Your most popular dishes generate the least profit - a classic menu engineering problem. This happens because you've set prices by feel, not by margin. Here's how to recalculate your margins and make your bestsellers more profitable without losing them.
Why bestsellers often have the lowest margin
This isn't accidental. Many restaurant owners deliberately price their most popular dishes cheaper to attract guests. The problem: they forget that these dishes sell most frequently, so they have the biggest impact on your total profit.
💡 Example:
Restaurant with 3 main courses:
- Pasta (bestseller): 40 portions/week, margin €4 = €160
- Steak: 15 portions/week, margin €12 = €180
- Fish: 10 portions/week, margin €8 = €80
Total: €420/week. If pasta had €2 more margin: €500/week (+19%)
The four menu engineering categories
Menu engineering divides your dishes into 4 groups based on popularity and profitability:
- Stars: Popular and profitable (promote these!)
- Plowhorses: Popular but low margin (your bestsellers live here)
- Puzzles: High margin but not popular (need marketing)
- Dogs: Low margin and not popular (remove them)
Your bestsellers are probably Plowhorses. The goal: move them to Stars. It's the kind of thing you only learn after closing your first month at a loss - popularity doesn't equal profit.
Calculate your current margins per dish
For each dish you need:
- Selling price excl. VAT
- Total ingredient costs per portion
- Number sold per week/month
💡 Margin calculation per portion:
Pasta carbonara:
- Menu price: €16.50 incl. VAT
- Excl. VAT: €16.50 / 1.09 = €15.14
- Ingredient costs: €4.80
- Margin per portion: €15.14 - €4.80 = €10.34
Food cost: (€4.80 / €15.14) × 100 = 31.7%
Strategies to improve bestseller margins
1. Increase price carefully
Test small increases (€0.50 - €1.00). Bestsellers often have low price elasticity - customers order them even at a slightly higher price.
2. Lower ingredient costs
- Find a different supplier for the main ingredient
- Reduce portion size slightly
- Replace expensive garnishes with cheaper ones
- Use seasonal ingredients
⚠️ Caution:
Never change the taste of a bestseller. Customers order it because they love it. Focus on invisible cost savings.
3. Use menu psychology
- Place bestsellers prominently on the menu
- Use anchor pricing (more expensive dish nearby)
- Create a "Chef's Special" variant for more money
Calculate new margins
Calculate the impact of your adjustments:
💡 Impact calculation:
Pasta price from €16.50 to €17.50:
- New price excl. VAT: €17.50 / 1.09 = €16.06
- New margin: €16.06 - €4.80 = €11.26
- Extra per portion: €11.26 - €10.34 = €0.92
- At 40 portions/week: €0.92 × 40 × 52 = €1,914 extra per year
Tools for menu engineering
A food cost calculator shows the margin per dish directly and can calculate different pricing scenarios. The app automatically shows which dishes generate the most and least profit, so you can quickly see where the opportunities are.
How do you improve the margin of your bestsellers? (step by step)
Analyze your current situation
Make a list of your 5 best-selling dishes. Calculate the margin per portion for each dish (selling price excl. VAT minus ingredient costs) and count how many you sell per week.
Identify your biggest opportunities
Multiply the margin per portion by the number sold. The dish with the lowest total contribution but high sales volume is your biggest opportunity for improvement.
Test small adjustments
Start with one dish. Test a price increase of €0.50-1.00 or reduce ingredient costs by €0.25-0.50 per portion. Measure over 2-4 weeks whether sales drop.
Calculate the impact
Calculate how much extra profit the adjustment generates per week and per year. If the result is positive, apply the same to your other bestsellers.
✨ Pro tip
Track your top 5 bestsellers over the next 30 days and calculate their exact profit per portion. If those dishes hit 30% food cost or better, you've solved 75% of your margin problems without touching the rest of your 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 increase the price without losing customers?
For bestsellers you can usually increase by €0.50-1.00 without noticeable loss. Test it for 2-3 weeks and monitor your sales numbers. Popular dishes are less price sensitive.
Should I adjust ingredient costs or menu prices first?
Start with ingredient costs - they're invisible to customers. Replace expensive garnishes, negotiate with suppliers, or adjust portion sizes slightly. Only raise prices if cost reductions aren't enough.
How do I know if my food cost percentage is acceptable after changes?
Aim for 28-35% food cost for most restaurants. Below 25% might mean you're pricing too high, above 35% you're probably not earning enough. But focus on total profit dollars, not just percentages.
📚 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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