Streamline your menu
A well-structured, focused menu increases efficiency, reduces waste and enhances the dining experience. Review your sales data to identify best-selling and more profitable dishes, and replace underperforming ones with more profitable options.
Highlight high-margin items
Use the power of psychology! Design your menus strategically using quick win marketing techniques such as boxes, bold text and descriptive language to draw attention to more profitable dishes.
Menu descriptions
The way you describe a dish on your menu can instantly enhance its appeal. For example, “served with fresh rustic garlic sourdough bread” adds a premium touch to a dish, even when using simple menu items such as garlic bread. This enhances perception without increasing costs.
Using premium ingredients strategically
Incorporating premium ingredients in small, strategic ways can elevate a dish’s perceived value. For example, a drizzle of truffle oil on mushroom tagliatelle or blending wild mushrooms with button mushrooms in a pie can create a more premium feel while keeping costs in check.
Customisation
Customers love choice! Providing customers with the opportunity to elevate and personalise their dishes not only improves the dining experience but means customers are willing to spend more. For example being able to add ingredients like bacon to customise their own burger is a way to premiumise and add value to a customer’s experience at little cost.
Pricing psychology
Subtle pricing strategies can influence customer spending habits. Avoid listing prices in a column (which encourages comparison) and instead integrate them into descriptions. Additionally, using “charm pricing” (e.g. pricing a dish at £9.95 instead of £10) can make a dish feel more affordable while maintaining margins.
Controlling food costs is key to maintaining profitability, whilst delivering high-quality dishes. By reducing waste, utilising cost-effective ingredients and optimising portion control, businesses can increase their margins without sacrificing customer satisfaction. Here are some effective strategies:
Smart protein swaps
With fluctuating meat prices and occasional shortages, swapping proteins can help maintain menu stability and affordability. Consider replacing beef with pork in certain dishes or using turkey as a substitute for chicken. These swaps allow for cost savings without sacrificing flavour or customer satisfaction.
Using blended proteins
Combining meat with plant-based proteins is a cost effective way to maintain portion sizes while reducing overall protein costs. For example, blending minced beef with brown lentils to a 70% – 30% ratio in dishes like lasagne or cottage pie to enhances texture and flavour whilst stretching ingredients.
Utilising seasonality
Seasonal ingredients tend to be more affordable and fresher, making them a great way to manage costs. Adjusting menus to feature proteins that are in peak supply ensures better pricing and quality while keeping menus dynamic and appealing.
Repurposing leftovers
Maximising every part of a protein reduces waste and adds value to your menu. Trimmings, bones and offcuts can be repurposed into rich stocks, soups or sauces, bringing out deeper flavours and making sure nothing goes to waste.
Optimising portions
Consider reducing the amount of protein in dishes without compromising on quality, by adding more complementary ingredients, like vegetables, grains and breads. For example, fishcakes can be made with less fish and more potatoes and herbs or pies can have less meat and more vegetables. This keeps portions filling and flavourful, while helping manage protein costs.
Prioritising frozen protein
Frozen proteins are often more affordable and have a longer shelf life, making them a smart alternative to more premium cuts. Using frozen diced chicken breast in pies and stews instead of fresh fillets ensures consistency and cost control while maintaining quality. Frozen seafood, such as prawns or white fish, can also be incorporated into dishes without impacting taste or texture.
Every year, 1.1 million tonnes of food is thrown away in the foodservice sector, 75% of the food wasted could have been consumed, resulting in a cost of £3.2 billion (Guardian of Grub 2025). These significant costs associated with food waste not only impact the environment but also your bottom line. Explore our page on Food waste management support & guidance to see strategies on how you can reduce food waste and improve your business’s reputation and profitability.
Unlock significant cost savings without sacrificing quality by using our own brand product range. We benchmark our products against top brands and competitors to ensure we maintain high standards, making them an excellent cost-saving solution for your back-of-house needs.
Reducing the energy consumption in your kitchen can significantly lower your overall operating costs and support with profitability. Want to learn more? Visit our cut costs and conserve energy in commercial kitchens page to discover how small changes in kitchen equipment, layout and even ingredients can result in significant savings!
Frequently asked questions
On this webpage, we outline a wide range of strategies to support you with menu profitability, focusing on menu engineering, controlling food costs and cutting costs in the kitchen with energy saving tips. Small adjustments such as reducing waste, using a small amount of premium items and highlighting high margin items can help contribute to your overall profitability.
Menu engineering is the practice of designing a menu to maximise profitability by strategically placing high-margin items, utilising psychological pricing techniques and analysing sales data to refine your menu offering. This approach ensures that your customers are naturally drawn to the most profitable dishes on the menu.
To establish which dishes generate the highest profits, it is important to analyse your sales data to identify best-selling items with strong margins. You can then remove underperforming dishes and replace them with more profitable alternatives to improve your overall profitability.
To establish which dishes generate the highest profits, it is important to analyse your sales data to identify best-selling items with strong margins. You can then remove underperforming dishes and replace them with more profitable alternatives to improve your overall profitability.
A streamlined menu can help increase profitability by enhancing operational efficiency and reducing food waste. By focusing on best-selling, high-margin dishes and eliminating underperforming items, businesses can increase profitability while maintaining customer satisfaction.
To deliver a profitable and competitive menu it is important to regularly review your sales data and stay informed about the market trends. Seasonal updates, ingredient cost adjustments and customer feedback should be considered to ensure continued profitability. We can support you on keeping up to date. Stay informed with Bidfood.