Profitability: How to Measure What Really Works on Your Menu
- Claire Brunaud
- May 28
- 2 min read
In the restaurant business, we often focus on what sells. And that makes sense—a popular dish is reassuring.
But if you’re only looking at sales, you might miss the most important metric: the actual profitability of each item on your menu.
Here’s the truth: some dishes you sell by the dozen might actually be losing you money.
Not because of a mistake or bad intentions—just a lack of perspective, time, or the right tools.
With a few simple indicators, you can take back control of your menu, boost your margins, and make smarter decisions.
A Popular Dish Isn’t Always a Profitable One
Let’s look at a real example:
Your house burger is a hit at €13.
But between the artisanal bun, AOP cheese, hand-cut fries, and fresh beef patty, your food costs skyrocket.
The result? You’re busy… but barely making a profit.
➡️ The solution: cross-check sales volume with the cost-to-price ratio. If it’s below x3, it’s time to adjust.
✅ With Fyre, you can instantly spot best-sellers that aren't boosting your margins.
The Dishes You Keep… That No One Orders
Every dish that doesn’t sell is dead weight:
It takes up space on your menu.
It ties up inventory.
It complicates your prep and supply chain.
➡️ Look for items with fewer than 5 sales per week—should you rework them, or remove them altogether?
👉 Fyre helps you easily identify your “ghost dishes”.
Analyze Your Menu by Category
A strong menu is all about balance—
Between starters, mains, desserts… and between food and beverages.
Ask yourself:
Are desserts contributing enough to the average check?
Are beverages being promoted effectively?
Are premium dishes positioned to perform?
👉 With Fyre, you can break down your data by category, format, channel—and even by service (lunch vs dinner).
Cross Popularity AND Profitability: The Winning Method
This is where the Popularity vs Profitability Matrix comes in.
It lets you classify each item into 4 clear groups:
“Stars”: high sales, high profit → promote more!
“Cash Cows”: profitable but low sales → highlight them.
“Dilemmas”: popular but low margin → adjust pricing or ingredients.
“Dead Weight”: neither profitable nor popular → time to let them go.
✅ Fyre builds this matrix automatically for your menu.
Adjust, Test, Improve
A small tweak can make a big impact:
Add €0.50 to a popular item.
Slightly reduce overly generous portions.
Swap out expensive ingredients for smart alternatives.
Create set menus that steer customers toward high-margin items.
All without compromising the customer experience.
📈 And with Fyre, you can track the real impact of every change.
In Summary
✔️ Just because a dish sells well doesn’t mean it’s good for your margins.
✔️ A profitable menu is a balanced, thoughtful, and data-driven one.
✔️ And it starts by measuring what really works.
With Fyre, you get clear, visual, and actionable data to make the right decisions at the right time.
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Curious to see what it looks like with your own numbers?
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