Menu Analysis - Pricing, Consideration of Profit Margin - Research Paper Example

Menu Analysis of affiliation Menus Analysis The basic principles of preparation of a perfect menu include appropriate pricing,consideration of profit margin, less descriptive and appealing for all cases, but more for children. This essay seeks to examine, the menu provided relative to the principles that guide menu preparation. As a point of departure any menu must be appealing, price friendly, descriptive and images well illustrated to ensure that the customers get the entire necessary information requisite before making a decision (National Restaurant Association, 2000). In the case given, the menu the design does not meet the psychological pricing. In essence, the prices are placed some point in the midst of a description, which does not appeal to the client. The menu design should be able to capture the client’s eyes and mind to enable quick but correct decision-making. A well-designed menu such as a letter fold format helps the customer to follow, the description as given by the hotel aide. As per the price menu under consideration, the hotel check indicates that, the hotel lies in the class of tourist, the lowest class in the hotel rating. The pricing and the foods offered indicate the class of the hotel must be low. For instance, the cost of the garden griller, which is $8.75, is relatively low compared to one or two stars hotels. The first flaw in this menu is the lack of the name of the hotel. The name of the hotel is a critical component on the menu. It adds confidence to the clients. The other flaw explicit in this menu is the use of plastic cover. This is really disorienting to the clients who judge the quality of the foods and beverage from the appearance and quality of the menu. A good menu should have a canvas or hard cover. This makes it appealing to the clients. In the case of pricing, the foods and beverages should be priced accordingly to ensure that appropriate profit margins are achieved. The dollar sign used should be avoided. Overpricing or under pricing should be avoided by first assessing the industrial average prices per a certain type of food or beverage. In addition, the anticipated profit margin should be calculated relative to the buying price of the material and the labour used. This will ensure that the hotel does not run on losses and at the same time, it does not loose customers due to exorbitant prices. This implies that, despite the menu being an internal instrument of a hotel, it should be well compared with the rest within the same industry. In essence, pricing methods such as those based on competition, factor pricing method or percentage mark up should be used to ensure a well-balanced menu in term of prices. The following formula can be used Raw food cost = target FC % *Menu Price In terms of visibility of the prices, it should be designed in such a way that, it clearly corresponds to the item. This makes clients capture the price and the item with a lot of ease. Consideration of the nature of description in this menu, it is needless for the customers. The description in menu should be brief and to the point. The long description in the menu under analysis is not necessary since the clients might not have time to read the whole content. This implies that, the menus should have catchy titles and respective explanations to ensure adequate information within short and few sentences. This makes the menu first class and eases the work of explanation. In addition, the more information given may not be of importance to clients who do not understand the terms used in the hotel industry. This class of clients needs an explanation and it serves better than the wordy sentences. Further, on the visibility of the menu under discussion is not high class visual. Better title fonts should be used. Large fonts such as “26 or 28” should be used on titles for clarity. This kind of presentation will influence the clients’ decision making psychologically and this may lead to the straight-line pricing. In essence, good presentation influences the psychological setup of a client hence decides based on what is seen first and last. This implies that the content in the menu should be placed in such manner that the eye movement begins from the centre, upper left and then upper left, bottom left corner, upper right corner bottom right corner and upper left corner. In the case of children menu, appealing images of the foods should be placed right after the name of the food or beverage to ensure that the children are pleased with the presentation. Well-designed images of the food should be indicated. Of more importance, the children’s menu should be separate from the rest. This is to ensure that the children do not have hard times in reading what they need. In essence, the children’s menu should be visual and less stuffed. This increases clarity. The menu does not have images or photographs of the foods and beverages sold. This is a complex menu for clients to understand or have the picture of the nature of food that they anticipate to be served. A good menu should at all times have a clear and explicit photograph of food or beverage right next to the name. This will appeal to the client and will immediately create a picture of the food or drink. In essence, the images play a critical role in branding the foods and beverages on sale. In addition, there is no colour used and this makes it dull and unappealing. Some of the fundamental characteristics of a good menu design include Readable Use of appealing colours and logos A blank space between items Use of brand names in labelling the items of sale such as coke for soda On a similar note, the TOMA (top of mind awareness) should be applied appropriately to ensure that those clients who come in for take home food find an assorted variety, which they can choose from. An interaction function on what is available should be made in such manner that the clients understands easily what they need and this will speed up the process of ordering and making of decisions that pertains the prices of these foods (National Restaurant Association, 2000). Recommendations The menu under consideration is of low quality since it does not follow the fundamental principles of menu preparation. The design layout is poor since it does not offer adequate visual description of the foods and beverages on offered. This makes the clients to have a faked picture of what they anticipate to be served. Any appealing menu should be well designed with attracting colours used and more importantly the principle of pricing and control applied. In addition, the principle of descriptive and cost control should be applied. However, these are purely management attributed and the checks should be done and necessary corrections made by the concerned management department. It is imperative to note that, marketing is a foremost tool in business since its essence is pool clients towards a certain brand. In this case, the menu plays a fundamental role in marketing the various foods and beverages offered and it is requisite that all the fundamental principles are adhered to ensure effective marketing in a bid to realize the projected profit margins. The other recommendation on this given menu is the pricing system. It appears that no particular system has been used in arriving at the indicated prices. This implies that the prices presented might not reflect the desired goals of the organization. The profit contribution pricing method integrated with the psychological pricing attributes should be used to produce a superb menu with balanced prices. In addition, the menu should embrace truth laws such as the point of origin of the product, the size, weight and use of the merchandising terms. These attributes are critical for clients who are engrossed on certain types of common brands. In conclusion, an apt menu should embrace all the menu truth laws and principles, which define the products on offer. This analysis is critical since it has helped in detecting flaws in the menu under analysis menu and has further offered recommendations, which will see all aspects of marketing attained in a hotel set up. References National Restaurant Association (U.S.). (2000). Menu analysis. Washington, DC: National Restaurant Association. Read More