As a coffee shop owner or operator, you’ve probably spent a decent amount of time in coffee shops yourself.
Trying unique coffee creations… getting a feel for the vibes you want to recreate in your own space… scoping out what they’ve got on their coffee shop menu.
For you — the coffee shop (or owner-to-be) — looking at that menu was a run-of-the-mill experience; just a way to pick your brew and afternoon snack (just for important business research, of course).
But, in the typical guest’s eyes?
That coffee shop’s menu has a set of entirely different responsibilities.
Within a few seconds of looking at your coffee shop menu, a prospective guest can evaluate make-or-break factors like:
- If your place is worth trying because you have their favorite drink… or if they should just stick to their regular spot.
- If you offer the dairy and sugar alternatives they need to use… or if they should just make coffee at home.
- If you have a promotion that’s a better bang for their buck… or if they should just use an old Starbucks gift card.
That’s why a well-thought-out coffee shop menu isn’t a “nice to have;” it’s a “must-have” if you want to educate, attract, and convert prospective guests into regular customers.
In this blog, we'll take you through the three phases of creating of a good coffee shop menu, including what features to include, why they’re important, and tips and tricks to help you along the way. Plus, we’ve also created a free, downloadable coffee shop menu checklist to help you make sure every “t” is crossed and “i” is dotted (both literally and figuratively).
Let’s get started!
Phase 1: Competitor & Customer Research
The first phase in creating a coffee shop menu is about researching your competitors and customers, gathering data to inform your own menu item selection and pricing strategy.
Competitor Research
In the competitor research phase, you’ll want to explore what other local coffee shops have on their menus and how those items are priced. By looking at the types of products your competitors offer, you can flag items, trends, and/or offerings that are overrepresented (which you might want to avoid) or underrepresented (which you might want to prioritize).
You’ll also want to look at your competitor’s menu pricing in this phase, to help inform your own pricing decisions. As you’re conducting pricing research, there are two key things to watch for.
- Price ranges — Take note of the lowest and highest prices you’ve seen for specific items, using these data points as guide rails to inform your own pricing (which ideally would fall somewhere in the middle of the range you develop).
- Cost vs price — Use the food cost formula to determine how much a specific menu item costs to create, and then compare that data to the average menu price you’ve seen in your research.
Then, based on your food cost vs. pricing comparison, you can decide whether an item makes financial sense to add to your menu or if it’s more trouble than it’s worth.
Customer Research
In the customer research phase, you’ll want to hone in on your ideal customers/target demographic, exploring what they want from the coffee shops they visit, and what they need to become a regular at yours.
A few areas you may want to explore in your customer research include:
- Your customer’s favorite/least favorite products
- Which coffee shops your customers frequent the most/least (and why)
- How much your customers believe certain menu items to be worth/what they’d pay
Then, equipped with the data you’ve collected from your customers and competitors, you can head into Phase 2 ready to make data-informed decisions about what products you’re adding to your coffee shop menu and how much you charge for them.
To summarize, the “To-Dos” in this phase include:
✔ Conduct competitor research on other local coffee shops for product offerings
✔ Conduct competitor research on other local coffee shops for pricing guidelines
✔ Conduct customer research with your target audience(s) to establish wants and needs
✔ Combine your research to better inform your decisions in Phase 2 of menu development
Stay on track with Phase 1 research by following Craver’s Coffee Shop Menu checklist.
Phase 2: Development, Pricing, and Descriptions
The second phase in creating a coffee shop menu is all about development, from creating (and finessing!) your recipes and products to writing captivating, purchase-inspiring menu descriptions.
Pick and Develop Your Offerings
The first step in this phase is to develop your coffee shop’s menu offerings using the data you gathered from competitors and customers in Phase 1.
This will start with solidifying what menu items you actually want to offer, based on what other coffee shops have on their menus and what your customers told you they want (and need). Then, you’ll need to develop those recipes, making sure the menu items you’ve decided on translate as well in person as they do on paper. This will include:
- Creating the recipe for each menu item,
- Tweaking it until you’re happy with the results, and
- Testing it on an audience (whether you bring your baristas in for feedback or simply trial it on the menu)
You’ll also want to consider smaller — but equally important — menu offerings like popular add-ins or dairy-free alternatives. Will you offer them at all? How many different options will you have? Will they be free or require an upcharge? Don’t forget that this process applies to both food and drink items, whether you’re figuring out the flavors of your signature latte or developing the best croissant recipe any coffee shop has ever seen.
Then, after you’ve created, tested, and just about perfected every item on the menu, it’s time to figure out the official menu pricing for everything you’ve got on offer.
Establish Your Menu Prices
In Phase 1, you did most of the heavy lifting, researching other coffee shops’ pricing and doing general food cost formula calculations to determine whether a menu item was worth developing.
