Key points
- Rate every item on two things: how many servings sold and how much gross profit each serving earns.
- Compare each item with two lines: average servings sold per item and average gross profit per serving.
- Protect items that sell and earn well, reprice or re-cost those that earn little, promote those that sell little, and rethink the rest.
- Make the map every month and change one thing per item, so you can judge the result.
Ask Kazeer AI "What sells best?" (in Indonesian, "Apa yang paling laku?"), and the answer looks something like this (sample data): "This week your best seller is Kopi Susu Aren, with 128 cups sold." (Kazeer AI mostly replies in Indonesian; this answer is translated.)
That answer matters, but it's only half the picture. The item that sells the most doesn't always leave you the most money per serving. Some items sell well because they're cheap, and some rarely get ordered even though each serving earns a lot.
This article uses a simple menu map: you rate each item on two questions, then place it in one of four groups. Each group calls for a different move.
Example: Every menu item, price, COGS figure, and sales number in this article is an example, not data from a real business.
Two questions for every item
For each menu item, answer two things for the same period, such as one month:
- How many servings did you sell?
- How much gross profit does each serving earn? That's the selling price minus the COGS per serving.
Your sales records show how many of each item you sold. The COGS per serving comes from your costing. If you don't have it yet, start with the guide to calculating COGS per menu item. In Kazeer, COGS per item can also be calculated from the item's recipe. Use selling prices before tax.
Multiply the two and you get the item's total gross profit for the month. That number combines how well it sells and how much it earns, so it's useful for seeing which items contribute the most. To decide what to do, though, you need to look at the two questions separately.
If your menu is long, make separate maps for drinks and food. Comparing iced tea with Nasi Goreng isn't fair, because their prices and COGS are so different.
You compare each item against two lines:
- The sales line: average servings sold per item, which is total servings sold divided by the number of items.
- The profit line: average gross profit per serving, which is total gross profit divided by total servings sold.
Those two lines put every item into one group:
| Gross profit per serving above average | Gross profit per serving below average |
|---|
| Sales above average | Sells well, earns well | Sells well, earns little |
|---|
| Sales below average | Earns well, sells little | Sells little, earns little |
|---|
A worked example with six items
Say these are one month's sales at a cafe. The Kopi Susu Aren COGS is the dine-in example from the COGS guide.
| Item | Sold | Selling price | COGS | Gross profit per serving | Total gross profit |
|---|
| Kopi Susu Aren | 460 | Rp22,000 | Rp8,400 | Rp13,600 | Rp6,256,000 |
| Teh Tarik | 280 | Rp15,000 | Rp5,800 | Rp9,200 | Rp2,576,000 |
| Nasi Goreng | 220 | Rp30,000 | Rp13,000 | Rp17,000 | Rp3,740,000 |
| Americano | 110 | Rp20,000 | Rp4,400 | Rp15,600 | Rp1,716,000 |
| Croissant Butter | 80 | Rp20,000 | Rp8,600 | Rp11,400 | Rp912,000 |
| Roti Bakar | 50 | Rp15,000 | Rp7,000 | Rp8,000 | Rp400,000 |
| Total | 1,200 | | | | Rp15,600,000 |
The two lines:
- Sales line: 1,200 servings ÷ 6 items = 200 servings.
- Profit line: Rp15,600,000 ÷ 1,200 servings = Rp13,000 per serving.
The resulting map:
| Item | Sold | Gross profit per serving | Group |
|---|
| Kopi Susu Aren | 460, above 200 | Rp13,600, above Rp13,000 | Sells well, earns well |
| Nasi Goreng | 220, above 200 | Rp17,000, above Rp13,000 | Sells well, earns well |
| Teh Tarik | 280, above 200 | Rp9,200, below Rp13,000 | Sells well, earns little |
| Americano | 110, below 200 | Rp15,600, above Rp13,000 | Earns well, sells little |
| Croissant Butter | 80, below 200 | Rp11,400, below Rp13,000 | Sells little, earns little |
| Roti Bakar | 50, below 200 | Rp8,000, below Rp13,000 | Sells little, earns little |
Kopi Susu Aren is the best seller and brings in the most gross profit overall. But per cup, Americano leaves you Rp2,000 more, and Nasi Goreng Rp3,400 more. Teh Tarik sold 60 more servings than Nasi Goreng, yet its total gross profit is Rp1,164,000 lower.
What to do with each group
Sells well, earns well: keep and protect
Kopi Susu Aren and Nasi Goreng are in this group. These items already work, so don't change them without a strong reason.
- Make sure their ingredients never run out during the rush. For how to set a minimum stock level, see the guide to ingredient stock.
- Keep the amounts and the taste the same, whoever makes them.
- They don't need a discount. They already sell at full price.
Sells well, earns little: reprice or re-cost
Teh Tarik is in this group. Lots of people buy it, but each glass leaves you little.
- Recalculate its COGS with your latest receipts. Ingredient prices may have gone up since you last worked it out.
- Check the amounts at the bar. Pouring more than the recipe says raises COGS without anyone noticing.
- Consider a small price increase. If Teh Tarik goes up Rp1,000 and you still sell 280 glasses, gross profit grows by Rp280,000 a month. For how to work out a price, see the article on setting menu prices.
Americano is in this group. Each cup earns a lot, but few people order it.
- Ask your cashier to suggest it, for example to customers who can't decide on a coffee.
- Move it somewhere easier to see on the menu.
- Pair it with another item in a bundle. You set the bundle price in Kazeer's promo feature. For how to cost a bundle that still pays, see the article on slow-hour promotions.
If you sell 30 more Americanos a month, gross profit grows by 30 × Rp15,600 = Rp468,000.
Sells little, earns little: rethink or drop
Croissant Butter and Roti Bakar are in this group. Before you drop them, answer these first:
- Does the item go with something else? Coffee buyers may come in partly because there's bread to eat with it.
- Do other items use the same ingredients? If so, you'll still need to buy those ingredients after you drop it.
- Do regular customers always order it?
If the answers are no, change the recipe or the price, prepare fewer each day, or take it off the menu. Items that rarely sell can leave you with wasted ingredients. For ways to cut that, see the article on ingredient waste.
Croissant Butter is also close to the line: its gross profit per serving is only Rp1,600 below average. Items near a line can move to another group next month, so look at two or three months before you decide.
Repeat it every month
A menu map is useful when you keep it current. Make one at the start of each month, using periods of the same length.
- In Kazeer, your sales records show the items sold, and COGS is recorded from every sale. Reports show sales, COGS, and gross profit, for each outlet. See an example in the reports section.
- In the middle of the month, ask Kazeer AI "What sells best?" on the web or in WhatsApp for a quick check.
- Update COGS whenever an ingredient price changes. An item can move to another group just because milk got more expensive.
- Change one thing per item in a month, such as only the price of Teh Tarik. If you change everything at once, you won't know which change made the difference.
- Take last month's number sold for each item from your sales records.
- Write down each item's selling price and COGS per serving, then work out its gross profit per serving and in total.
- Work out the two lines: average servings sold per item and average gross profit per serving.
- Place each item in one of the four groups.
- Pick one move for one item in each group, and write down the date.
- Next month, make the map again and compare.