Menu Costing and Analysis

In today’s dynamic foodservice environment, fluctuating costs and shifting consumer preferences make it difficult for operators to maintain profitable and appealing menus. The Menu Costing and Analysis activity provides a powerful solution by enabling users to evaluate item-level profitability, cost trends, and popularity. This tool allows users to simulate pricing and cost changes, compare performance across stores, and make informed decisions that align with business goals. By integrating data from the Point of Sale and Data Central’s ClickHouse engine, it delivers actionable insights that help optimize menu offerings and drive financial performance

How do I review the data in Menu Costing and Analysis?

1. Go to Menu Costing and Analysis
2. Enter the following:
   • Date Range – Choose date range with which to pull items sold. Date range max is one year prior to current system date.
   • Store Group - All available store groups will be displayed.  Defaults to all groups.  Users can select one or more groups.
   • Store(s)- All available (non-hidden) stores will be displayed. Defaults to all selected. Users can select one or more stores.
   • Order Mode – If order modes configured in the POS, user can specify which order modes they would like to be included for the data.
   • Initial List of Items
   1. Blank – Start with a blank slate and add POS items manually
   2. All Active Items – Activity will populate all active items based on Date Range, Stores, and Order Mode selections
   3. Template - if templates have been created, they can be selected here.

How do I create a template?

1. Go to Menu Costing and Analysis
2. Enter the necessary details
3. Select Next
4. Select the ... button
5. Select Save as Template
6. Enter the template name
7. Select Save

How do I add a category to a template?

1. Go to Menu Costing and Analysis
2. Enter the necessary details including the template to edit
3. Select Next
4. Select the + tab
5. Enter the category name
6. Select Create

How do edit a template?

1. Go to Menu Costing and Analysis
2. Enter the necessary details including the template to edit
3. Select Next
4. Make all adjustments
5. Select the ... button
6. Select Save as Template
7. Enter select the template from the list
8. Select Save

How do I add an item to a template?

1. Go to Menu Costing and Analysis
2. Enter the necessary details including the template to edit
3. Select Next
4. Select the Category
5. Select Add Item

What are the column definitions?

• Average Menu Price - Weighted Average by quantity
• Category Popularity - Sum of item's category popularity (should be 100%)
• Overall Sales Popularity - Sum of item's overall sales popularity
• Quantity - Sum of item's quantity
• Total Sales - Sum of item's total sales
• Avg Cost $/% - Weighted Average by quantity
• Margin $/% -  Weighted Average by quantity – selling price minus the cost
• Avg Price w/ Sub Items - Average Price of the Menu Item, including Sub Items
• Avg Cost w/ Sub Items - Weighted Average by quantity
• Margin w/ Sub Items - Weighted Average by quantity
• Recipe - Select the recipe icon to view the quantities of ingredients that contribute to the recipe, and their cost.

How do I view sub items?

Click the chevron ( V ) on an item to open a list of sub items.

To populate sub item data for the current category or all categories at once, select the action menu ( ⋮ ) and choose Populate Subitems.

What are sub items?

These sub items are modifiers or Q-factors that have been sold with an item.

How do I use the chart?

The Chart action button on the main page will open the interactive chart of the data. Use the mouse scroll to zoom within the chart. Click and drag to focus on different areas of the chart. Hover over data points to view item information.

What are the chart filter options?

• Item Category – If categories have been created, select one or more categories to filter on
• Item – Select a specific item within the selected category
• Date Start – Date Range can be adjusted by month

How do I use the What If function?

1. Select a category to use this function. The What If action button on the main page will open an interactive form for hypothetical price and cost changes.
2. Adjusting Pricing and Cost - Avg Menu Price and Avg Cost $/% are the columns that can be adjusted. Click the blue number within the item column to open the calculator panel. Column Values will automatically adjust when a new value is entered.
3. Reset -  Adjusted items will display a blue square next to the item. Hovering over the blue square will display details about when this item was modified and by which user. These values can be reset by selecting the Reset action button. NOTE: This will reset all item changes in the category.

FAQ

Who cares about menu costing and analysis?

This activity is essential for restaurant operators, product enablement teams, finance analysts, and menu developers who need to monitor item profitability, adjust pricing strategies, and respond to market trends. It also supports training and support teams who guide users through adoption and troubleshooting.

What is the goal of menu costing and analysis?

The goal is to provide a centralized, data-driven platform where users can assess menu item costs, margins, and popularity, simulate pricing changes, and understand the financial impact of adjustments. This helps ensure that menus remain both profitable and aligned with customer demand.

Where can this information be viewed?

Reports and visualizations are generated using POS data and ClickHouse processing, with options to filter by date range, store, and item.

What other reports or activities are impacted by an entry in menu costing and analysis?

Changes in this activity can influence recipe cost reports, pricing strategies, and margin analysis dashboards. It also supports planning for promotions, training materials, and operational audits, and is often referenced in product rollout documentation and enhancement requests.

What do the ratings mean?

• Dog – Low Popularity, Low Profitability
• Puzzle – Low Popularity, High Profitability
• Plow Horse – High popularity, Low Profitability
• Star – High Popularity, High Profitability

How and when is the data in menu costing and analysis populated?

The data is pulled daily from the Point of Sale and posted to our ClickHouse repository.