Desserts, that extra profit margin

 Many uninformed, short sighted, operators simply throw up their hands and say . . .

Done right, desserts can easily add three to six dollars of pure profit margin to your average check.  Think about it, with only one hundred twenty checks per day times three hundred fifty-five operating days per year, handling desserts properly can increase your annual profits by a lucrative one hundred thirty thousand dollars or more.

Let’s analyze how big a problem it is to develop and maintain enough dessert sales to create that kind of profit margin.

Considerations:

Will I need more labor?  No, not necessarily but you might want to look at producing your own limited bakery items as part of an overall program.

If I buy items from outside sources won’t my cost percentages be too high?  Yes but you can’t bank percentages.  We are after “pure margin” dollars here not percentages.

If I buy outside I won’t I have the same products my competitors have?  This does not need to be true.  Work with a small, flexible, quality oriented highly professional provider.  Together develop you dessert menu rotation with one proprietary item.  Remember his/her business will prosper right along side of yours.

What about waste?  Balance your menu with both short and long shelf life items.  Keep accurate records of sales experience.  Adjust ordering on a daily basis according to actual sales experience.  Carefully apply a sampling process for items you may be building up too much inventory on.  Run a daily special that includes the slow moving items.  There are many other proven methods of controlling waste that will also act to enhance product awareness and sales.

With my check average escalating won’t my restaurant get a reputation for being too high priced?  No.  If your menu is engineered properly your prices can actually appear to be somewhat below market (see menu engineering).

My wait staff has always resisted up selling.  You either have not offered the right items, trained your staff properly, motivated them by showing how much their tips will increase, held them accountable in a consistent manner or you simply have the wrong personnel. 

How can I get started on developing increased dessert sales?  Sit down today and talk with your staff.  Tell them what you want to accomplish.  Get one or two of them to join you in putting a program together.

• Go shop your competitors
• Visit local bakeries and learn what appears to sell best for them that might fit your dessert needs
• Talk with your local culinary schools (if any are available) look at their products.  They may well be your best source
• Look into potential (albeit limited) frozen high quality items
• Think out of the box
• Don’t be afraid to test your customer base by featuring a variety of (test) items
• Introduce some initial wait staff contests with reasonably good prizes for the most items sold and/or demonstrated
• Put a demonstrator in the dinning room dressed in a pastry chef’s uniform sampling and asking for comments.
• Document and evaluate what you have learned.  Identify quality, supportive suppliers, and cost out every item individually.  Consider what you must sell it for and is it competitive.   What margin will it provide you? 
• Draw up (engineer) an initial dessert menu along with a documented plan for introducing it as well as for selling it.  Include your employee volunteers in this process.  This is incredibly important
• Monitor sales daily.  Post daily, weekly and monthly sales results by employee.  Give one time oriented weekly bonuses based on units sold.  This should be in addition to contests you may conduct
• Make desserts a major part of your brand (Who you are) market them with enthusiasm and class.

You are on your way to becoming a creative entrepreneur.  You have put your desire for profit ahead of your fear of failure.  The best part of all this is that you have added to the image and reputation of your restaurant, increased guest counts, earned your servers an increase in their income and you are taking home more than an additional one hundred thousand dollars a year.

If you have any further questions please feel free to submit them to "Issues and Answers" at this web site.

Presented by Art Marshall
President - Marshall & Associates