🔥 Holiday Gear-Up Series, Part 3: Review & Simplify Your Menu Before Summer (Or Watch Your Profit Burn Away)
- Ben Maher
- Nov 26
- 3 min read
Let’s be honest.December–January doesn’t care how creative your menu is.
If your menu is too long, too labour-heavy, or full of slow-moving products, then:
❌ Your prep blows out
❌ Your staff fall behind
❌ Your wastage skyrockets
❌ Your ticket times explode
❌ Your coolroom becomes a battlefield
❌ Your profit margin shrinks
❌ And customers become a LOT less forgiving
Holiday trading is about smart, fast, profitable.Not complex, fussy, and expensive.
Here’s how to get your menu summer-ready.
🎯 Why You Must Review Your Menu Before the Holiday Rush
Your menu is your single biggest lever for:
Profit
Labour efficiency
Prep time
Speed of service
Consistency
Staff sanity
And during Christmas + school holidays?
👉 A simplified menu = more money, less chaos.
Every successful venue in December has one thing in common:They run a tight, profitable, well-structured menu.
If your menu is a random collection of ideas, now is the time to fix it.
🍽️ The 7 Steps to a Holiday-Proof Menu
Let’s break this down clearly and brutally:
1. Cut the Dead Weight
Every menu has items that:
Sell slowly
Take too long
Need special ingredients
Only one chef can make
Always run out anyway
Have terrible margin
Cut them.December is not the time to be sentimental.
2. Promote the Winners
These are your:
✔ Best sellers✔ Top-margin items✔ Fastest to prep✔ Consistent performers✔ Staff favourites to cook
Push these hard.Make them the backbone of your summer.
3. Use Ingredients That Cross Over
If a menu item has one single-use ingredient, it’s a waste magnet.
Your summer menu should:
Share ingredients
Reduce specialised items
Keep stock tight
Lower your ordering frequency
Shrink your coolroom footprint
Crossover = efficiency.
4. Reduce Cooking Steps
If an item has more than 5–6 steps during service?It’s not a December dish.
You need:
Prepped components
Simple assembly
Consistent outcomes
Minimal wait times
Holiday menus should be fast + predictable.
5. Build a “Summer Speed Menu”
Consider creating:
A trimmed-down holiday menu
A brunch version for peak mornings
A takeaway-ready version
A “limited Xmas menu” for events
Your goal = control the rush before it controls you.
6. test your menu with staff NOW
Before December hits:
Run a mock service
Check ticket times
Review plating
Measure prep time
Ask staff what slows them down
Chefs will tell you instantly which dishes are killing them.
7. Update Menu Pricing Before the Season Starts
Food costs spike every December.
Put your venue ahead of the squeeze:
Adjust prices
Recalibrate margins
Remove loss leaders
Introduce profitable add-ons
If you haven’t raised prices since August, you’re already losing money.
💡 Want This Done for You? I Build Holiday-Proof Menus Every Week.
Menu development is one of the FASTEST and MOST IMPACTFUL services I offer.
With my Menu Development & Costing service, you get:
✔ A fully costed, profitable menu
✔ Recommendations based on your equipment + staff
✔ Fast-service holiday menu options
✔ Ingredient crossover planning
✔ Updated pricing and portioning
✔ Supplier recommendations
✔ Recipes + prep lists where needed
✔ A menu built SPECIFICALLY for your venue
This is one of the biggest game-changers for December.
🟦 See full details here: https://www.bambamculinaryconsultants.com/services-9
🎉 BLACK FRIDAY BONUS — Limited Until 30/11/25
If you book a free 15-minute discovery call before 30/11/25:
🔥 You’ll receive 20% OFF any Menu Development package.
This is the ONLY time I discount menu work — December saves the biggest margins, so I want to help venues get it right.
👉 Book your call here: https://www.bambamculinaryconsultants.com/book-online
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