Have you got some items on your menu which are delicious and profitable and yet just don’t sell? Or have you got something that’s just on its sell-by and needs shifting? Before you condemn them to the bin why not experiment a bit with these ideas:

• The top two lines of the menu are always the most read – place them in pole position and see if sales increase
• Draw the eye to the dish by increasing the font size by one or two notches
• Put a circle or square around the dish to make it stand out– this works on the specials board too
• Top right and middle of any document are hot spots for getting noticed
• Teach your team to sell – it’s not complex and can be loads of fun. A simple statement “the lamb hot pot today is melt-in-the-mouth-amazing” or “the sticky toffee pudding is to die for” should be enough to sway the undecided.

People are generally put off by too much choice so make it easy for them by creating a separate Chef’s Choice of the Day and give the item you are trying to sell a build up with a bit of special blurb.