SITHKOP002 PLAN AND COST BASIC MENUS – Short answer

ASSESSMENT B – SHORT ANSWER

INSTRUCTIONS
 You are to answer all questions.
 Read each question carefully. Ensure you have provided all required information.
 On completion, submit your assessment to your assessor.

SECTION 1: IDENTIFY CUSTOMER PREFERENCES

Q1: List three sources where you might obtain information on your organisation’s customer
profile and food preferences.
 Current database
 Customer interviews
 Customer surveys
 Sales data

Q2: What is the profile of customers in your workplace or training environment? Include the
following in your response: age, gender, income range, social and cultural background.
Individual response based on workplace or training environment.

Q3: Analyse last month’s entrée sales data from this inner city restaurant.

Week ending Seared Deep-fried Grilled Ceviche

scallops calamari prawns
9/11/20XX 430 134 334 355
16/11/20XX 511 112 323 367
23/11/20XX 535 98 339 354
30/11/20XX 544 102 328 365
Total 2,020 446 1,324 1,441

Use the sales data to calculate the popularity index for each of the entrées. Round your
answer up or down to the closest two decimal places.
Seared scallops 38.62%
Deep-fried calamari 8.53%
Grilled prawns 25.31%
Ceviche 27.54%

Q4: Based on your sales data analysis of customers’ food preferences in Q3, which of the
restaurant’s entrées would you replace?
The deep-fried calamari
SITHKOP002 PLAN AND COST BASIC MENUS – Short answer

Q5: Based on the types of entrées offered on the menu in Q3, what is the restaurant’s
organisational service style and cuisine.
 Fine dining
 Seafood

Q6: This is the customer profile for the inner city restaurant: ‘Our customers are health-
conscious female executives between 25 and 35 years of age who work in the inner city
on an income of over $100,000 per year.’
Which entrée would you add to adjust the entrée selections to better meet your
customers’ needs?
(a) Beer-battered fish fingers smothered in tartare sauce and garnished with onion
rings.
(b) Gumbo of fresh prawns, spicy sausage and succulent chicken breast smothered in
rich Cajun sauce on a bed of steamed rice.
(c) Gravlax of Atlantic salmon on a bed of fresh mesclun leaves drizzled with
pomegranate balsamic dressing.

Q7: Which of the following main courses would deliver the highest yield while at the same time
meeting your customers’ preferences?
(a) Surf and turf
Sirloin steak cooked to order accompanied by beer-battered prawns and potato
wedges.
(b) Vegie delight
Goat cheese tortellini, date purée, brown butter almonds and broccolini (V).
(c) King prawn butterflies
Off-the-shell king prawns lightly spiced, battered and deep fried to a crispy finish
accompanied by steamed cauliflower and broccoli smothered in rich cheese sauce.

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SITHKOP002 PLAN AND COST BASIC MENUS – Short answer

SECTION 2: PLAN MENUS

Q8: What type of menu would suit a wedding reception?
Function

Q9: What type of menu would suit a prison?

Cyclical

Q10: What type of menu would you prepare for a fast food restaurant that serves Mexican
cuisine?
À la carte

Q11: You’ve generated a range of ideas for menus for dishes or food production ranges.
Explain the six steps you would take next to coordinate the menu development process.
 Sort ideas into a draft menu.
 Write a list of required ingredients.
 Check feasibility.
 Identify, source and purchase all required ingredients.
 Prepare, cook and present the sample dishes.
 Assess the sample dishes.

Q12: You must ensure there aren’t any organisational constraints or other factors that could
stop you from producing the dishes profitably and to a high standard.
Identify six factors to consider when assessing the merits of your dishes.
 Dishes match the organisation’s menu type, service style and cuisine.
 Dishes match customer preferences according to sales data and customer profile.
 Dishes offer something unique to create an edge over competitors in the same
location.
 Dishes match staff skill levels.
 There are enough staff on hand to produce the dishes within specified timeframes.
 There’s enough bench and storage space in the kitchen to produce the dishes.
 There’s enough small and large fixed equipment to produce the dishes during peak
service times.
 Dishes are cooked using a variety of cooking methods.
 There are enough fresh, high-quality ingredients available at a reasonable price.
(Meeting this requirement may mean changing your menu according to the seasons
and/or sourcing local suppliers.)
 The dish is profitable.

