Menu Engineering: Boosting Restaurant Success

You might think that creating a menu is simply a matter of listing out dishes you plan to serve. However, menu engineering is an essential component of the success of any restaurant. Menu engineering is the practice of optimizing a menu’s design and pricing structure to maximize profits and customer satisfaction.

Here are some reasons why menu engineering is so important for restaurant owners:

Boosts Profitability

Menu engineering can significantly boost your restaurant’s profitability. By analyzing your menu, you can identify your most profitable items and focus on promoting them. You can also adjust the prices of your dishes based on customer demand, seasonality, and ingredient cost. For instance, if a dish is very popular and has a high profit margin, you can increase the price slightly to maximize revenue.

Improves Customer Satisfaction

A well-designed menu can improve customer satisfaction. By presenting your dishes in an appealing way and highlighting your restaurant’s unique offerings, you can entice customers to try new dishes and increase their likelihood of returning. Additionally, by offering a variety of options to accommodate different dietary needs and preferences, you can ensure that all of your customers feel welcome and satisfied.

Helps with Inventory Management

Menu engineering can also help with inventory management. By identifying which dishes are selling the most, you can adjust your ordering patterns to ensure that you have enough ingredients on hand to meet demand. Additonally, you can avoid over-ordering ingredients for less popular dishes, which can reduce waste and save money.

Streamlines Kitchen Operations

A well-designed menu can also streamline your kitchen operations. By organizing your dishes in a logical way, you can help your kitchen staff prepare and serve dishes more efficiently. Additionally, by identifying which dishes take the longest to prepare, you can adjust your menu or kitchen processes to ensure that wait times are minimized.

Enables Data-Driven Decision Making

Menu engineering enables you to make data-driven decisions about your menu. By analyzing sales data, you can identify trends and make informed decisions about menu changes. For instance, if a dish is not selling well, you can either remove it or make changes to improve its appeal. Additonally, you can use data to identify areas where you can upsell customers, such as offering add-ons or suggesting higher-priced items.

In conclusion, menu engineering is a critical component of the success of any restaurant. By optimizing your menu’s design and pricing structure, you can boost profitability, improve customer satisfaction, streamline operations, and make data-driven decisions about your menu. If you haven’t already, consider working with a consultant or menu engineer to help you analyze your menu and make necessary changes. Your restaurant’s success depends on it!

6 Strategies for Restaurants to Thrive During Inflationary Periods

As a restaurant owner, you may be feeling the pressure of inflationary periods.

1. Monitor Your Food Costs: One of the biggest expenses for restaurants is food. During inflationary periods, the cost of ingredients can skyrocket, which can seriously impact your bottom line. It’s important to regularly review your food costs and make adjustments as needed. This might mean finding new suppliers or sourcing ingredients locally to cut down on transportation costs. You can also consider adjusting your menu prices to reflect the increased costs of your ingredients.
2. Focus on Efficiency: Another way to improve your business during inflationary periods is to focus on efficiency. Look for ways to streamline your operations and reduce waste. This might mean investing in new equipment or technology that can help you cook faster and more efficiently. It could also mean rethinking your menu to focus on dishes that are easier to prepare and require less prep time.
3. Offer Special Deals: During inflationary periods, consumers are often more price-sensitive. Offering special deals or promotions can help attract customers and boost sales. For example, you might offer a “happy hour” promotion with discounted drinks or appetizers during off-peak hours. You could also create a “family meal” deal that offers a discounted price on a larger meal for families or groups.
4. Prioritize Customer Service: Inflationary periods can be stressful for everyone, including your customers. It’s important to prioritize customer service and ensure that your guests feel valued and appreciated. This might mean training your staff to be more attentive and responsive to customer needs or investing in technology that can help you provide faster and more personalized service.
5. Consider Alternative Revenue Streams: Finally, during inflationary periods, it’s important to think creatively about alternative revenue streams. This might mean offering catering services or partnering with local businesses to offer packaged meals or meal kits. You could also consider expanding your delivery or takeout options to reach more customers who may be hesitant to dine in.
6. Buy Canadian-Made Products: Supporting local Canadian suppliers can help restaurants navigate inflationary pressures more effectively. Purchasing Canadian-made products reduces reliance on international supply chains, which are often affected by rising costs and delays. Locally sourced ingredients not only ensure fresher, higher-quality food but also contribute to the local economy. Additionally, marketing your restaurant as one that prioritizes Canadian products can attract customers who are passionate about supporting homegrown businesses.

