Food Cost as a Factor for Menu Development

2 Min Read By Wade Winters

"Ask the Expert" features advice from Wade Winters, Vice President of Supply Chain for Consolidated Concepts Inc.

Please send questions for this column to Modern Restaurant Management (MRM) magazine Executive Editor Barbara Castiglia at bcastiglia@modernrestaurantmanagement.com.

Q: What's the best way to approach menu development?

A: Besides site selection, developing the right menu can make the difference between a successful restaurant, or just another failed restaurant statistic.  Menus must be cost effective from a product and labor standpoint, be sustainable from an availability perspective, and be versatile.  The primary goal is to develop a menu mix that ensures you are always profitable. 

When developing a menu, questions to ask might include:

Are you going to utilize ingredients in multiple menu items? Are there any ingredients that are only used in one dish? What new ingredients will be required? Are the ingredients readily available and will the product cost be steady…