A menu redesign that moved margin from 9% to 16%
El Marakby — Portsaid cuisine, Jeddah
Guests started at the ground-floor fish stand, chose their fish, then went upstairs to a QR-code menu — but by then they'd already ordered to capacity. The higher-margin kitchen dishes (rice, pasta, casseroles, appetizers) sat unseen behind a QR code that a 30–50, family decision-maker in a casual-dining setting rarely scanned. Fish dominated sales at ~85% and overall margin sat at 9%.
Make the full menu impossible to miss before the fish stand. Replace the QR menu with a premium leather menu — every dish shown with a photo and an appetizing description, fish placed last — and add a seated waiting area facing the fish stand so guests browse the whole menu before they order.
Designed and printed the photo-led leather menu (80+ items), reordered so kitchen dishes lead and fish closes, and built a seated waiting area in front of the fish stand so guests see what the kitchen offers before committing.
Order behavior shifted: fish fell from 85% to 65% of revenue, the high-margin kitchen items more than doubled their share (15% → 35%), and blended profit margin rose from 9% to 16% — same kitchen, same fish, a better-informed guest.
Net profit margin (before / after)
Same menu items and costs — the gain comes from a higher-margin order mix.
Revenue mix (share of sales)
Kitchen dishes (higher margin) more than doubled their share of sales.