Nearly 70% of restaurant owners can't tell you which dishes actually drive their profits. A dish selling 100 portions weekly at 2% margin brings in less money than one selling 50 portions at 8% margin. Most operators chase sales volume while profit quietly slips away.
Analyze your current situation
You can't fix what you don't measure. Pull your top 5 sellers from last month and calculate each dish's actual profit margin.
💡 Example:
Restaurant The Golden Spoon - top 5 dishes last month:
- Steak: 180 portions, margin €8.50 per portion = €1,530 profit
- Salmon: 150 portions, margin €6.20 per portion = €930 profit
- Pasta carbonara: 220 portions, margin €4.10 per portion = €902 profit
- Chicken fillet: 160 portions, margin €5.80 per portion = €928 profit
- Vegetarian lasagna: 90 portions, margin €7.30 per portion = €657 profit
Result: Pasta carbonara sells most but steak generates the real money.
Calculate the profit margin per dish
Profit margin equals what remains after covering all costs. Use identical cost structures across dishes for accurate comparisons.
Profit margin formula per dish:
Selling price excl. VAT - Ingredient costs - Share of fixed costs = Profit margin
💡 Example calculation:
Steak menu price €32.00 (incl. 9% VAT):
- Selling price excl. VAT: €32.00 ÷ 1.09 = €29.36
- Ingredient costs: €10.50
- Share of fixed costs: €10.36 (staff, rent, utilities per dish)
Profit margin: €29.36 - €10.50 - €10.36 = €8.50
Identify your 'losers' and 'winners'
Sort dishes into 4 categories using popularity and profitability. This approach is called menu engineering.
- Stars: Popular AND profitable → Push these hard
- Plowhorses: Popular but NOT profitable → Fix pricing or costs
- Puzzles: Not popular but profitable → Market better
- Dogs: Not popular AND not profitable → Cut from menu
⚠️ Watch out:
Too many restaurants keep dishes because they've 'always been there' or the chef has emotional attachment. But every money-losing dish drains profit from your winners.
Improve your popular losers
Popular dishes with thin margins represent your biggest opportunity. They're already selling - small tweaks create massive impact.
Options to boost margins:
- Increase price by €1-2 (test carefully)
- Trim portion size slightly
- Swap expensive ingredients for cheaper alternatives
- Modify garnish (fewer costly vegetables, more affordable fillers)
- Source main ingredients from cheaper suppliers
💡 Example improvement:
Pasta carbonara has weak €4.10 margin. Potential fixes:
- Bump price from €16.50 to €17.50 → +€0.92 margin
- Cut pasta portion from 120g to 100g → -€0.35 costs
- Switch to cheaper bacon → -€0.80 costs
New margin: €4.10 + €0.92 + €0.35 + €0.80 = €6.17 per portion
Promote your profitable dishes
High-margin dishes with low sales need more spotlight. From years of working in professional kitchens, I've seen how small sales bumps on profitable items dramatically boost overall profits.
Ways to promote profitable dishes:
- Position them at menu top
- Train staff to actively recommend them
- Feature as 'chef's special' or 'house favorite'
- Write compelling descriptions
- Share photos on social media
Measure and monitor your results
Roll out changes slowly and track impact. Changing everything at once makes it impossible to identify what's actually working.
⚠️ Watch out:
Don't modify more than 2-3 dishes simultaneously. Customers need adjustment time for price changes, and you need to isolate which changes drive results.
Food cost calculators like KitchenNmbrs automatically track profit margins per dish, so you can spot which adjustments are moving the needle immediately.
How do you make sure your best-selling dishes also have your best margins? (step by step)
Analyze your current top 5 dishes
Get the sales figures from last month and calculate the profit margin per portion for your 5 best-selling dishes. Multiply this by the number of portions sold to see which dish generates the most total revenue.
Categorize your dishes into 4 groups
Divide your dishes by popularity (high/low sales) and profitability (high/low margin). This gives you 4 categories: Stars, Plowhorses, Puzzles, and Dogs. Focus first on the Plowhorses - popular dishes with low margins.
Improve your popular losers
For dishes that sell well but generate little profit, test small adjustments: raise price by €1-2, reduce portion slightly, or use cheaper ingredients. Measure the effect on sales and margin after 2 weeks.
✨ Pro tip
Track your top 7 sellers over the next 30 days and boost each margin by just €1.50. This focused approach often delivers more profit than overhauling your entire menu.
Calculate this yourself?
In the KitchenNmbrs app you can do this in just a few clicks. 7 days free, no credit card.
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Frequently asked questions
How much can I raise prices without losing customers?
Test carefully with €1-2 increases per dish. Price bumps up to 8% typically get accepted if quality remains consistent. Monitor sales figures for 2 weeks after implementing changes.
What if my best-selling dish has terrible margins?
This screams classic 'Plowhorse' situation. Gradually raise prices, trim portions slightly, or replace expensive ingredients with cheaper alternatives. Small adjustments create huge impact due to high volume.
Should I remove unprofitable dishes completely?
Not right away. First attempt to improve them through cost cuts or price increases. Only true 'Dogs' (unpopular AND unprofitable) deserve replacement with new dishes.
How often should I analyze my menu performance?
Run full analysis every 3 months minimum. But track your top 5 dishes monthly to catch trends early. Ingredient prices fluctuate constantly, so margins shift too.
Can staff help push profitable dishes effectively?
Absolutely. Train your team to recommend profitable items as 'chef's special' or 'house recommendation'. Give them specific selling points about taste and preparation - never mention profitability to guests.
What's the minimum margin I should accept per dish?
Aim for 15-20% minimum on food costs, but this varies by restaurant type and location. Fine dining can command higher margins than casual spots. Focus more on total profit dollars than percentages alone.
📚 Sources consulted
- EU Verordening 852/2004 — Levensmiddelenhygiëne (2004) — Official source
- EU Verordening 853/2004 — Hygiënevoorschriften voor levensmiddelen van dierlijke oorsprong (2004) — Official source
- EU Verordening 1169/2011 — Voedselinformatie aan consumenten (2011) — Official source
- NVWA — Hygiënecode voor de horeca (2024) — Official source
- NVWA — Allergenen in voedsel (2024) — Official source
- Codex Alimentarius — International Food Standards (2024) — Official source
- FSA — Safer food, better business (HACCP) (2024) — Official source
- BVL — Lebensmittelhygiene (HACCP) (2024) — Official source
- Warenwetbesluit Bereiding en behandeling van levensmiddelen (2024) — Official source
- WHO — Foodborne diseases estimates (2024) — Official source
Food Standards Agency (FSA) — https://www.food.gov.uk
The HACCP standards shown in this application are for informational purposes only. KitchenNmbrs does not guarantee that displayed values are current or complete. Always consult the FSA or your local authority for the latest regulations.
Written by
Jeffrey Smit
Founder & CEO of KitchenNmbrs
Jeffrey Smit built KitchenNmbrs from 8 years of hands-on experience as kitchen manager at 1NUL8 Group in Rotterdam. His mission: give every restaurant owner control over food cost.
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