We just got our new menus and our pizzas are increasing by $1. We haven’t increased prices for a few years and I am sure we will get some backlash from a small portion of our customer base.
Just want to know what is the best approach to implement the new prices. Should I wait till the beginning of next month or just start as soon as possible.
Anyone have any experiences they would like to share or suggestions for me on this topic.
I have found that customers will be less likely to react to price increases if you do them on a regular basis a little at a time. I have a spreadsheet that gives me a comparison of the ideal price based on food cost percentage compared to menu price. When 1/4 of the sheet goes red then it is time to adjust the prices of those items. I only adjust the items that are in red so there is not a whole menu increase. This seems to be the best way to avoid sticker shock for the customers.
As far as when to implement the price increase I agree ASAP.
We’re redoing our entire menu March 1st…no particular reason on the date it’s just when we have time to finish the edits and get them printed. I keep a tight eye on food costs weekly, and it’s been my habit to make small adjustments if needed a couple of times a year. Once a year we reevaluate our entire menu and remove the lower 10% of menu items to replace them with items we have played with as specials through the previous year with good results.