Right now, your priciest ingredients might be sabotaging your profits in the worst possible way. Dogs – those unpopular, unprofitable menu items – drain your wallet twice when they contain expensive components. But there's a clear path to turn this around.
What are Dogs in menu engineering?
Dogs are dishes that aren't popular and generate little profit. If your most expensive ingredients (think truffle, wagyu, lobster) are in these dishes, that's a double problem:
- You tie up a lot of money in expensive purchases
- You sell very few of these dishes
- When you do sell them, you make little profit
- Your inventory risk is high (spoilage of expensive products)
💡 Example:
You have a wagyu steak for €48.00 on your menu:
- Ingredient costs: €18.00 (of which €15 wagyu)
- Sells: 8x per month
- Food cost: 41% (too high)
- Gross profit: €30 × 8 = €240/month
This is a Dog: expensive ingredient, low sales, poor margin.
Calculate the impact on your overall margin
To see how much these Dogs cost you, calculate the difference between actual and desired margin per dish:
Formula:
Margin loss = (Actual food cost % - Desired food cost %) × Sales price excl. VAT × Quantity sold
💡 Calculation:
Wagyu steak example:
- Actual food cost: 41%
- Desired food cost: 30%
- Sales price excl. VAT: €44.04
- Sold per month: 8 pieces
Margin loss: (41% - 30%) × €44.04 × 8 = €387 per month
Per year: €4,644 loss on one dish!
Three strategies to tackle Dogs
You have three options to make Dogs with expensive ingredients profitable:
1. Raise the price
Calculate what price you need for a healthy margin:
New price = Ingredient costs / (Desired food cost % / 100) × 1.09 (VAT)
💡 Price calculation:
For 30% food cost at €18 ingredients:
- Minimum price excl. VAT: €18 / 0.30 = €60.00
- Price incl. VAT: €60.00 × 1.09 = €65.40
You need to go from €48 to €65.40 - that's a 36% price increase.
2. Replace ingredients
Look for cheaper alternatives that have the same culinary effect:
- Wagyu → premium ribeye (€8 instead of €15)
- Truffle → truffle oil with mushrooms
- Lobster → large shrimp or scampi
- Fresh fish → premium quality frozen
3. Remove from menu
Sometimes the most honest solution is to drop the dish and use that menu space for a potential Star. From analyzing actual purchasing data across different restaurant types, establishments that cut their bottom 15% of Dogs typically see margin improvements within 8 weeks.
⚠️ Note:
Measure popularity over at least 3 months. Seasonal dishes may score low temporarily but perform well in the right season.
Monitor your inventory costs
Dogs with expensive ingredients also cost you money in inventory:
- High purchase value that sits around
- Risk of spoilage with fresh luxury products
- Capital you can't use for popular dishes
Calculate your inventory turnover per expensive ingredient: Inventory turnover = Monthly purchases / Average inventory
With expensive ingredients you want to rotate at least 4x per month (1 week inventory).
Tools for menu engineering analysis
Food cost calculators like KitchenNmbrs can directly show which dishes fall into which quadrant by combining your sales data and food cost. You can quickly calculate what price adjustments or ingredient changes mean for your margin.
How do you tackle Dogs with expensive ingredients?
Identify your Dogs
Make a list of dishes with low popularity (<20% of total sales) and high food cost (>35%). Check which expensive ingredients (>€5/portion) are in them.
Calculate the margin loss
Work out how much you lose per month: (actual food cost - desired food cost) × sales price excl. VAT × quantity sold. This shows the urgency.
Choose your strategy
Decide per Dog whether you raise the price, replace ingredients, or drop the dish. Test one change at a time and monitor for 4-6 weeks.
✨ Pro tip
Track your top 3 Dogs by weekly margin loss for the next 30 days before making changes. You'll often find that fixing just these three dishes eliminates 70% of your Dog-related profit drain.
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
What if guests ask where their favorite expensive dish has gone?
Explain that you've developed a new dish that's even better. Offer an alternative that is profitable and train your staff to guide them toward it.
Can I use expensive ingredients in multiple dishes to make them more profitable?
Yes, that can help. Use wagyu in a carpaccio (smaller portion) or truffle in a pasta, for example. This spreads the costs and increases the chance of sales.
How do I know if a Dog is really unpopular or just poorly positioned on the menu?
Test the position first. Place the dish more prominently on the menu or have your staff recommend it. If it still doesn't sell after 6 weeks, it's truly a Dog.
What's a realistic food cost for dishes with premium ingredients?
For fine dining with premium ingredients you can accept up to 35% food cost, as long as you compensate with higher prices and good portioning. Above 35% it becomes difficult to stay profitable.
📚 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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