Menu Engineering Calculator

Categorize menu items as Stars, Plow Horses, Puzzles, or Dogs.

Menu Price

Food Cost

Quantity Sold (Period)

Total Menu Items

Total Covers (Period)

Avg CM (All Items)

Tab to move between fields

Category (1=Star, 2=Plow Horse, 3=Puzzle, 4=Dog)

Contribution Margin$12.50

Food Cost %30.6%

Menu Mix %5%

Total Contribution$1,875.00

Total Revenue$2,700.00

Expected Mix4

How to Use This Calculator

Enter the menu price ($) and food cost ($) for the item being analyzed.
Set the quantity sold during the analysis period, total menu items, and total covers.
Review the menu engineering category: Star (high profit, high popularity), Plow Horse, Puzzle, or Dog.
Check contribution margin, food cost %, and menu mix percentage.
Use category to decide: promote Stars, reprice Plow Horses, reposition Puzzles, consider removing Dogs.

What each input means

Menu Price: Selling price of the menu item.
Food Cost: Total ingredient cost per plate.
Quantity Sold (Period): Number of this item sold during the analysis period.
Total Menu Items: Total number of items on the menu.
Total Covers (Period): Total covers served during the analysis period.
Avg CM (All Items): Average contribution margin across all menu items.

Identify Input Parameters
4 parameters
Menu Price = 18, Food Cost = 5.5, Quantity Sold (Period) = 150, Total Menu Items = 25 = 6 input(s) provided
Calculate Category
Category = Star (high profit
1 = 1
Calculate Contribution Margin
Contribution Margin
12.5 = $12.5
Calculate Food Cost %
Food Cost %
30.6 = 30.6