Q13: List the four factors you can vary to achieve culinary balance in your dishes or food
production items.
 Colour
 Size and shape
 Taste
 Texture
SITHKOP002 PLAN AND COST BASIC MENUS – Short answer

Q14: Identify four ways you can achieve nutritional balance in your dishes or food production
items.
 Vary cooking methods
 Provide nutritional value
 Vary ingredients
 Use delicacies and seasonally available ingredients

Q15: Identify three people you can consult with at different stages of menu planning.
 Cooks
 Kitchen hands
 Food service attendants
 Managers
 Customers

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SITHKOP002 PLAN AND COST BASIC MENUS – Short answer

SECTION 3: COST MENUS

Q16: Identify eight components you’d need to itemise to cost dishes or food production items.
 Main ingredients
 Cooking oil
 Accompaniments
 Sauces
 Condiments
 Seasonings
 Garnishes
 Decorations
 Takeaway containers
 Wrapping
 Chopsticks
 Disposable plasticware
 Serviettes

Q17: What documents can you use to identify the purchase price or cost per unit of each
ingredient?
Supplier invoices and price lists

Q18: List the three standard measurements you would use when itemising ingredients and
calculating portion yields and/or costs from raw ingredients. Provide an example of each
one.
 Weight: meat, fish, vegetables, fruit are usually weighed in grams (g) or kilograms (kg).
 Volume: liquids such as juice, milk, stock are usually measured in millilitres (ml) or litres
(L).
 Count: sausages, eggs, hash brown patties, slices of bread, etc.

Q19: You buy 10 kg carrots. After washing, peeling and trimming you have 9 kg left.
Calculate the yield % of the carrots. State the formula you used. Show how you arrived at
this figure.
Edible portion quantity (EPQ) ÷ as purchased quantity (APQ) × 100 = yield %

9 kg ÷ 10 kg × 100 = 90%
SITHKOP002 PLAN AND COST BASIC MENUS – Short answer

Q20: You have obtained the following butcher’s yield information about whole raw chickens.

As purchased quantity (APQ) 10 kg

Edible portion quantity (EPQ) 6 kg

Usable trim weight 2.5 kg

Waste trim weight 1.5 kg

Calculate the yield % of the chicken. State the formula you used. Show how you arrived at this
figure.
EPQ ÷ APQ × 100 = yield %

6 kg ÷ 10 kg × 100 = 60%

Q21: Calculate the usable trim % of the chicken. State the formula you used. Show how you
arrived at this figure.
Usable trim weight ÷ APQ × 100 = usable trim %

2.5 kg ÷ 10 kg × 100 = 25%

Q22: Calculate the waste % of the chicken. State the formula you used. Show how you arrived
at this figure.
Waste trim weight ÷ APQ × 100 = waste %

1.5 kg ÷ 10 kg × 100 = 15%

Q23: Use the information below to calculate the actual cost of the asparagus.
State the three formulas you used and the steps you took to arrive at this cost.

Ingredients Qty Unit Purchase Purchase unit Cost

unit price Yield Total cost

Asparagus 150 g 1 kg $5.95 75% $1.19

 Formula 1
Quantity required ÷ yield % = purchase weight
150 g ÷ 75 = 200 g

 Formula 2
Purchase weight ÷ purchase unit × 100 = usage %
200 g ÷ 1,000 g × 100 = 20%

 Formula 3
Purchase unit cost × usage % = actual food cost
$5.95 × 20% = $1.19

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SITHKOP002 PLAN AND COST BASIC MENUS – Short answer

Q24: Calculate the profitable selling price of a dish with a food cost per portion of $7.22 and a
standard food cost percentage of 28%.
State the formula you used. Show how you arrived at this price. Round your answer up to
two decimal places.

Food cost per 100

× = $Selling price
portion Standard food cost %

$7.22 × 100 ÷ 28 = $25.79

Q25: Use the information provided to assess the cost-effectiveness of these dishes.

