Essay MED201: Menu Engineering and Design – Competitor analysis – Portfolio Making Assignment Help

Assignment Task:

Learning Outcomes
a) Analyse a variety of menus to determine customer requirements, current trends, marketing strategies, and nutritional content
b) Plan and design a balanced menu for a current commercial establishment

Context:
When developing a menu it is critical to consider the essential and social needs of your customer, and accurately predict what the customer is likely to buy, and how much they are willing to spend. Analysis of competition to determine customer requirements, current trends, and marketing strategies is essential when planning and developing menus.

Designing a menu that meets customer’s requirements has to be balanced with portioning and costing products to remain financially viable. Furthermore, it is essential for culinary professionals to have an understanding of the legislative requirements and principles required when preparing menus for people with special dietary needs for health, lifestyle or cultural reasons.

This assessment is broken down into two (2) parts. It requires students to conduct a competitor analysis on a variety of menus to determine customer requirements, current industry trends, marketing strategies and consumer’s nutritional needs.

To finish, students are required to plan and design a balanced menu for a commercial establishment that meets their customer requirements, and considers costing of the products to ensure the establishment is profitable.

Students will be assessed on their ability to effectively analyse a variety of menus and incorporate their research into the development and design of a balanced and contemporary menu.

Instructions:
This assessment is broken down in two (2) parts.

Part A (400 words): Competitor analysis

Conduct an analysis of competitor’s menus to determine customer requirements, trends, marketing strategies and nutritional needs:
– Research six (6) current restaurant venues and their menus, and analyse the differences and similarities in their menu choices. Focus on current trends including the increasing need for special dietary dishes and the government and customer driven need to display nutritional content, allergens and kilojoules.
– Choose three (3) significant marketing strategies that are currently being used in the restaurant and catering industry.
– Describe each of your chosen strategies and the impact they are having on customer engagement and growth across the industry; consider special diets and any negative impacts.
– Discuss how these strategies are influencing customer choices and how you feel they will subsequently change food businesses as a whole.

Part B (400 words): Plan and design a balanced menu
– Create a menu consisting of fifteen dishes for your chosen establishment in Assessment 1. The menu must be balanced in texture, flavour, colour, temperature, varied cookery methods and presentation. The menu must also be presented in a contemporary menu format.
– Consider the use of menu engineering when designing and pricing menu items to ensure profitability.
– Provide an overview of your chosen menu and reasons for your choice of menu, discuss: space, workflow, equipment, staff, target customers and their disposable income and average spend required to cover fixed costs of rent, utilities and wages.
– Categorise your ingredient list from your menu and research suppliers that will be able to supply those products to you. Consider location, delivery times, frequency, minimum orders and food safety certifications required.
– Prepare recipe costing’s for five (5) dishes of your choice and list the recommended selling price for each one.