In conclusion, while inflationary periods can be challenging for restaurant owners, there are several strategies you can implement to improve your business. By monitoring your food costs, focusing on efficiency, offering special deals, prioritizing customer service, and considering alternative revenue streams, you can position your restaurant for success during these challenging times. Remember, with a little creativity and hard work, you can weather any economic storm and continue to deliver high-quality food and service to your loyal customers.

Playing the right music at the right time and at the right volume is as essential to a restaurant’s health as the food on the menu or the décor of the room. The music you play tells your guests that you want them to linger and relax, get up and dance, or leave quickly and never come back.

Music engages us on an emotional level and has the power to help us through the most challenging times. Combine good music with great food and the result can be a positive and comfortable experience your guests will cherish – and make them more likely to linger, spend, and return. 

In an increasingly competitive market space, progressive businesses are realizing the power of music to define themselves and communicate the aesthetic of their brand, says Noel Steen, creative director of Bespoke Music Services at MOOD:MEDIA. “The strategic selection of music can help communicate and strengthen a brand’s identity, can influence consumer behaviour, and increase sales.”

“The strategic selection of music can help communicate and strengthen a brand’s identity, can influence consumer behaviour, and increase sales.”

Noel Steen, creative director of Bespoke Music Services at MOOD:MEDIA

One study showed consumers are more likely to purchase higher priced wines when a restaurant is playing classical music rather than pop or top 40. The power of suggestion is strong, and customers are more apt to choose French wines when a restaurant plays French music.  

Music impacts food choices 

We perceive our environment through five senses: touch, taste and sight are proactive, while smell and hearing are passive. Unless we plug our ears, we cannot actively decide whether we want to hear something. 

“Because our ability to listen is always present, hearing music is pervasive,” Steen says. “Guests in a retail or restaurant environment will always hear the music that’s played, which makes it an extremely effective part of the environment, but also stresses the importance of getting it right. Music is evocative – it speaks to emotion and it sets the tone and creates a mood that adds to the experience and can have a significant influence on a listener.”

“Music is evocative – it speaks to emotion and it sets the tone and creates a mood that adds to the experience and can have a significant influence on a listener.”

Noel Steen, creative director of Bespoke Music Services at MOOD:MEDIA

Studies show that faster paced music encourages faster eating. When it comes to volume, age and gender impact preferences, research shows younger people will linger when music is louder, while older people prefer restaurants where music is in the background. Volume impacts the food choices guests make, too, and can have an influence on overall sales, according to this 2018 study.

For foodservice operators to take control of the music and truly realize its powerful effect (in a legal way), it’s best to partner with a professional music curation and licensing provider. “Reducing your music program to the whim of your staff is a sure way to miss the mark,” Steen says. 

“It’s also really important to understand the flow of a typical weekday or weekend, evening or dinner and to ensure that your music selection and volume is appropriate for each. Not every part of your day is the same, and the music should reflect that.”

7 music strategy tips for your restaurant

1. Sound systems should meet the needs of your room and your format. Pay attention to sound quality, speaker selection and placement, and volume levels. 
2. Online, streaming, disc or satellite? The choice is yours. 
3. A music designer can help to create your custom playlists, a fully branded soundtrack that your customers won’t hear anywhere else. 
4. As the mood and tempo of the day change, so too should the music you play. Answering the demand of dayparts means not only offering different food menus, but also different musical menus. 
5. An effective music program might include faster paced tunes for the business lunch crowd, relaxing background for mid-afternoon loungers, sophisticated slower paced selections during dinner, then up-tempo choices for night caps and late-night diners.
6. Music should make the dining experience fun, refreshing and relaxing for your guests. Give them a place they can put aside the stresses of the outside world for a while. 
7. Feedback from your customers and staff about what they like and what they don’t should be part of your music choices. Elevated conversations can be a sure sign background music is too loud. 

Licensing and regulations to play music in your restaurant

When a business plays music in a commercial setting, it is using an artist’s work to enhance their business. Regulation requires that these artists be compensated for the commercial use of their intellectual property. 

