Restaurant Menu Engineering & Sales Analysis Software
Understand which menu items contribute most to your restaurant’s profitability with EZchef Menu Engineering and Sales Analysis.
Enter the number of each menu item sold from your POS or cash-register sales report, and EZchef combines that sales mix with your existing menu costs and selling prices to analyze popularity, food cost, gross margin, and overall menu-item performance.
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Turn Your Restaurant Sales Mix into Menu Profitability Analysis
EZchef performs Menu Engineering analysis for each individual menu category and can also summarize your entire food and beverage menu.
Start by selecting one of your restaurant’s user-defined Menu Categories, such as Entrees, Appetizers, Desserts, or another category appropriate to your operation.
Then use your POS or cash-register Item Sales report for a selected time period and enter the number of each menu item sold.
EZchef uses that information together with each item’s menu cost and selling price to compare performance within the category.
Compare Menu Items by Popularity, Food Cost and Gross Margin
The Menu Engineering table summarizes important performance information for each menu item.
The analysis allows you to compare factors including:
- Number of each menu item sold
- Menu-item popularity
- Food Cost percentage
- Gross margin
- Total gross margin generated during the period
- Relative performance compared with other items in the same menu category
EZchef also calculates the Theoretical Food Cost for each Menu Category.
See Menu Performance Visually
EZchef converts the Menu Engineering table into a graphical analysis that makes it easier to compare the performance of menu items within a category.
On the graph:
- The X axis represents the Total Gross Margin produced by each Menu Item during the selected period.
- The Y axis represents the Food Cost percentage of each Menu Item.
Each menu item is plotted according to these two measures, making it possible to see which items generate strong gross-profit dollars and which may deserve closer attention.
PRIMES, STANDARDS, SLEEPERS and PROBLEMS
EZchef uses Cost Margin Analysis to group menu items according to their financial performance.
PRIMES
PRIMES generate relatively high total gross-profit dollars while maintaining a relatively low Food Cost percentage.
STANDARDS
STANDARDS generate relatively high gross-profit dollars but do so at a comparatively higher Food Cost percentage.
SLEEPERS
SLEEPERS have relatively low Food Cost percentages but do not generate high total gross-profit dollars because they are not strong sellers.
PROBLEMS
PROBLEMS produce relatively low gross-profit dollars while also carrying a comparatively high Food Cost percentage.
These classifications help restaurant operators identify items that may deserve promotion, repricing, recosting, repositioning, or further evaluation.
Connect the Analysis Back to the Recipe
EZchef’s Menu Engineering analysis is connected to the underlying Menu Item costing information.
From the analysis, you can identify a Menu Item and navigate back to its Recipe Cost template to review its selling price, ingredient costs, and other costing information.
This makes it possible to move from identifying a performance issue to reviewing the actual cost structure behind the item.
Explore Restaurant Menu & Recipe Costing
Test Pricing, Cost and Sales Changes with What-If Analysis
EZchef also includes What-If analysis so you can test how changes could affect menu performance before making them operationally.
You can change variables such as:
- Menu-item selling price
- Menu-item cost
- Number of items sold
This allows restaurant operators to examine how changes in pricing, food cost, or sales volume could affect the overall profitability of a menu item or menu category.
Calculate Theoretical Food Cost
EZchef automatically calculates the Ideal or Theoretical Cost of Goods Sold percentage for individual Menu Categories.
It also provides a summary that brings the Menu Categories together so you can review theoretical cost information for the overall menu.
Theoretical Food Cost reflects the cost that would result from the actual mix of menu items sold and their calculated menu-item costs.
Review Your Entire Menu in One Summary
In addition to analyzing individual Menu Categories, EZchef provides a Summary Detail view for reviewing information across the restaurant’s menu.
This gives restaurant operators a broader view of how Menu Categories and individual menu items contribute to overall menu performance.
Menu Engineering Connected to Menu Costing and Inventory
Menu Engineering is most useful when the underlying menu costs are accurate. EZchef connects three related functions:
Restaurant Inventory Management
Maintain food and beverage inventory items and keep ingredient pricing current.
Explore Restaurant Inventory Management
Menu & Recipe Costing
Use current ingredient costs to calculate the cost, Food Cost percentage, and gross margin of individual Menu Items and Sub-Recipes.
Menu Engineering & Sales Analysis
Combine those menu-item costs with actual sales-mix information to see how individual items contribute to menu profitability.
Together, these functions allow restaurant operators to move from ingredient pricing to menu-item costing and then to menu-level profitability analysis.
What Information Do I Need for Menu Engineering?
EZchef does not require a direct connection to your POS system to perform Menu Engineering analysis.
Use the Item Sales report from your POS system or cash register for the period you want to analyze. Enter the number sold for each Menu Item into EZchef, and the program combines the sales mix with the Menu Item information already maintained in the software.
Try EZchef Menu Engineering Free for 15 Days
The EZchef free demo includes sample Inventory, Menu Items, Sub-Recipes, and Menu Engineering data so you can explore the analysis before purchasing.
Restaurant Menu Engineering Questions
What is restaurant menu engineering?
Restaurant menu engineering compares menu-item sales and cost information to help evaluate how individual items contribute to menu profitability.
What information does EZchef use for menu engineering?
EZchef uses Menu Item cost and selling-price information together with the number of each Menu Item sold during a selected period.
Does EZchef connect directly to my POS system?
A direct POS connection is not required. Use an Item Sales report from your POS system or cash register and enter the number sold for each item into EZchef.
What does the EZchef Menu Engineering graph show?
The graph plots each Menu Item using Total Gross Margin on the horizontal axis and Food Cost percentage on the vertical axis so items in the same category can be compared visually.
What are PRIMES in EZchef?
PRIMES are Menu Items that generate relatively high gross-profit dollars while maintaining a relatively low Food Cost percentage.
What are STANDARDS?
STANDARDS generate relatively high gross-profit dollars but have a comparatively higher Food Cost percentage.
What are SLEEPERS?
SLEEPERS have relatively low Food Cost percentages but generate lower total gross-profit dollars because they are not strong sellers.
What are PROBLEMS?
PROBLEMS generate relatively low gross-profit dollars while also having a comparatively high Food Cost percentage.
Can I test changes before changing my menu?
Yes. EZchef’s What-If analysis allows you to change menu-item selling price, cost, or number sold and review how those changes affect the analysis.
Does EZchef calculate theoretical food cost?
Yes. EZchef calculates Ideal or Theoretical Cost of Goods Sold percentages for individual Menu Categories and provides summary information for the overall menu.