JASTH – Journal of Applied Sciences in Travel and Hospitality Vol. 1, No. 2, June 2018 178 THE APPLICATION OF MENU APPETIZER BASED ON MENU ENGINEERING TO INCREASE SELLING VOLUME IN EL PATIO RESTAURANT, SOL BEACH HOUSE BENOA BALI I Gusti Ngurah Dhyangga Prawesta Putra1, Ida Ayu Elistyawati2, I Made Darma Oka3 1,2,3Tourism Department, Politeknik Negeri Bali email: 1dyangga19@gmail.com, 2ayuelistyawati@pnb.ac.id, 3madedarmaoka@pnb.ac.id ABSTRACT Restaurant is a business that plays an essential role in tourism. The management of restaurant is always attempting to increase the sales menu by evaluating the offered menu in order to gain maximum profits. This article focuses on: (1) The application of menu appetizer based on menu engineering in El–Patio Restaurant and (2) its attempts to increase the sales volume of appetizer menu in El–Patio Restaurant. Data was collected by using observation, documentation, and intensive interviews method. Data analysis used in this research is menu engineering analysis. The result showed that from 21 items of appetizer menu analyzed, there were 47,6% or 10 menus with a high popularity level while 52,4% or 11 menus were on the low popularity level. Meanwhile, there were 7 menu items or 33,3% that has the highest contribution margin and 66,7% or 14 items with the lowest contribution margin. Then, from 21 items of appetizer menu analyzed, 28,6% or 6 menu items are categorized as star, 19% or 4 items are categorized as plowhorse, 4,8% or 1 item is categorized as challenge and 47,6% or 10 items are categorized as dog. Attempts that can be done by the management of F&B Department, Sol Beach House Benoa Bali is to improve the menu quality, promote th menu , suppress the production cost, removing unfavorable menu and develop a new menu. It is recommended for the management of F&B Department, Sol Beach House Benoa Bali to evaluate the menus with the analysis of menu engineering at least every 3 months. Keywords: appetizer, menu engineering, contribution margin. INTRODUCTION Sol Beach House Benoa Bali is a five stars hotel, located in Tanjung Benoa area which is famous because of its beautiful beaches as well as its various watersport activities that can be enjoyed by tourists. Sol Beach House Benoa Bali offers a comfortable resting place with various facilities such as restaurant, swimming pool, bar, SPA, gym center, kids’ corner; games room, in house clinic, gift shop & shopping, foreign exchange, as well as a clean and beauty of private swimming pool. It also provides a pleasant restaurant for every tourist to fulfill their foods and beverages need. Sol Beach House Benoa Bali has 3 restaurants and 2 bars. One of 3 restaurants owned by Sol Beach House Benoa Bali is El–Patio Restaurant, a 24 – hour’s restaurant. mailto:dyangga19@gmail.com mailto:ayuelistyawati@pnb.ac.id mailto:madedarmaoka@pnb.ac.id JASTH – Journal of Applied Sciences in Travel and Hospitality Vol. 1, No. 2, June 2018 179 This restaurant provides a variety menu such as a ’la carte and buffet menu. A‘la carte menu is a list with different kind of foods as well as its prices and compositions of each foods so that every hotel guests are easier and freely to choose any foods based on their budget and preferences. It usually consists of appetizer, main course, dessert as well as any kind of beverages. Appetizer is usually called by starter, or first course. Appetizer is a first dish served that aims to arouse appetite (Cahyana and Guspri. 2009: 6). Appetizer served in a small portion (70– 100 gram) so that it doesn’t glut and has salty, savory, and wry taste, as well as it is also presented with appealing look to attract. El–Patio Restaurant, Sol Beach House Benoa Bali always attempts to create an attractive menu list for the customers. The offered appetizer menu starts from Indonesia appetizer, Asian and Spain with various prices, ranging from Rp. 50.000 to Rp. 75.000. With delicious taste to arouse appetite, this price is affordable for customers. Besides, it helps tourists to choose and order foods, menu list also help the restaurant in recapping foods amount that are ordered by the customers. It certainly helps the restaurant to identify the food sales volume whether it has decreased or increased. Table 1 Sales Volume of Appetizer Menu at El–Patio Restaurant, Sol Beach House Benoa Bali 2015– 2017 (Portion) Food Name Year 2015 2016 2017 Total Calamaries ala Romana 93 63 66 222 White bean soup 0 0 8 8 Garden salad 47 43 35 125 Quesadilla 149 101 104 354 Caesar salad 154 119 98 371 Cobb salad 59 45 26 130 Beef & orange salad 0 0 9 9 Rocket grape & walnut salad 0 0 16 16 Gazpacho 52 58 31 141 Potato & leek soup 80 56 57 193 Cucumber yogurt soup 