The process to determine the pricing of the dishes is a challenge for restaurateurs, since this value will be fundamental to guarantee the operation and sustainability of the business over time.
In this sense, the efficient management of factors such as the cost of merchandise, rent of the premises, employee payroll, implementation of minimum waste policies, among others, must be constantly analyzed in order to establish an optimal pricing strategy. The following recommendations can be very useful to guide you and help you achieve this objective:
- Analyze the group of customers to whom you will serve: There are different clients for every type of restaurant whether it is gourmet, buffet, fusion, vegan, fast food or other.
- Offer food according to the selected target customers and design the menu with the dishes you will offer.
- Establish a portfolio of suppliers that will allow you to have the right quality and quantity of the products you need to operate your restaurant. The better the prices you are given in this purchasing process, the more competitive prices you can offer in your restaurant.
- Prepare your cost breakdown (a file, either digital or printed, which includes the ingredients of the preparation, their costs, the quantities to be used and the portions obtained) with the information of the recipes you want to offer. Take into account the exact weight per portion to prepare them and the best quality/price ratio obtained from suppliers in the purchase of the ingredients needed.
To obtain reliable results both in the separation and determination of the weight and costs of each of the ingredients that make up the dish, it is important to consider that the cost breakdown should be done with at least 10 portions. In this way you will be able to identify the amount in weight of each component and assign their respective costs.
- Determine both your fixed and variable costs and the profit you wish to make to incorporate them into the pricing process.
- Considering all the costs involved in offering food services will allow you to set the prices in an objective and organized way.
- Review your cost structure periodically, making price adjustments preferably gradually and during seasonal changes, to avoid resistance and negative comments from diners.
There are multiple variables that must be taken into account in the process of setting the prices of the dishes of your restaurant. In this sense, it is essential to do it in an objective and organized way, considering all the fixed and variable costs necessary to keep the business running. It is also important to establish a profitability that satisfies the effort and investment you are making as a restaurateur.