Menu engineering spreadsheet for Excel
Enter each dish with its price, food cost and units sold. The sheet sorts the menu into Stars, Plowhorses, Puzzles and Dogs, shows how much margin each group brings and tells you what to do with each dish.
Price and release date will be announced when the Etsy shop opens.
- Format
- .xlsx workbook (Excel)
- Works with
- Microsoft Excel, desktop or 365
- Capacity
- 60 dishes per menu analysis
- Language
- English
- Licence
- One business
- Status
- In final checks, price to be announced
What you get
The four groups, calculated
Popularity and contribution margin are compared with your menu average, the standard Kasavana and Smith method.
A suggested action per dish
Keep and promote, raise the price a little, move it on the menu, or rework it.
Contribution margin and sales mix
Margin per portion, total margin, food cost % and the share of units for every dish.
Share of units and margin by group
See how much of your sales and your profit come from each group.
Your own threshold
The 70% popularity rule is a setting. Leave it or change it.
Dashboard and chart
Dishes listed by group and a scatter chart of units sold against margin.
Inside the workbook
Planning tool, not accounting, tax or legal advice. Example data is invented.
| Sheet | What it does |
|---|---|
| Settings | Popularity threshold and notes on the four groups |
| Menu Analysis | Dish by dish figures, class and suggested action |
| Dashboard | Totals, groups, dish lists and a chart |
How a dish is classified
A burger sells 210 portions with 12.90 of margin each. Both numbers are above the menu average, so it is a Star. A fruit sorbet sells 30 portions with 5.10 of margin, below both averages, so it is a Dog. The lamb shank has a high margin but few orders: a Puzzle.
Questions
What do Star, Plowhorse, Puzzle and Dog mean?
Stars are popular and profitable. Plowhorses are popular with a low margin. Puzzles are profitable but not popular. Dogs are neither.
Where do I get my food cost per portion?
From your recipe costing. The recipe costing spreadsheet gives you this number for every dish.
Is one week of sales enough?
Usually not. Use a period long enough to be representative, such as a month, and avoid judging a seasonal dish out of season.
While you wait
The recipe costing spreadsheet and the free food cost calculator are the first tools of the toolkit.