0 0 20 20 Tom yam goong 0 0 37 37 Gado-gado 51 37 37 125 Lumpia semarang 119 111 112 342 Soto ayam 70 56 43 169 Chicken porridge 0 0 9 9 Fried dim sum 0 0 16 16 Sate lilit ayam & lawar kacang 0 0 18 18 Won ton soup 0 0 27 27 JASTH – Journal of Applied Sciences in Travel and Hospitality Vol. 1, No. 2, June 2018 180 Noodle soup 0 0 30 30 Udang saos tomat 0 0 14 14 Total 874 689 813 2376 Source: F&B Department, Sol Beach House Benoa Bali (2018). Table 1 showed that sales of appetizer menu at El–Patio Restaurant are decrease for some menus within year 2015-2017. It is caused by many factors such as product’s quality, service, promotion, the amount of visited customers from 2015–2017, as well as customer’s interest to the menu that is offered. The sales of appetizer menu will certainly affect to the turnover received by El–Patio restaurant. The increasing of sales volume of appetizer will be in line with profits and turnover gained. Similarly, profits and turnover gained by restaurant will also decrease if the decrement within the sales of appetizer occurred. There are several ways to overcome with the decrement of appetizer sales, one of them is by evaluating the menus or applying the menu engineering. Menu engineering is a gradual process which is designed to help the management in evaluating the current and future menu prices, menu composition, as well as designing decisions upon prices and menus (Ninemeier, 2009: 122). It is used to measure menu ability in fulfilling customer’s desire as well as identify the profits distribution that is gained by the restaurant from foods and beverages sales (Puri, 2015). By implementing this menu engineering, it helps the management to assess the development of food sales in El–Patio Restaurant which will affect the profits gained by them. Therefore, this article examines “The Application of Menu Appetizer Based on Menu Engineering to Increase Selling Volume in El Patio Restaurant, Sol Beach House Benoa Bali”. RESEARCH METHOD This research conducted in El–Patio Restaurant by considering the amount of appetizer menu sales which is decreased from 2015–2017. It used secondary data, sourced from F&B Department of Sol Beach House Benoa Bali through observation, documentation, and intensive interview. The analysis technique used in this research is menu engineering analysis. Menu engineering is a gradual process that helps management to evaluate the current and future menu, prices, design, as well as the menu content. JASTH – Journal of Applied Sciences in Travel and Hospitality Vol. 1, No. 2, June 2018 181 In doing menu engineering analysis, there are several things that need to be known, such as: Contribution Margin. According to Wiyasha (2011: 196), contribution margin (CM) is the difference of selling price with variable cost of each unit. Rayburn (1999: 3) explains that the contribution margin is the result of reduced sales variables for production, marketing, and administration. Contribution margin is the available sales proceeds to cover fixed costs and make profits, which can be stated in total, amount of each unit, or made in the form of percentage. Formula used to determine contribution margin is as follows: Contribution Margin = Selling price– cost of goods sold of certain item…………… (1). Formula used to determine the popularity level of a menu is (Wiyasha (2011: 137 – 138): Popularity leve = 70% x 1n x N……………… (2) Note: 70% = Proportion of menu item sold as well as the minimum limit to be achieved n = Amount of items offered N = Amount of portion sold The next step is to enter the data that has been obtained from F&B Department Sol Beach House Benoa Bali into the worksheet of menu engineering. After entering the data, the calculation is made to obtain the menu classification. There are calculation used as follows: a. Sales = Amount sold divided with the total sold x 100% b. Total sold = Amount sold x selling price c. Total of Contribution Margin = Amount sold x contribution margin d. Av. CM = Total of contribution margin divided with total sold. After calculating by using menu engineering method, food menu classification is obtained according to the menu mix which refers to the popularity of a menu item, and contribution margin which based on its selling prices as well as the food cost or gross profits which are obtained from each product. JASTH – Journal of Applied Sciences in Travel and Hospitality Vol. 1, No. 2, June 2018 182 Table 2 Menu Classification MM Ranking CM Ranking Classification High High Star High Low Plowhorse Low High Challenge Low Low Dog Source: Ninemeier (2009: 125). Table 2 explained that menu can be classified after calculating the menu mix and contribution margin from each menu. If MM is as high as CM, the menu is classified into star. If it has a high number of MM, but the CM is low, the menu is classified into plowhorse. If both MM and CM is low, the menu is classified into dog menu. According to the menu classification’s result, it can be known which menus that are classified into popular and unpopular. Menu is considered to be popular if it is profitable or has a high number of MM and CM, Meanwhile, if the menus have a low number of MM and CM, it is considered to be unpopular. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Menu engineering is a method used to evaluate the current and future of menu price, design, and decision making (Mulyani et al, 2014). Menu engineering analysis within a restaurant is essential in order to increase the sales number and determine which menu that has a high as well as the low profits. By doing menu analysis, it will certainly help the restaurant management to take steps and determine the right strategy to increase the sales of appetizer menu. Before moving further, the obtained data from company will be included in the analysis of menu engineering worksheet. There are some steps to analyze the menu engineering further as follows: 1. Calculating the Percentage of Sales % 𝑆𝑎𝑙𝑒𝑠 = 𝐴𝑚𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑡 𝑆𝑜𝑙𝑑 𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑆𝑜𝑙𝑑 × 100% 2. Calculating Contribution Margin for each food variant 𝑀𝐾 = 𝑆𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑃𝑟𝑖𝑐𝑒 – 𝐵𝑎𝑠𝑖𝑐 𝐹𝑜𝑜𝑑 𝐶𝑜𝑠𝑡 JASTH – Journal of Applied Sciences in Travel and Hospitality Vol. 1, No. 2, June 2018 183 3. Calculating the Total Sales 𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑆𝑎𝑙𝑒𝑠 = 𝐴𝑚𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑡 𝑆𝑜𝑙𝑑 × 𝐹𝑜𝑜𝑑′𝑠 𝑆𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑃𝑟𝑖𝑐𝑒 4. Calculating the Total of Contribution Margin 𝑀𝐾 𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 = 𝐴𝑚𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑡 𝑆𝑜𝑙𝑑 × 𝐶𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑏𝑢𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑀𝑎𝑟𝑔𝑖𝑛 5. Determining the category of contribution margin for each appetizer menu. The first step is determining the average contribution margin rate by dividing the total contribution margin with the total sold. 𝐶𝑀𝐴𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑅𝑎𝑡𝑒 = 𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝐶𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑏𝑢𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑀𝑎𝑟𝑔𝑖𝑛 𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑆𝑜𝑙𝑑 6. Determining the category of popularity level 𝑃𝑜𝑝𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑙𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑙 = 70% × 1 𝑛 × 𝑁 Worksheet upon the result of menu engineering analysis in El–Patio Restaurant, Sol Beach House Benoa Bali ranged from 2015 – 2017 is presented as follows. JASTH – Journal of Applied Sciences in Travel and Hospitality Vol. 1, No. 2, June 2018 184 Table 3 Menu Engineering Worksheet in El–Patio Restaurant, Sol Beach House Benoa Bali, ranged from 2015 – 2017 Source: Data Processed. Table 3 showed that there are 10 appetizer menus with a high popularity level, while 11 appetizer menus are on low popularity level. Within contribution margin, there are 7 appetizer menus with a highest number of contribution margin while 14 appetizer menus are on the lowest number of contribution margin. It means that out of 50% of the total of offered appetizer menu are having a low rate of popularity and contribution margin. This research is similar with the previous study, conducted by Puri (2015) which stated that half of the dessert menus in The Rooses Restaurant are unpopular with a low number of contribution margin. This research is slightly different with the research resultconducted JASTH – Journal of Applied Sciences in Travel and Hospitality Vol. 1, No. 2, June 2018 185 by Hernowo (2014) as most of menus in Katumiri Coffee Shop have a high rate of popularity. In order to know more clearly upon the existing menu group, the related data of menu classification based on its category is presented as follows. Table 4 Appetizer Menu Classification in El–Patio Restaurant, Sol Beach House Benoa Bali, Ranged from 2015-2017. Source: Data Processed. Table 4 showed that most of offered appetizer menus are classified into dog category. This research is different from the research conducted by Mulyani et al (2014) that resulted as most of patisserie menus in Grand Jatra Balikpapan Hotel is classified into plowhorse. To overcome with the high number of menus that are classified into dog as well as increase the sales for the entire appetizer menu, the management of El–Patio Restauran, Sol Beach House Benoa Bali is able to make efforts as follows: 1. For star category, things that can be done is by maintaining the menus quality, put them strategically in the menu list, always recommend them to the customers, and supervise the basic food price as well as the use of food ingredients. 