Now, it’s time to take that data and get a bit more granular. You can use the food cost formula (again) to determine a more accurate cost for each item. Then, using the results of the food cost formula and the average pricing from other coffee shops, you can decide on a specific price for each of your newly-crafted menu items.
From there, you’ll head to the final step in Phase 2 — writing item descriptions.
Write Your Item Descriptions
While menu item descriptions seem very simple, there’s more to them than meets the eye.
Sure, your descriptions need to describe the item… but they should inform and entice the customers reading them, too. For example, how will you tell a customer which items are gluten-free? Will you include that in the item description, or will that be a graphic element? Or, how will you convince a customer to try a seasonal item? What can you share with them in the description that might encourage them to try it out?
Now, there’s no doubt that you have a lot to do in this phase, especially since you’ve got pricing and writing on your plate. That being said, there are two important things to keep in mind:
- Nothing is set in stone — You can change your pricing or descriptions anytime you want, an especially easy task with an online platform or Craver mobile app.
- Try to see this phase as the feedback opportunity it is — Don’t hesitate to ask your most loyal guests what they think of your pricing and descriptions and make adjustments based on their feedback!
To summarize, the “To-Dos” in this phase include:
✔ Establish and finalize your menu offerings, for both food and drink
✔ Develop, test, and perfect every menu item until you’re happy with it
✔ Price each menu item according to the food cost formula and Phase 1 research
✔ Write item descriptions that inform and entice your guests (while accurately describing, too)
Phase 2 is jam-packed with tasks… but with Craver’s Coffee Shop Menu checklist, you won’t miss a single one.
Phase 3: Design, Implementation, and Updates
The third and final phase in creating a coffee shop menu involves designing (and making) your menu, implementing it in-store and online, and planning regular and seasonal updates.
Design Your Menu
In terms of designing and physically creating your coffee shop’s menu, you have a few options.
If you’ve got a flexible budget – and not enough time to do the graphic design yourself – outsourcing your menu design and creation is one option. Plenty of graphic design and printing companies would happily take over your menu design and creation, allowing you to take more of a “consultant” role than doing everything yourself.
If you’ve got a smaller budget – or you feel like flexing your creative muscles in a new way – doing the design and printing yourself is another option. With the number of free tools available online now, it’s easy to design a menu using Canva templates or the Adobe Express menu maker — no graphic design experience required.
Print and/or Upload Your Menu
Then, once your coffee shop menu is finalized, it's time to get it in front of your customers.
If you want physical menus at your coffee shop, you’ll need to work with a printing company to get them professionally printed, laminated, and ready to use. There are tons of popular, reliable printing options you can choose from, like MOO’s custom printing services or Staples’ print-and-deliver services, for example.
Getting your menus online is easier to navigate since it usually involves a simple upload of the file you created in the previous step. Don’t forget to upload your coffee shop’s menu to high-traffic places other than your website like Google Business Profile, Yelp, and Tripadvisor.
Put your menu into the hands of your guests with a custom mobile app from Craver.
Plan Regular Menu Updates
The last task in Phase 3 is creating a plan to update your menu regularly, especially during special seasons and holidays. According to InMarket’s Q3 2024 Coffee & Snack Shops Fidelity Index, seasonal marketing strategies like holiday drinks “drive excitement, visitation, and sales through product innovation,” and shouldn’t be overlooked as a way to amp up sales and keep your guests coming back.
So, figure out an update process that works best for you and your coffee shop. Will you:
- Do research and development every year to come up with brand-new offers?
- Test a range of options this year, then only bring back the best performers?
- Try a combination of the two, or something different altogether?
Whatever strategy you choose, make sure it’s sustainable in the long run — you don’t want to get your customers hooked on something you won’t be able to bring back!
To summarize, the “To-Dos” in this phase include:
✔ Create your coffee shop menu either by outsourcing or designing it yourself
✔ Get your coffee shop menu printed/uploaded and in front of your guests
✔ Upload your coffee shop menu to high-traffic websites like Yelp
✔ Commit to consistent menu updates, especially seasonal updates
Get Started with Craver's Free Coffee Shop Menu Checklist
Once you’ve completed all three phases outlined in this blog, you’ll have a coffee shop menu that’s ready to be shown to the world… but getting to that stage is a lot easier when you’ve got Craver’s “Coffee Shop Menu” checklist in your back pocket.
With our free checklist guiding your menu efforts, you’ll go from “I need a new coffee shop menu” to “Wow, my new coffee shop menu rocks” with less stress (and fewer missed tasks!) than just wingin’ it.
Plus, the checklist format means you can actually check off each task as you complete it, and nothing feels better than a fully completed checklist, right?
Download your FREE “Coffee Shop Menu” checklist below — the best coffee shop menu you’ve ever seen is just waiting to be made!
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