Work out menu engineering score instantly with clear inputs, formula shown and shareable results.
Menu engineering plots each dish on popularity and contribution margin against category averages, producing four quadrants. The 70% popularity rule is standard: an item is popular if its share exceeds 70% of the expected equal share, which allows for menus with many items.
Popularity index
Popularity index = Item share / (Average share x 0.70)
Contribution margin index
CM index = Item contribution margin / Category average contribution margin
Because on a menu of twenty items, expecting every item to hit the full 5% average is unrealistic. The 70% threshold identifies genuinely underperforming items.
Reposition it on the menu, rename it more appealingly, or have staff recommend it. High margin with low sales is the easiest quadrant to fix.