Food & Beverage: Menu Optimisation dashboard

The Menu Optimisation dashboard in Horizon (Vista Cloud) helps food and beverage and concessions teams understand how each item on their menu is performing so they can decide what to keep, promote, improve, or remove. It shows not only how often items sell, but how much they contribute to profit, applying a proven “menu engineering” approach adapted for cinema by factoring in guest admissions. This allows fair comparison across different trading conditions, such as quieter days and blockbuster weekends, and gives a clear view of which items are driving value and which may need attention.

What it shows

The dashboard groups items visually so patterns are easy to spot and act upon. Each menu item is assessed on two dimensions:

• how often guests choose the item
• how much profit the item contributes after costs

Looking at these together avoids misleading conclusions. For example:

• a high-selling item with low margin may limit overall profit
• a high-margin item with very low sales may be underutilised
   

How to read it

Items are grouped into four broad categories based on popularity and profitability.
 

Strong performers

• High sales and strong contribution
• Maintain availability and visibility

Crowd-pleasers

• High sales but lower margin
• Consider small price or cost changes, or bundling

Hidden potential

• High margin but low sales
• Improve placement, promotion, or staff recommendation

Underperformers

• Low sales and low contribution
• Review, reposition, or remove

Making the most of it

Focus on extremes

• Strengthen top performers and address weak items first

Make one change at a time

• Adjust pricing, cost, placement, or promotion and monitor the result

Use the context of admissions

• Compare confidently across different days and sites

Review regularly

• Update your menu as costs, audience, and demand change

Working alongside sales mix

Menu Optimisation works with the F&B Sales Mix dashboard.

• Sales Mix shows what is selling across your range
• Menu Optimisation helps you decide what action to take

Using both together gives a clearer view of performance and opportunity.