{"id":25438,"date":"2021-06-17T09:06:53","date_gmt":"2021-06-17T13:06:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev-gordon-food-service-canada.pantheonsite.io\/ideas\/labour-pains-right-size-your-menu\/"},"modified":"2025-07-01T10:50:54","modified_gmt":"2025-07-01T14:50:54","slug":"labour-pains-right-size-your-menu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gfs.ca\/en-ca\/ideas\/labour-pains-right-size-your-menu\/","title":{"rendered":"Labour Pains? Right-Size Your Menu"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Managing your core menu takes a bite out of all your kitchen costs.<\/h2>\n<p>Right-sizing your restaurant menu is all about cost control. Slower sales, expensive labour and rising costs call for shaving expenses. The menu and kitchen are places to find savings.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Make menu decisions by asking questions about three parts of your business\u2014the core menu, labour effectiveness and kitchen efficiency. Here\u2019s how it works:&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3>1. Monitor the menu<\/h3>\n<p><em><strong>Keep the stars, drop the dogs and puzzles \u2026 figuring out my core menu is painful. Can I make it easy and still reduce labour?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Determine your menu basics (burgers, tacos, breakfast, ice cream, etc.):\n<ul>\n<li>Every menu item should help define your brand<\/li>\n<li>Use market size or the competition to shape menu size<\/li>\n<li>Add or change items with LTOs, specials, seasonal dishes<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Consider value-added products that reduce labour:\n<ul>\n<li>Precut, prewashed produce<\/li>\n<li>Breaded, seasoned, heat-and-serve products<\/li>\n<li>Shaped, sliced, high-quality, on-trend proteins<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Add to your ready-to-serve product lineup:\n<ul>\n<li>Dressings (salad dressings, condiments, etc.)&nbsp;<\/li>\n<li>Sauces (salsa, pesto, etc.)<\/li>\n<li>Dips (or any products that require manual effort)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>2. Evaluate the labour<\/h3>\n<p><em><strong>My menu feels solid, but labour\u2019s still a struggle. Where do I go from here?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Your analysis should lay the groundwork for menu and labour reduction:\n<ul>\n<li>Are there kitchen areas you could shut down?<\/li>\n<li>Could you reset your menu to use fewer kitchen stations?&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Watch where your staff spends time and evaluate format changes:\n<ul>\n<li>How much time is spent on prep work?&nbsp;\n<ul>\n<li>Would more ready-to-use items add hands-on cooking creativity?&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>How much time is spent with on-the-line cooking?&nbsp;\n<ul>\n<li>Could we do more meal prep to allow easy reheat and assembly?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>3. Do a kitchen assessment<\/h3>\n<p><em><strong>My kitchen is plenty big and every station gets used. How do I decide what gets cut from my menu to reduce labour?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Think like a food truck, where space is small and few people do the work.<\/li>\n<li>Identify the kitchen stations you use.&nbsp;<\/li>\n<li>Compare menu items against kitchen stations:\n<ul>\n<li>Figure out which stations make each item to identify low-use stations<\/li>\n<li>Evaluate if you can cut menu items using those stations\n<ul>\n<li>Does it free up one person from manning that area?<\/li>\n<li>Does it reduce that person\u2019s steps?<\/li>\n<li>Does it help produce other items in their station more efficiently?&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Reach conclusions about right-sizing the menu:\n<ul>\n<li>If chicken alfredo and mac &amp; cheese are your only menu items using the saut\u00e9 station, can they be removed to eliminate the saut\u00e9 station and two prep items?<\/li>\n<li>With saut\u00e9 empty, could you use the flat top and create some new grilled items without adding steps or energy?&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>For more menu planning, product insights and a kitchen assessment worksheet, contact your Gordon Food Service Sales Representative.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Managing your core menu takes a bite out of all your kitchen costs. Right-sizing your restaurant menu is all about cost control. Slower sales, expensive labour and rising costs call for shaving expenses. The menu and kitchen are places to find savings.&nbsp; Make menu decisions by asking questions about three parts of your business\u2014the core [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":26721,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[122,68,123,112,69,111,113],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25438","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-catering-small-business","category-culinary-ideas","category-hotels-hospitality","category-restaurant-bars","category-running-your-business","category-healthcare","category-university"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v22.9 (Yoast SEO v27.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Labour Pains? 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The menu and kitchen are places to find savings.&nbsp; Make menu decisions by asking questions about three parts of your business\u2014the core [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/gfs.ca\/en-ca\/ideas\/labour-pains-right-size-your-menu\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Gordon Food Service\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/GordonFoodService\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-06-17T13:06:53+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-07-01T14:50:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/gfs.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Managing-Your-Menu-IC-760x400_0.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"760\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"400\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Cody Rivers\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@cody.rivers@gfs.com\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@GFSDelivers\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Cody Rivers\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Labour Pains? 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