There is currently no license available that allows the end users, restaurant operators, to select music ‘on-demand’ and manage this content themselves. To be compliant, a subscription to a commercial background music provider is required. In short, consumer products, like Spotify, are not allowed.

Music creators and their publishers have rights under Canada’s Copyright Act. Any time music is played in restaurants, whether downloaded or streamed, copyright laws apply, and public performance license fees must be paid through performing rights organizations, like the Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN). 

In Canada, SOCAN music licenses take into consideration the value of music to a business and ensure that the owners of that music are compensated legally and ethically. Entandem is a joint venture between RE:SOUND and SOCAN, created to simplify the licensing process. 

Understand what your customers want to hear 

A signature sound says a lot about your restaurant and your brand, and it’s often underutilized. Music consultants say it’s vital to evaluate selections for their energy and sound density and to understand your target demographic and those you want to attract – both as customers and employees. If the music stimulates and makes your staff happy, they’re going to do a much better job keeping diners happy. 

Consultants recommend that restaurateurs ask themselves a simple question that sometimes doesn’t have a simple answer: Do you want to keep people in their comfort zone or do you want to play up to them? So-called “randomization,” so the music remains fresh and ever changing, is a critical element. Playing the same song or the same playlist over and over is a sure recipe for staff malaise and customer irritation.

The content and relative variety of a music program really depend on the particular aesthetic of the brand, Steen says. “The brand identity should lead all creative decisions. If a brand values variety, then the music should reflect this. At the same time, if a brand’s values are narrow, I would expect a more consistent sounding music program.”

Choosing the right music mix can lift restaurant sales. When the music fits, it elevates the restaurant, the food and the service, and sets it apart from the competition. The best restaurants are more than just places to eat; they are places that sing with positive energy and ambience as they say precisely what their guests want to hear. 

Consistency in the guest experience is a winning factor for successful restaurant brands. From menu execution, service levels, to ways the staff are presented, guests return to restaurants where their experience consistently meets their expectations. 

Traditionally, restaurants enforced staff uniforms such as matching pants, shirts and branded aprons, as a way to provide consistency in their teams’ visual appearance and the restaurant brand experience. Lately, though, the idea of the traditional uniform has evolved as more restaurant brands encourage staff to express their individuality, while following brand guidelines. 

The “non-uniform” uniform concept can be tricky to navigate. How important is a uniform to your overall restaurant brand? VERY, and here’s why!

Customer experience is becoming the new competitive brand advantage, and what’s eye opening is that 80% of companies believe they deliver “super experiences,” but only 8% of customers agree. Everything a restaurant brand does, including how the team is presented, influences the overall customer experience, according to Forbes.com.

A uniformed team look provides regularity in your staff’s appearance, helping diners identify who actually works for the establishment from other patrons. Being able to easily pinpoint staff is important to the overall guest experience. Some restaurant brands go one step further to have a defined or elevated management dress code, to clearly define for guests who is in charge! 

A uniformed team look provides regularity in your staff’s appearance, helping diners identify who actually works for the establishment from other patrons.

Here is a harsh truth about restaurant guests: they are judging your front-of-house staff on their appearance and how it relates to the service level of your operation. For this reason, fine dining restaurants traditionally impose a strict uniform standard, where each staff member is identically dressed in a polished manner, reflective of the refined dining experience. This is what guests have come to expect in this category of restaurants, so it is important to factor in how your team’s attire represents your restaurant’s level of service. 

• TIP: Align your attire to your brand

Uniforms also support the overall brand experience, so even if you are developing a “non-uniform” uniform, ensure that your attire guidelines align with the restaurant’s vibe and atmosphere. If you are operating a fun casual pub, then your staff’s attire should match that. 

North Winds, a craft brewer and casual eatery, has taken this approach and gives their staff freedom to choose what they wear on the bottom in terms of pants, shorts, skirt and footwear, but provides them with a North Winds shirt that is mandatory from Saturday to Thursday. On Fridays, however, the staff are encouraged to wear a shirt from another craft brewer to support the industry while letting the team showcase their beer interests and personal style. 

So how do you design and regulate the “non-uniform” uniform? 

