What to Cut, What to Keep: The Operator’s Guide to Smarter Menu Optimisation

Olivia Abrahmsohn is a multi-award-winning food innovation expert who’s helped shape products and menus for brands like Innocent Drinks, Joe & The Juice, and Rebel Kitchen. As founder of Tastebud Tickler and a Great Taste Award judge, she brings a rare blend of creative flair and operational know-how. This is her guide to making your menu work harder, without adding complexity.

1. Start with the real problem

Before you touch the menu, ask yourself: what are you actually trying to fix? Are breakfast sales dragging? Is prep killing your service times? Are margins getting squeezed? Too many brands dive straight into sales reports or chase the latest trends. The smart ones start with a clear purpose.

Once you know what you're solving for, gather your intel:

• Sales data – Not just what’s selling, but what isn’t. Break it down by time, region, and channel.
• Prep complexity – What do your team dread prepping? What’s slowing things down?
• True margin – Look beyond sales. Account for real-time costs, portioning issues, and waste.
• Customer insight – Loyalty data, online reviews, and content engagement offer hidden clues.
• Ops input – What clogs the line? What creates bottlenecks or waste?
• Trends & brand fit – Be aware of what’s trending, but always filter through your brand lens.

Let’s say loaded fries are trending. If you’re a health-forward brand, could you deliver indulgence in a way that feels more “you”? Maybe that’s sweet potato wedges with a standout dip.

2. Look beyond SKUs – focus on ingredients

Most operators stop at surface level data. But you need to go deeper.

Take radish. It might show up in five dishes, but if it’s high-prep, doesn’t keep well, and guests leave it uneaten – it’s a liability. Meanwhile, something like pickled cabbage might be low-cost, batch-prepable, and adds that pop of colour and acidity that makes everything else taste better.

The ingredient-level view reveals what’s helping or hurting your operation. I also recommend mapping sensory balance. Are you over-indexing on creamy or sweet? Missing freshness or acidity or colour? These tweaks can elevate the full menu experience.

3. Small changes, big impact

You don’t need a full menu overhaul to see real gains. Some of the best results come from smart, subtle shifts:

• Swap high-effort ingredients – Replace beetroot (stains, oxidises) with red cabbage (low-effort, versatile).
• Consolidate ingredients – If squash is only in one dish, but could be used in soups, salads, or sides – broaden its use.
• Design for reuse – A feta topping might work across wraps, bowls, and baked dishes.

One brand I worked with eliminated a prep-heavy item that freed up a whole area of the cold section across hundreds of sites. The result? Faster service, more space for new ingredients, and happier teams.

4. Don’t forget the human touch. Think like a guest.

Yes, the menu needs to hit margin goals. But never forget taste.

Ask:

• Is this delicious?
• Is it satisfying?
• Is it on-brand?

Now layer in operations:

• Ease of prep – Can a new team member pick it up fast?
• Consistency – Can it be replicated across all sites and shifts?
• Cross-functionality – Can the ingredient show up in three or more dishes?

Magic happens when great flavour, smart costs, and smooth operations all come together.

5. Test before rollout

Skip the testing phase at your peril. Here’s how to do it right:

• Limited Time Offers (LTOs) – Run a 4–6 week trial with tight tracking.
• Training store trials – Use one site as a test kitchen and gather real guest and team feedback.
• Soft launches – Bundle new dishes with top-sellers or use feedback cards.
• Ops reviews – Score new items on cost, prep time, taste, and complexity.

Track not just sales – but performance. Did it slow service at peak? Was it consistent? Did it cause more waste? Testing avoids costly missteps.

If that all goes well, it’s time to roll it out across your estate. If not, iterate, test and launch again.

Want help applying this to your menu?

I take on a handful of consulting projects each year - head to tastebud-tickler.co.uk to see more of my work or get in touch.

Need the data to power better decisions?

Supy’s Menu Engineering Software brings together live ingredient costs, yields, sales, and wastage – so you can see which dishes are boosting your margins and which ones are holding you back. It’s smart, operator-first tech for modern restaurant groups.