The tactic nobody uses, but should be.

If you want to protect your margins, stop treating your menu as a static list and start leveraging the Primacy and Recency effect.

It’s a simple adjustment, but it stops profit erosion at the point of guest selection.

Consumer psychology tells us that guests naturally focus on the first and last items they see in a category. If your highest-margin signature dishes are buried in the middle of a dense list, you are essentially hiding your profitability from the guest.

The fix for tonight: Look at your "Mains" or "Starters" section. Place your most profitable dish at the very top (Primacy) and your second most profitable at the bottom (Recency). The items in the "dead zone" in the middle should be your high-labour or lower-margin fillers.

This minor shift in choice architecture guides the guest’s eye toward the outcome that is best for the business, without the need for high-pressure upselling at the table. It future-proofs the average spend by making the most profitable choice the easiest one to make. 🥂