The document provides tips for maximizing returns from a café menu, including positioning the café for its target market, developing the menu based on marketplace knowledge and customer needs, and managing margins through menu engineering and product development strategies that focus on high margin, popular items. It also offers suggestions for layout, equipment, food and drink options, and marketing the café's story and local sourcing.

1. Maximising Returns From Your
Menu
Charles Manners
Turpin Smale Catering Consultancy

2. What are the Key Ingredients
• Positioning / Design I
– target market (s)
N
• Marketplace N
knowledge O Customer
V
• Developing the A needs
menu T
I
• Systems - managing O
margins and sales N

3. Positioning
Look and Feel / Design

5. Story
• Storyboard at or near café entrance
• Supported by marketing / POS and social media/web
• Key elements to stress
– Local sourcing with specific details of ingredients
– Personality, emotion and distinctiveness

6. Signage
• Use of symbol similar to
• Signage to be welcoming
• Unusual signage to be considered
• Best signage is external tables and chairs
• Menu board signage not required for food items out on
display

7. Entrance
• Customers to be quickly aware of the flow and system
• Storyboard and awards at entrance
• Cakes and member of staff to be highly visible
• Menus clear and visible – well written

8. Equipment
• Spend good money on the workhorses – coffee machine,
dish washer and combi oven
• For servery as much tabling as possible in natural materials
• Multideck chiller
• Automatic bean to cup coffee machine
• Water boiler for tea
• Soup kettle
• Turbochef Soto or Electrolux high speed panini grill

9. Display
• We buy with our eyes
• Good lighting is needed
• Use different levels, colour and items relevant to the food

10. Marketplace Knowledge
Product / Design / Service / Price

12. Developing the menu

13. Servery Layout
Trays Cake Cold Drinks
Childrens Meals Sandwiches
Crisps Fruit Ice Cream
Hot Food Hot Drinks Impulse
Items Till Condiments &
Cutlery
Or Waitress Service

14. Cakes
• Great display (and taste) is what it is all about

15. Traybakes
• Homemade Flapjacks / Rocky road / Shortbread /
Millionaires Shortbread
• Easy to make, cost 30p to 45p each – excellent margin!

16. Cold Drinks
• In multi-deck chiller with no tray slide (ensuring maximum
capacity) with most profitable drinks at eye level

17. Childrens Meals
• Choice of items in lowest level of multi-deck chiller

18. Sandwiches & Salads
• Pre-prepared according to anticipated volumes and weather
• Always freshly made and given/discounted to staff if not
sold on the day
• No date on packaging required
• Sandwiches can be displayed at ambient under 4 hour rule

19. Crisps & Popcorn
• Display max 3 flavours as close to sandwiches as possible
for linked sale

20. Fruit
• You won’t sell much but healthy agenda is important

21. Ice Cream
• Small selection of local ice cream tubs and hand-held ices
or display the product really well

22. Hot Food
• Items must be ready-to-serve at peak times to minimise
queues
• Roast meat in roll at peak times
• Soup can be self-serve
• Pies
• Sausage Rolls
• Panini could be done off season or all the time if
using Electrolux High Speed Grill

23. Hot Drinks
• Coffees to include Flat White
• Teas in china/infuser pots and with mugs available to
include specialty teas on front counter
• Hot chocolate machine sells the product

24. Impulse Items by Till
• Small number of high price point (£1 plus) chocolate items
by till for those who have been able to resist the cake table

25. Special Interest Groups
• Cater for every known group
– WiFi
– Babies
– Gluten-free
– Lactose intolerant
– Dogs
– Cyclists

26. Condiments & Cutlery
• Premium brands to reflect overall image of café and site;
63% of consumers are willing to pay extra for a meal when
branded condiments are used – and taste better!
• Reasonable quality cutlery but cheap tea spoons

27. Managing Margins and Sales

28. UK Inflation Update
UK Inflation & Food Inflation Trends % Change vs Year Ago: Source ONS
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
10 r
11 r
20 Feb
20 Feb
20 Nov
20 Dec
10 v
20 Dec
20 Nov
20 Dec
20 ep
20 Sep
20 ay
10 l
20 ay
11 l
20 Jan
20 un
20 Jan
20 un
n
09 t
10 t
11 t
10 r
11 r
20 Aug
20 ug
20 Ju
20 Ju
20 Ma
20 Ma
20 Oc
20 Oc
20 Oc
20 Ap
20 Ap
20 No
Ja
M
M
S
J
J
A
10
11
09
10
10
10
10
10
11
11
11
11
11
12
09
10
11
11
20
CPI RPI excl mortgage Food inflation
Food inflation has continued to fall over the past few
periods as CPI and RPI are both showing signs of sustained
Inflation facts Jan 2012 reduction. Confidence in the UK economy continues to be
CPI 3.6% weak with debate around the future outlook. Bank lending
and consumer spend continue to be areas of concern for the
RPI excl. mortgages 4.0%
economies recovery
Food inflation 4.0%

29. Menu Engineering
High
Menu Mix %
WORKHORSE – Popular but STARS – Profitable and
less profitable popular
DOGS – Not profitable, not PUZZLES - Potentially profitable,
popular if only the customer would buy it!
Low
Low High
Contribution Margin

30. Menu Product Development
Not Easily
Low Staff
Prepared at
Input
Home
Secure
High
Supply
Margin
Chain
Excellent
Presentation
and Taste

31. Great Cafes
at
www.turpinsmale.co.uk