Seems unfeasible doesn’t it, the American eatery sector is in confusion as a new act was accepted in March 2010 that states all dining places with more than 20 sites have to have the dietetic and calorific values for each product on the menu in the Digitale Speisekarte Für Restaurants same size and color print as the item name, type and fee.

As you can visualize, this is causing a giant issue in the quick serve restaurant sector, as this is something you didn’t sign up for when you bought the permit – is it?

There are 2 approaches to a solution, one is less costly still it is not as flexible and alterations to the menu are pricey, so let us look at what choices the restaurant owner/operator has.

Paper based menus.

All bistros keep these, from in the bistro, they maybe have a takeaway menu too, so all these need reprinting by the stationer by March 2011 to meet the new act that has been approved.

Advantages are your stationer will already have your menu set up, so limited set up costs will be incurred for adding the extra information.

Using printed menus will not allow you to promote a daily special, for any restaurant owner this hand tying is limiting as they cannot bring to the client anything that is cost effective and current from the market..

Digital menu board.

This is a menu that is using new technology to exhibit the menu with all the data you want, these consist of a commercial grade LCD display and an ads player and these campaign players store internally the adverts and menus on an inner memory card. So once you have made you menu layout with images, description, pricing and not forgetting the all important nutritional information, you can set your menu running and display it in the best possible way.

Now what if you want to advertise a special that is not on the menu?

Not like printed method, a digital menu can be amended and the new item added and advertised throughout the cafe within five minutes.

The advantages out weigh any drawbacks with a digital poster or digital menu board, as these units are so adaptable many businesses are using them with little if any technical understanding.

Digital Menu Boards Assist Restaurants To Overcome the Nutritional Marking Problems

Digital menu boards are supporting small to medium quick serve restaurants to succeed with their plight of providing this information whilst increasing sales and reducing advertising costs, as these can help restaurant managers overcome the labelling of their food to include the nutritional content for consumers to see prior to placing their food order.

What is the main essential element for any cafe owner?

It is the ability of having a menu that appeals to customers, due to it’s importance this is the first task any new restaurant completes first with an eye catching menu. Without this the customer is left feeling unwelcome and they for sure will return to the favoured snack bars. The menu can be responsible for your cafe being packed or just a few consumers per day.

Producing a menu that works successfully can be split into several parts; production of the menu, item cost, product selling price and the menu layout, each one contribute to a winning formula.

There are 5 fatal mistakes restaurant operators make with their menus, avoid these and your cafe will be packed with loyal customers.

1. Target the menu to your clients, what item sells most? Which food product do other cafes sell out of first? Do some research by asking people in the trade and if this is your first menu this will pay off for you.
2. Record your daily sales, digitalen menu this will keep you closely informed with what your customers want, you can see what sells best and what the worst selling item is, then you can target the best selling to maximise results.
3. Carry out surveys with people you would target when they are not in your cafe, find out what they like and where they eat and you can use this data to target them in the future.
4. Streamline your menu – use day parting by offering breakfast meal deals, then lunch and dinner specials, otherwise customers will be inundated with the menu and when employees ask for their order they will just pick something that is “safe” and it may not be something they necessarily want.
5. Menu layout – this will dictate what food your customers will buy, the most important and highly profitable food should be positioned at the top so they the maximum exposure. Again using day parting can achieve this, so that your consumers give the specials the most attention.