Sales Mixes: Analyzing Food Costs and Pricing

Below is an excerpt from The Business Side of Restaurants: How Intelligent Restaurant Business Entrepreneurs & Investors Can Lead, Win and Make More Money in Life by Clifford K. Bramble. Every item sold within a business contributes to the product mix of item sales. The goal is to make sure they are all working in unison to make the business profitable. This step can apply to any type of business. It's based upon sales cost for products to make sure all products sold contribute to profit. If products are not profitable and are not selling as well as the others, they are not contributing to the profits. Drop them and sell products making the most money for the business. If this means deleting menu items, don't be afraid to do it. Otherwise, these products may go to waste. Maybe the menu item needs a better menu description. If there is a menu item listed as "Roasted Turnips," it may not be a top seller. Good words sell food. Bad words do not. Keep this in mind. Before an item…