Dish name Section Portion Food cost Food Raw selling Adjusted
size /portion cost % price selling price
Orange cake Pâtissier Dessert $1.58 17% $9.29 $9.50

Profiteroles Pâtissier Dessert $3.08 32% $9.62 $9.75

Brandy snap Pâtissier Dessert $2.11 22% $9.59 $9.50

 Which dish provides the highest yield, is marked up the most and is the most
profitable?
The orange cake

 What is the least profitable menu item?

The profiteroles
SITHKOP002 PLAN AND COST BASIC MENUS – Short answer

SECTION 4: WRITE MENU CONTENT

Q26: Use your creativity to promote sales.
Rewrite this dish description using words that better appeal to well-travelled baby
boomers with high buying power in a fine dining restaurant.
Be sure to include geographical descriptors and a style of cuisine.
 Grilled fillet of snapper with lemon butter sauce and seasonal vegetables

Individual response required.

Response should indicate use of writing skills to creatively explain menu dishes and
promote sales.
Sample response.
Grilled fillet of locally caught snapper served on a rustic Mediterranean vegetable stack
and coated with a citrus beurre blanc.

Q27: You’re promoting the sale of a new spinach and ricotta lasagne. List seven dish
characteristics you could use in the menu description to promote sales. Provide an
example of each one.
Individual response required.
Sample response.
 Key ingredients: shaved parmesan
 Special qualities of ingredients: vine-ripened tomatoes
 Geographical descriptors: locally grown spinach
 Application of sauces and garnishes: smothered in rich tomato sauce
 Cuisine style: Italian
 Cooking method: freshly baked
 Colour: rich red
 Texture: al dente
 Flavour: tangy
 Service temperature: hot
 Size: chunky, ample

Q28: Describe the difference in formatting between a three-course table d’hote menu listed by
title only and an à la carte style listed by title and description.
The table d’hote menu would only be about a page long whereas the à la carte menu
could be as long as several pages.

Q29: Identify the typical characteristics of menus you need to keep in mind when writing menu
content and formatting your menu.
 Name of the establishment
 Menu sections or courses
 Price
 Name of dish
 Description of dish
 Inclusions

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SITHKOP002 PLAN AND COST BASIC MENUS – Short answer

Q30: Seasonal products and commodities influence menu content. Explain how to deal with
this.
Change your menu with the seasons or slide a separate inclusion into the menu listing the
seasonal specials.

Q31: Identify two ways you can use technology to help you calculate yield and costs, and to
write menu content.
 Use formulas in spreadsheet software such as Excel.
 Use word processing or desktop publishing software to write and format menus.
 Use your computer’s spellchecker to identify and correct spelling and grammatical
errors in your menu documents.
 Use online food dictionaries to assist with words you’re not sure about.
SITHKOP002 PLAN AND COST BASIC MENUS – Short answer

SECTION 5: EVALUATE MENU SUCCESS

Q32: What are four ways you can get ongoing feedback from customers and others to improve
menu performance.
 Hold regular staff meetings that involve menu discussions.
 Ask staff for menu item suggestions.
 Talk with customers to check that they’re satisfied.
 Discuss customer satisfaction issues with employees during the course of each
business day.
 Listen to improvements suggested by customers, managers, peers, staff, supervisors,
suppliers.
 Conduct customer satisfaction surveys.

Q33: List three ways you can assess the success and popularity of menu items.
 Popularity index
 Customer surveys
 Sales data

Q34: What is a customer survey and how can it help you?

 It’s a way of collecting customer satisfaction data to determine how happy customers
are with your dishes. Most give customers a range of options and ask how they feel
about the meal, whether they’d recommend it to a friend, and provide opportunity to
comment.
 It can help you assess the success and popularity of your menus.

Q35: Describe three ways you could adjust menus based on feedback and profitability.
 Remove menu items that are unpopular and replace them with more popular ones
trialled as specials.
 Improve menu items according to consistent customer feedback so you’re continuously
improving dishes.
 Replace unprofitable menu items with ones that provide higher yield and are more
profitable.
 Change prices of unprofitable menu items so that they’re more profitable.

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