A kitchen dashboard shows you at a glance the numbers that matter: food cost per dish, profitability and popularity. With this data you can make conscious choices for your menu instead of guessing. You immediately see which dishes make money and which ones actually cost you money.
From guessing to data-driven decisions
Many restaurant owners make menu choices based on gut feeling. This dish 'sells well', that dish 'takes too much work'. But what if you knew exactly which dishes generate the most revenue and which ones are popular with guests?
💡 Example dashboard insights:
Top 5 dishes last month:
- Steak: 45 sold, 28% food cost, €12.50 profit per plate
- Salmon: 38 sold, 32% food cost, €9.20 profit per plate
- Pasta carbonara: 52 sold, 24% food cost, €8.80 profit per plate
- Vegetarian burger: 29 sold, 35% food cost, €6.10 profit per plate
- Caesar salad: 31 sold, 42% food cost, €3.20 profit per plate
Conclusion: Caesar salad is popular but unprofitable
Four quadrants for smart menu choices
With a dashboard you divide your dishes into four categories:
- Stars: Popular and profitable → Promote these dishes
- Plowhorses: Popular but not profitable → Raise price or lower costs
- Puzzles: Profitable but not popular → Better promote or present differently
- Dogs: Not popular and not profitable → Replace or remove
⚠️ Heads up:
Popular dishes aren't automatically profitable. A dashboard prevents you from promoting your best-selling dish while losing money on it.
Concrete menu adjustments based on data
With dashboard insights you make these decisions:
- Price adjustments: Raise prices of popular but unprofitable dishes by €1-2
- Ingredient optimization: Replace expensive ingredients in popular dishes with cheaper alternatives
- Portion size: Reduce portions of dishes with high food cost
- Menu positioning: Place profitable dishes more prominently on the menu
- Seasonal menu: Replace unprofitable dishes with new options
💡 Example adjustment:
Caesar salad from the example above:
- Current price: €14.50 (food cost 42%)
- Option 1: Raise price to €16.50 (food cost 36%)
- Option 2: Use cheaper cheese, food cost to 35%
- Option 3: Smaller portion, same price
Result: From €3.20 to €6.50 profit per plate
Weekly menu reviews with dashboard data
Schedule 15 minutes each week to review your dashboard:
- Which 3 dishes sold the best?
- Which 3 generated the most profit?
- Are there dishes underperforming?
- Have ingredient prices gone up?
This routine helps you constantly optimize your menu instead of making major changes twice a year.
From Excel chaos to clear dashboard
Many entrepreneurs try to track this in Excel, but it quickly becomes a mess of spreadsheets. An integrated system like KitchenNmbrs shows all this data in one overview, automatically calculated from your recipes and sales data.
✨ The result:
A menu where every dish has earned its place. No more guessing, but conscious choices based on numbers that maximize your profit.
How do you build a data-driven menu? (step by step)
Gather basic data from your current menu
Note for each dish: selling price, ingredient costs and number sold last month. This forms the basis for all further analysis.
Calculate food cost and profit per dish
Divide ingredient costs by selling price (excl. VAT) for food cost percentage. Subtract ingredient costs from selling price for absolute profit per plate.
Place dishes in the four quadrants
Create a chart with popularity (number sold) on the X-axis and profitability on the Y-axis. This immediately shows which dishes are Stars, Plowhorses, Puzzles or Dogs.
Make concrete adjustments per quadrant
Promote Stars, make Plowhorses more expensive or cheaper to source, better position Puzzles, replace Dogs with new dishes.
Monitor weekly and adjust where needed
Check your top and bottom performers each week. Adjust prices when ingredient costs rise and replace consistently underperforming dishes.
✨ Pro tip
Start with one perfect dish: pick your best-selling dish and optimize it to 28-30% food cost. This teaches you the process and delivers immediate results.
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 often should I review my menu data?
Review your sales figures weekly and do the full analysis monthly. Check ingredient prices with each delivery, as they can unexpectedly affect your food cost.
What if a popular dish is unprofitable?
Raise the price by €1-2, use cheaper ingredients or make the portion smaller. Popular dishes can usually handle a small price increase without losing many customers.
Do I really need to analyze all dishes?
Start with your 10 best-selling dishes. They make up 80% of your revenue. Once those are optimized, you've solved the biggest part of the problem.
Can't I just do this by feel?
Gut feeling often deceives you. A dish that 'sells well' can be unprofitable, while an 'expensive' dish might actually generate great profit. Numbers give you certainty.
How do I prevent spending too much time on analysis?
Use a system that calculates automatically. Manual Excel work takes hours, an integrated dashboard shows everything in minutes.
What if customers complain about price increases?
Raise prices gradually (€0.50-1.00 at a time) and start with your most popular dishes. Those usually have the most room for adjustments.
📚 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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