• TIP: Create a dress code for your restaurant brand and your staff

Most importantly, maintain your brand image, because your staff’s appearance should never hinder your restaurant’s reputation. Begin by defining and upholding a clear dress code standard that emphasizes professionalism and cleanliness, while supporting a “non-uniform” diverse concept. Your guests will appreciate this and it sends a strong signal to your staff that your restaurant brand and how customers perceive it, is important to the business’ overall success. 

Seasonal weather shifts, the flow of service, plate and tray sizes, tableside experiences, ordering standards, and restaurant design will impact what your team can wear to comfortably and safely perform their duties. Reference workplace safety laws to ensure your standards align with best practices. 

Regulating your staff’s unconventional uniform can sometimes lead to uncomfortable chats. To avoid misinterpretation, provide examples of what is acceptable and what is not, and how your team can vary their work style while maintaining brand consistency. Jenny Companion, VP of Eastern Operations at The Fifteen Group, recommends providing retailer suggestions and picture examples of looks that match the attire standards. 

Gusto101 in Toronto designed the ideal “non-uniform” uniform that maintains the overall brand image and feel. Gusto’s wait staff and bartenders dress in blue denim shirts, or a blue branded t-shirt, and jeans, but the brand choices and style choices are all theirs. Guests are still able to identify who works at Gusto, employees can be comfortable in their own clothing that fits their shape and style, and the restaurant saves on uniform costs; it’s a win-win!  

“Going with the ‘non-uniform’ uniform for your restaurant can be a fun way to express staff individuality while maintaining your brand,” says Gusto owner and chef Janet Zuccarini, “but it is still important to understand the rules around who covers the cost of the uniform, even if it isn’t head to toe.”

Be sure to read up on Canada’s latest Employment Acts that outline this useful information.  

Recruiting and retaining staff has long been one of the biggest challenges for foodservice operators, and COVID-19 has upped the intensity. Public health restrictions, lockdowns, loss of employee positions, uncertainty about job security and apprehension around health and safety practices are all factors that have turned up the HR heat. 

In its Q3 2021 Restaurant Outlook Survey, Restaurants Canada reported 93% of respondents are contending with a shortage of workers, and 50% say they are struggling with a significant staffing shortage. Three-quarters of respondents said the labour shortage has put more pressure on owners and management level staff to work more hours. Seven out of 10 respondents said they are reducing their hours of operation. Where they can afford to, 63% said they are raising wages to entice staff to work for them.

The crunch is especially acute in back-of-house, notes Jeff Dover, principal at  fsSTRATEGY Inc. “Enrollment is down in culinary programs across Canada, so help isn’t on the horizon, and now is especially the time for operators to be innovative.” 

“Minimum wage increases are forcing the industry to restructure operating budgets and operations as a whole. Operators are competing with other industries who are offering higher pay rates.”

Laura Traynor, district manager for ADP Canada

Compensation is becoming a challenge for all industries, and especially in foodservice. “Minimum wage increases are forcing the industry to restructure operating budgets and operations as a whole,” says Laura Traynor, district manager for ADP Canada. “Operators are competing with other industries who are offering higher rates of pay even for those with little to no work experience or post-secondary education.” 

By stepping up their recruiting, hiring and retention game, restaurant operators can successfully compete for labour and get their restaurants running at peak efficiency. By taking a page from the gig economy playbook, restaurants can lure back workers who might be otherwise enticed by platforms like UberEats and DoorDash by offering flexibility and the added sweeteners of benefits. 

“It’s important that operators continue learning and staying ahead of trends,” ADP’s Traynor says. “Employees will feel safer and more likely to stay if they know their employer is on top of the latest legislation and health and safety regulations.” 

The wage challenges for restaurant owners

Wages are on the way up right across the country, and some restaurant operators are paying much more than minimum wage. One of them is Alex Moore, owner of Bampot House of tea and Board Games, in Toronto. He pays his employees $22.50 an hour before tips. “I’ve been working in this business for a long time, and I honestly feel like a liveable wage is the bare minimum I can do. I don’t want people who work for me to struggle. So I’ve made the numbers work.” 

Moore says paying a liveable wage helps to improve morale and builds loyalty. He is also looking at instituting a salary grid and profit sharing with his three employees. “I’m running it tight, but I want to make it happen because it’s the right thing to do.” 

