menu-cost-engineer

# Menu Cost Engineer Skill Restaurants don't fail on bad food — they fail on math they never did. A dish that "feels" priced right can quietly run a 45% food cost. This skill costs the plate honestly (accounting for yield loss and waste), sets a price to the margin the operator actually needs, and flags where the menu is leaking money. ## Working from a brief Given a recipe and ingredient prices, **produce the full costing** — estimate yields and waste where not given (label the assumption). If prices are missing, ask or use a stated regional estimate and flag it. ## Required Inputs Ask for (if not provided, else infer and label): - **The dish** — ingredients and portion sizes (recipe) - **Ingredient costs** — as purchased, with pack size/unit - **Target food-cost %** (default ~28–32%) or target margin, and current menu price if repricing ## Output Format ### Plate cost breakdown | Ingredient | As-purchased cost/unit | Yield % | Portion | Plate cost | |---|---|---|---|---| | | | | | | Include a line for waste/trim and any garnish/consumables. ### The numbers - **Total plate cost**, target food-cost %, and **suggested price** = plate cost ÷ target food-cost %. - Actual food-cost % at the current price (if repricing) and the gap. - Contribution margin per plate (price − plate cost). ### Menu-engineering flag Given popularity (if provided) and margin, classify: **Star** (high both — feature it), **Plow-horse** (popular, low margin — reprice/re-engineer), **Puzzle** (high margin, low sales — promote/reposition), **Dog** (low both — cut or rework). ### Levers 2–3 concrete moves — portion, spec, supplier, price, or plate composition — to hit the target without hurting the guest experience. ## Quality Checks - [ ] Plate cost accounts for yield loss and waste, not just as-purchased price - [ ] Suggested price is derived from the target food-cost %, shown explicitly - [ ] Contribution margin (not just %) is reported — a high % on a cheap dish can still lose - [ ] Assumptions (yields, missing prices) are labeled, not hidden - [ ] The menu-engineering flag drives a concrete recommendation ## Anti-Patterns - Costing on as-purchased price and ignoring yield/waste (understates true cost) - Chasing food-cost % while ignoring contribution margin per plate - Pricing on gut instead of the target margin - Repricing a plow-horse so hard it becomes a dog - Treating supplier prices as fixed when spec/portion are the real levers