2. For plowhorse category, things that can be made is to reduce the production cost by controlling the procurement of ingredients, processing to the food presentation, Plowhorse (4 menus or 19%) Star (6 menus or 28,6%) Gazpacho Potato & Leek Soup Lumpia Semarang Soto Ayam Calamaries ala Romana Garden Salad Quesadilla Caesar Salad Cobb Salad Gado-gado Dog (10 menus or 47,8%) Challenge (1 menu or 4,8%) White bean Soup Beef & Orange Salad Rocket Grape & Walnut salad Cucumber Yogurt Soup Tom Yam Gong Chicken Porridge Fried Dim Sum Sate lilit Ayam & Lawar Kacang Wonton Soup Noodle Soup Udang Saos Tomat JASTH – Journal of Applied Sciences in Travel and Hospitality Vol. 1, No. 2, June 2018 186 concerning the replacement of ingredients which is cheaper but with has the equal quality, and always recommend the plowhorse menus to customers. 3. For the challenge category, things that can be done is by doing any changes to the appearances of food presentation, always recommend the challenge category menus to customers, reduce the selling price of foods by still concerning to the price of food’s ingredients used, as well as adding the challenge category menus into a special event held by hotel. 4. For dog category, things that can be done is by putting dog category menus strategically into menu layout / menu list, making overall changing to the menu composition, rename the menus to be more attractive for the customers, develop the new menus by doing any new innovations as well as concerning to delete any dog category menus. CONCLUSION According to the research of the application of appetizer menu engineering based the increase the sales volume in El–Patio Restaurant, Sol Beach Benoa Bali, it can be concluded as follows: From 21 menu items analyzed, there were 10 menu items (47,6%) that has a high level of popularity, while the rest for around 11 menu items (52,4%) are on the low level of popularity. Within contribution margin, 7 menu items (33,3%) has a high contribution margin while 14 menu items (66,7%) has a low contribution margin. Furthermore, there were 6 menu items (28,6%) are classified into star category, 4 menu items (19%) are on plowhorse category, 1 menu item (4,8%) were challenge category, and 10 menu items (47,6%) are classified into dog category. Attempts that are done to increase the sales number of star category is by maintaining the menu’s quality, putting star category menus strategically in the menu list, and keep recommending star category menus to customers. For plowhorse category, it can be done by reducing the production cost of plowhorse category menus, concerning the replacement of ingredients which is cheaper but with has the equal quality, and always recommend the plowhorse menus to customers. In challenge category, things that can be done is by doing any changes to the appearances of food presentation, always recommend the challenge category menus to customers. Meanwhile, in dog category, JASTH – Journal of Applied Sciences in Travel and Hospitality Vol. 1, No. 2, June 2018 187 things that can be done is by making overall changing to the menu composition, develop the new menus by doing any new innovations as well as concerning to delete any dog category menus. Based on the result of the study as well as the conclusion above, it can be suggested that: The management of F&B Department, Sol Beach House Restaurant to do a menu evaluation by using the menu engineering analysis for at least every 3 months in order to determine the right attempts in increasing the sales number of appetizer menu in El–Patio Restaurant, Sol Beach House Benoa Bali. The whole staffs and management of Sol Beach House Benoa Bali have to continue the promotion of the entire appetizer menu, either it is star, plowhorse, challenge, or dog category in order to increase the popularity rate of menus and provide a massive profit. The management of Sol Beach Benoa Bali has to pay attention to tourist’s interest in order to create new innovations of foods so it suits within tourist’s taste and desire. REFERENCES Cahyana, Cucu dan Guspri Devi Artanti. 2009. Buku Pintar Pengolahan Hidangan Kontinental: Hidangan Pembuka Dingin-Cold Appetizer. Jakarta: PT. Gramedia Pustaka Utama. 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