Menu Engineering: Testing

The final stage we'd recommend, is often sadly skipped.
Yet, much like costing, the analytics are important and useful. 
You've spent the time to engineer your menu, so it's time to track the successes of your efforts and be on the look out for further improvements. 

Haven't started our series yet? Find part 1 here: https://www.supertuffmenus.com/menu-engineering-cost-your-menu

There are lots of things to think about and depending on your business set up, you may have multiple ways to test your new menu.

+ Large restaurant chains can test the results of an engineered menu compared to non-engineered (pre-existing) menus in alternative locations.

+ Regional chains should consider choosing one test site to run the engineered menu.

+ Individual venues should roll out their engineered menu and monitor the results, however running the existing menu simultaneously is not recommended.

So what should you be looking for?
Hopefully the results will speak for themselves and you'll have perfectly engineered a menu that generates and maximises profit. 
Perhaps your previous menu accidentally stumbled upon a few Menu Engineering tricks that boosted items without anyone really understanding why.

If you can compare two menus in fairly similarly performing venues, then you mayquickly identify the items that work the best in your new design. 

If you're simply changing the menu in a single establishment - compare the sales before the change, with the sales after:
- Do the stars sell more? (Has your highlighting worked?)
- Are there any unexpected results - and if so, can you identify tweaks? 
- Are the best sales coming from the section you expected, and targeted?

Tailor the questions, and testing to your business needs and expectations. 
We'd like to argue that every menu can always be improved - but do send us your examples of 'the perfect menu' if you think you've found it/them! 

Let us know! 

We adore a good menu and love working together with talented designers (both in-house and external) and restaurateurs to create high quality solutions to their business needs. We love to learn as much as we love to share, so if you have any feedback, tips, or comments then we'd love to hear them! 

Email: marketing@supertuffmenus.com 
(Want featured? We don't run sponsored content but we are happy to share any relevant quality content passed our way)

“Menu Engineering...what is it?

Menu Engineering is a systematic approach to building powerful menus that positively impact guests' experience and drives their desire to return.

Your menu is your most valuable marketing tool and fortunately a menu update is often the least-expensive improvement a restaurant can make! It also tends to produce the greatest and quickest returns on investment.

Gregg Rapp, Menu Engineer has refined the menu engineering process, over his thirty-six years working with restaurant teams around the world on menus.”
- www.menuengineers.com