The increase of minimum wage has created a domino effect across this and many other industries, ADP’s Traynor says. “With new employees being hired at a higher rate than before, this puts pressure on employers to increase the rate of more tenured employees in order to keep compensation structure fair.” 

“Signing bonuses and retention bonuses and being flexible with scheduling can help with recruitment and retention.”

Jeff Dover, principal at  fsSTRATEGY Inc.

In many markets, offering minimum wage is not enough, and many employers are offering well over that to retain talent. “Applicants know they can get wages at more than minimum wage and are not settling,” fsSTRATEGY’s Dover says. “Signing bonuses and retention bonuses and being flexible with scheduling can help with recruitment and retention.”

Top tips to recruit and retain hospitality workers:

• Treat staff like the valuable assets they are
• Pay more and increase wages as quickly as you can
• Be flexible on scheduling and time off 
• Offer signing and retention bonuses
• Customize benefits to meet employee needs 
• Provide rewards, recognition and opportunities for career advancement
• Offer mental health support

“All of this comes at a cost to operators but there is, at least in the short term, a willingness amongst consumers to accept price increases,” Dover adds. “Adjust operating hours if you must and close when not profitable. With a five-day week, one core team can work full time with two days off.”  

Use technology to empower your restaurant staff 

Third-party solutions like ADP’s HR Assist can help operators stay on top of and properly apply rapidly changing government policies. “Implementing technology solutions to streamline scheduling and management of paid time-off requests from employees makes navigating the unknowns more efficient,” says Shubh Mann, director of sales – channels at ADP Canada. “Giving employees the power to view their schedules in advance, request days off and swap shifts empowers them to have more control over their work-life balance and in the long run can help lower employee turnover.” 

Shubh Manns top tips for restaurant operators: 

• Take advantage of data-analyzing technology to effectively make decisions when scheduling staff so you do not over- or under-staff 
• Outsource day-to-day admin tasks (e.g. payroll, HR, time and labour management) to free up time to focus on people and operations 
• Streamline the onboarding process
  • Use HR portals to efficiently create job descriptions, onboarding guides etc.  
  • Post jobs on sites such as Zip Recruiter to avoid looking through hundreds of résumés and posting manually on several locations to drive enough traffic 
• Revaluate your current HR setup to ensure HR support is in place for your employees 

Employ smart scheduling in your restaurant

“By reviewing your historical sales data, you can anticipate staffing as much as possible and plan accordingly,” Mann says. “If possible, get to know a bit about your employees’ lives outside of work and schedule them accordingly. For instance, a parent of three might be a better fit to handle the lunch rush and single students will likely prefer the evening shift.” 

• Make scheduling controlled, organized, and easily accessible for staff
• Be prepared to quickly onboard with rapid training programs
• Activate a scheduling app that allows staff to show their availability, request days off, easily view their schedules, and swap shifts
• Post schedules in advance to help smooth out any bumps with seasonal ups and downs
• Establish clearly understood guidelines for time-off requests
• Where possible, ensure staff take paid time off in advance of holiday seasons and busy times to ensure they are well rested and ready to handle the workload

Try robot retail to alleviate staffing shortages

Robotics and artificial intelligence (AI) have been making strides across every industry and the restaurant and hospitality sectors are no exception, reports Restaurants Canada. Robot retail is making its way into dining experiences – from sanitation and disinfection to serving and hosting. Brands like GreenCo Robots are leading the way with robotics applications in restaurants.

Headed by engineer Liang Yu, the Edmonton-based company has about 40 robots in use across Canada. “The idea is not to replace people completely,” he says. “The robot is an assistant for the labour-intensive and repetitive work like busing and delivering water.”

Kitty Tong, owner of Golden Ocean Seafood Restaurant in Vancouver, says they’ve been using their robot to help serve food and alleviate some staffing issues during the pandemic. The robot has also attracted interest from regular customers and others who have heard about it by word of mouth and through media reports. “Both adults and children like to take photos with ‘Bella.’ They think the robot has a very special and fresh feeling.” 

GreenCo robots range in cost from $16,000 to $30,000, depending on the model, and the company offers a three-year lease-to-own program and a one-week trial.