4 Ways to Raise Menu Prices Without Negative Feedback

00:03:35
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6V708BGjvE

Summary

TLDRKen Bergen from Foodie Coaches provides strategies for effectively raising menu prices in cafes and restaurants without losing customers. He advises adding subtle price increases by tacking on cents to flat prices, running prices at the end of menu descriptions to shift focus to the food, and creating a varied pricing spread. Decoy pricing can be used to make other items appear more reasonable, and the 80/20 rule suggests focusing on raising prices on popular items to drive revenue. These tactics help ensure profitability despite rising supply costs.

Takeaways

  • 💡 Add small price increases to flat prices for a revenue boost.
  • 📄 Embed prices within meal descriptions to focus attention on the food.
  • 📈 Use a varied pricing spread for flexible adjustments.
  • 🎣 Implement decoy prices to make other items seem more affordable.
  • ⚖️ Apply the 80/20 rule for impactful price raises on popular items.
  • 🤑 Don't be afraid of price increases; competitors will likely follow.

Timeline

  • 00:00:00 - 00:03:35

    Ken Bergen, an expert in menu design for cafes and restaurants, discusses strategies for raising menu prices without negatively impacting customer perception and maximizing profitability. His first suggestion is to avoid flat pricing and instead add incremental amounts to prices, which can increase sales revenue by three to five percent. Secondly, he advises wrapping prices in the menu text rather than listing them in a column, as this emphasizes the food description over the price. The third suggestion is having a varied price spread to subtly raise prices without drawing attention, and the fourth involves adding a 'decoy price' — a very high-priced item that makes other prices seem more reasonable. Lastly, Ken suggests focusing on the top-selling 20% of items for price increases, leveraging the 80/20 rule to maximize revenue impact.

Mind Map

Video Q&A

  • What is a simple method to increase menu prices?

    Add price endings, such as 40 or 80 cents, to make flat prices slightly higher.

  • How can the layout of a menu affect customer perception of prices?

    Avoid listing prices in a column and embed them at the end of menu descriptions to focus attention on the food.

  • What is a decoy price strategy?

    Introduce a high-priced item that makes other items seem less expensive by comparison.

  • How can the 80/20 rule help in menu pricing?

    Focus on increasing prices for the 20% of menu items that contribute to 80% of your sales for maximum impact.

  • Why should prices vary across a menu?

    A varied pricing spread helps prevent price rises from being noticeable and provides flexible options for adjustments.

  • What if customers complain about high prices?

    Understand that pricing changes are business decisions and focus on maintaining value and customer satisfaction.

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Subtitles
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  • 00:00:00
    are you scared of raising many prices
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    because you're worried that people will
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    hate you
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    maybe it won't be that strong but price
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    risers always make owners nervous but
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    with soaring Supply costs there's not
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    much choice so what's the best way to do
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    it hi I'm Ken Bergen from foodie coaches
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    and I write a lot of menus as a Cafe and
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    Restaurant owner and I put up a lot of
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    prices I definitely had quite a few
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    people say that we were expensive and we
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    were also usually full
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    let's look at how you can push up media
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    prices and come through unharmed and
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    definitely more profitable if you've got
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    feedback or questions about this topic
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    please drop them in the comments below
  • 00:00:35
    we'd also love to get your suggestion
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    for other topics
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    so the first method is an easy one add
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    price endings move away from what I call
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    Flat pricing for example the four dollar
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    coffee or the 12 salad instead add 40
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    cents 50 cents or 80 cents to every flat
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    price so it's now a 4.40 coffee and a
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    12.80 salad just doing this to all items
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    can give you straight away a three to
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    five percent increase in sales revenue
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    nice
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    second method is to wrap your prices in
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    the text so I don't have the prices in a
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    column on the right side of the menu
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    with the descriptions in a column on the
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    left
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    run the price at the end of each
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    description you want people focused on
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    the food description not looking at your
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    menu like a price list
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    because your menu should be a marketing
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    machine not set out like a hardware
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    catalog
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    the third method is to improve this
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    pricing spread this means the spread of
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    prices on your menu from the cheapest
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    item to the most expensive with lots of
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    prices in between this way you can make
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    adjustments to prices in the middle
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    range and it'll be less noticeable
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    leaving your top and bottom market
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    prices alone
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    prices should be a good jumble with all
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    types of prices and definitely not all
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    main courses the same price or all
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    starters the same ingredient prices vary
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    and a mix of prices in each section
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    gives more options for adjustment and
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    for people to choose
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    the fourth method is to add what's
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    called a decoy price this is a much
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    higher priced item that you know won't
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    sell very often but adding it makes
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    other items look less expensive
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    an example could be the steak meal that
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    is one of your most expensive items and
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    sells for thirty five dollars and with
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    added scampi it's now the top price item
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    at sixty five dollars and makes the
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    other top priced items look more
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    reasonable by comparison
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    in my Cafe I used to sell some crazy
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    desserts for four people using this
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    method quite high priced and really
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    changed the perception of other items
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    finally use the 80 20 rule to decide
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    what menu prices you're going to
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    increase
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    because your menu sales probably follow
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    this 80 20 rule the idea that 80 of
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    sales come from just 20 percent of the
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    items on your menu
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    so for example if you have 50 items on
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    the menu probably 10 of them that's 20
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    percent will give you most of your total
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    sales so if you concentrate on
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    increasing the prices of those 20 of
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    items those 10 items it will have the
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    biggest impact on your total revenue
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    so all the best with menu price
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    increases don't be scared be creative
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    and guess what your competitors will
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    probably follow you pretty quickly if
  • 00:03:24
    you've got feedback or questions about
  • 00:03:25
    this topic or other suggestions please
  • 00:03:28
    drop them in the comments below
  • 00:03:30
    thanks a lot
Tags
  • menu pricing
  • decoy pricing
  • 80/20 rule
  • price endings
  • pricing strategy