From the time COVID-19 hit the world aggressively in the year 2019 and with the pandemic still continuing, Hospitality is one such industry that took the biggest blow in terms of generating business. Being hospitable has always been in blood for Indians especially with the diversified culture and values that’s spread across different states in our country. We never leave a stone unturned when it comes to serving people with a treat, be it at your home or restaurants. As diverse our food habits are, so are the cuisines that forms the integral part of India. Hence, we have to keep in mind all of these while crafting a menu exclusively for a restaurant or any dining establishment because food speaks differently in every state and every taste is unique to the culture and traditions that’s passed on from generations and kitchens on to commercial platforms. Preparing them in a short span of time and making them viable for a business model comes with a lot of challenge as customers would not want to compromise with the taste and quality. At the same time, we have to understand that one restaurant cannot accommodate too many cuisine in one menu, thereby creating confusion and taste imbalance.
Thus, right menu plays a crucial role in controlling operational costs and enhancing customer experience. This can be achieved only by optimising the number of menu items served by any dining establishments. Going for a shorter menu shall be the most appropriate decision during COVID pandemic phase with tightened and varying restrictions going around due to 2nd and 3rd wave of COVID attacking us periodically. Let’s now understand how a limited menu can avoid customer confusion while making choices as to what to order.
Adopting a limited menu over a detailed menu shall be beneficial for your restaurant business. Here, are the 6 reasons why we should go for it:
1. Food Quality is Improved
Limited menu shall improve the food quality as the chefs will have to focus on lesser number of menu items and prepare them more religiously. Inconsistencies in taste and quality shall also go down as there shall be improved staff co-ordination. Precisely, during pandemic stage, this shall be to your advantage as customers will now focus more on food quality. Good food quality in a restaurant shall assure customer satisfaction and lead to good reviews.
2. Less Cumbersome Ordering Process
Ordering Process is simplified with a limited menu to deal with. Restaurant can focus on better customer service and work co-ordination. Also, with a precise menu comes the advantage of presenting it with descriptive way thereby encouraging the customers to try each dish at least once.
3. Food and Labour Costs Control
Smaller menu saves cost of ingredients that goes into several dishes and also, the labour involved in preparing those dishes. Food wastage and therefore, inventory wastage can be prevented in this manner. This shall surely help to lower down the costs in the midst of COVID-19 pandemic.
4. Better returns on Invested Money
Trimmed menus improve the sales of even higher cost items in the menu thereby generating better returns on investment. This shall allow the restaurant to focus on specific cuisine say for e.g. Chinese/Continental/Indian etc. and grab more customer attention and increase quality of food attracting repeat customers. Planning a unique item everyday as Dish of the Day shall help the restaurant to experiment with new menu items and narrow down the attraction of maximum customers. This will improve the performance of the restaurant.
5. Enhance Branding and Promotion
Limited menu can enhance the branding of the restaurant as the menu would do the talking of what concept the restaurant is all about. This shall give the customers better clarity of the food served at the restaurant. Hence, the most important point to be taken care of is wisely deciding on a shorter menu after thorough study of what customers are wanting to have. It is advisable to include those items in the menu that can boost sales, thus increasing brand awareness.
6. Motivate Customers to Order More
Smaller menu can motivate customers to order more as they may not feel it enough and fear of the lesser number of items ordered. On the other hand, an extensive menu shall only confuse the customer and they may land up ordering only few. However, this may not be the case for every restaurant model. Also, if executed wisely to meet the right need, a limited menu can work in a restaurant’s favour.
With the COVID-19 pandemic spread globally, food and hospitality business has taken a toll. Reducing the costs is utmost to survive in this uncertain situation and to sustain the business, focusing on a limited menu can work wonders.
Bistro Brain shall be around with more tips and advices on running a restaurant that shall help you improve the productivity and sales. For any consulting services, please feel free to write on contact@bistrobrain.com or call us on +91-9834526036.
