Design of Operational Strategy with Variable-Costing-Based Menu Engineering Information System for Restaurants in Surabaya

Abstract

Restaurant management is always trying to sell a menu that has a high level of sales with a high level of profit as well. Actually, there tends to be a difference in the level of popularity and the level of profit contribution from each menu. The level of popularity is determined by the percentage of sales of the menu compared to total sales, while the level of profit contribution is calculated by the variable costing method. Variable costing is the determination of the cost of production, which only charges variable production costs into the cost of the product. The cost of the product, according to the variable costing method, consists of the cost of raw materials, variable labor costs, and variable restaurant overhead costs. The research was carried out with a case study in a Chinese food restaurant in Surabaya with a monthly turnover of Rp180,000,000.00 to Rp 200,000,000.00. The research was intended to determine the operational and marketing strategies of each menu through an information system created based on the calculation of variable costing and popularity. The author conducted a field study, namely by collecting data directly from the restaurant with the method of observation and interviews with management. The author uses the information system as a means of determining the mapping of each menu to be classified into 4 clusters: Star, Plow horse, Puzzle, and Dog. From this mapping, there were five menus classified as Star, ten menus classified as Plow horse, 13 menus classified as Puzzle, and seven menus classified as Dog. The results of the mapping provide marketing and operational strategy recommendations for each menu at the restaurant