafe
There are several recommendations which are provided to owner of Pizza Hut to meet
trends in customer and business requirements. All of them are as follows:
 Nowadays customers want to have fast food items which is not harmful for their health
therefore the cafe is recommended to add such eatables in its menu.
 Life of individuals in very busy in current era therefore the cafe should make sure that the
ordered food will be provided to the customers in less time (Linassi, Alberton and
Marinho, 2016).
 Main requirements of business is to generate higher profits which could be met by
making sure that the dishes which are added in menu are having good taste and quality.
 Target market for the restaurant is the individuals who love to have fast food. The age of
audience will be from 10 to 60 as all the individuals between this age love to have pizza
and other fast food items. These clients will be from middle and upper class of the market
of different locations around the world.
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 Different types of dishes that are offered by Pizza hut are pizza, cold drinks, garlic bread
etc. List of all of them with cost is as follows:
Dishes Cost (pound)
Pizza
Margherita 7.65
Veggie 9.85
BBQ americano 10.65
Beef Fajita 11.75
Texas meat meltdown 11.45
Chicken delight 8.85
Virtuous Veg 8.75
Pasta
Lasagne 9.75
Herby Chicken Pasta Bake 9.45
Salmon Pasta Bake 9.25
Side dishes
Crispy onion rings bucket 2.95
Garlic bread 2.95
Bucket of Fries 2.95
Detailed plan for one of the menus supported by research, key performance indicators to measure
success and justified solutions for any problems that could occur
Pizza Hut is a high street small cafe therefore the suggested menu for it is Du Jour
Menu. It will help the entity to reach its objectives such as higher profits and satisfied
customers as it will be customised on regular basis. According to the market research the
cafe is at a busy location and near railway station and offices therefore the menu should
have such dishes which could be prepared in less time (Lo, King and Mackenzie, 2017).
Detailed plan for the menu along with used KPI and solution with problems which may
occur is as follows:
Steps Activities
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Step 1 First of all, all the items are required to be listed which are going to be
added in the menu.
Step 2 At second stage all the items which are difficult to prepare or serve or
meet the expectation of clients are eliminated. This process is also
known as menu engineering because it results in proper engineering of
menu by eliminating all the difficult to serve dishes.
Step 3 Afterwards remaining items are fine tunes for the purpose of fitting the
operations.
Step 4 At this stage KPIs (Key performance indicators) such as seating
arrangements and requirements of clients are analysed and decisions
regarding availability of all the items are taken.
Step 5 It is last step of menu planning in which prices, advertisements strategies
and promotional policies are formulated so that business requirements
could be met. This step also pay attention towards finding of solutions
for possible issues such as lack of staff, higher price of material for
cooking food etc. The solutions proposed to deal with such problems are
performing recruitment activities properly and finding trusted suppliers.
CONCLUSION
From the above project report it has been concluded that menu planning, development
and design are the key activities which are performed by an organisation planning to redesign its
menu. There are different types of it such as Du Jour, Prix Fixe and Cycle Menu. The principles
which are required to be focused while preparing a menu are variety, balance and truthfulness.
Two main elements which may leave impact upon planning and design of menu are customer
and business requirements. The KPI which could be used while designing menu is seating
arrangements.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals:
Baiomy, A. and Jones, E., 2016. Measuring menu attributes in the international and local resort
hotels in Egypt. Anatolia. 27(4). pp.526-536.
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.
Gordon, R. T. and Brezinski, M. H., 2016. The complete restaurant management guide.
Routledge.
Kim, H. C., 2017. A study on the preference analysis according to the usage behavior of grilled
beef restaurant by conjoint analysis. Culinary science and hospitality research. 23(4).
pp.93-104.
Linassi, R., Alberton, A. and Marinho, S. V., 2016. Menu engineering and activity-based
costing: an improved method of menu planning. International Journal of Contemporary
Hospitality Management. 28(7). pp.1417-1440.
Lo, A., King, B. and Mackenzie, M., 2017. Restaurant customers’ attitude toward sustainability
and nutritional menu labels. Journal of Hospitality Marketing & Management. 26(8).
pp.846-867.
Online
Different types of menu. 2015. [Online]. Available through:
<https://www.menushoppe.com/8-menu-types-you-should-know-about>
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