New Menu Item Launch Checklist Template

Owned by the launch lead. Enter the launch date, the day the dish goes on sale: every due date counts from it in working days, and this template allows twelve working weeks before it. Say where the sites are and which labelling rules apply; each task then shows that country’s notes.

• Record the launch, the launch date and the people — what is launching and at which sites, the launch date, where the sites are and which menu labelling rules apply, and the six people this checklist assigns
• Write the brief for the dish — the gap on the menu it fills, the guests it is for, the target price and food cost per portion, how long it will stay on the menu, and how it will be sold
• Check where it fits on the current menu — the menu section and price point it sits in, the dishes it competes with, and the dish it replaces, if any
• Agree the launch plan with the site managers — the launch date, any site that launches later, delivery days, training slots and marketing dates, so every site can plan its rotas and orders around them

The development chef turns the brief into a recipe that every site can cook the same way. List every product by name now: the allergen information and the costing in later phases depend on it.

• Develop the concept and the first recipe — the idea, the main ingredients, the method and the plating, built to the brief’s price and to what the sites’ kitchens can make
• List every ingredient, sub-recipe and product — each ingredient with the exact product, brand and supplier, including sauces, garnishes, cooking oil and anything bought in ready-made
• Check the dish works in every site’s kitchen — the equipment, the station that cooks it, prep time, storage space and how it holds up at the busiest service
• Check the food safety steps for the new dish — cooking, cooling, reheating and holding temperatures, any process or high-risk ingredient the sites have not used before, and what changes in the food safety management system
• Write the draft standard recipe card — weights for every ingredient, the method, the yield, the portion size, cooking temperatures and times, and the plating

Cook the dish exactly as the card says, as often as it takes. Before the trial version is served to any guest, the allergen lead checks its allergens and gives them to the trial site. The final recipe card signed off at the end of this phase is the one the costing, the allergen information and the training work from.

• Cook the dish to the recipe card and record the results — the yield, the portion weight, prep and cooking times, and anything the card got wrong
• Hold a tasting panel — taste, look, portion size and value scored by the chefs, front of house and managers who will cook and sell it
• Adjust the recipe and test it again — change one thing at a time, cook again and update the recipe card until the panel is happy with it
• Check the trial version’s allergens and brief the trial site — the allergens in the version going into the real service, checked against the product labels and specifications, and given to the trial site’s staff so they can answer guests, before any guest is served it
• Test it in a real service at one site — once the trial site has the allergen information, cook it at a busy service, time the tickets at the pass, and check the station keeps up with the rest of the menu
• Sign off the final recipe card and plating photo — the version every site will cook from, with a photo of the dish as it should look at the pass

Cost the final recipe at today’s prices and make sure every product can be bought, specified and delivered in time for training and launch.

• Get the supplier specification for every ingredient — the specification or product information for each product, with its ingredients, allergens, pack size, shelf life and storage, kept where the allergen lead can read it
• Approve the new supplier before the first order — the checks your supplier approval procedure asks for, such as food safety certificates, delivery days, minimum order and who to call when a product changes
• Cost the recipe per portion — every ingredient at current supplier prices, including garnish, sauces, cooking oil and the trim and waste the test cooks showed
• Set the menu price and check the margin — the price at each site or price band, and the food cost against the brief’s target
• Plan the run-down of the dish coming off — stock of products only the outgoing dish uses, last order dates, and the day it comes off menus, the POS and the allergen information, which this template sets as the launch date
• Set up the new products and order launch stock — product codes in your ordering and stock system, par levels for each site, and the first deliveries timed for the training and the launch

Work from the final recipe card and the specifications, never from memory. The labelling tasks shown depend on where the sites are and how the dish is sold.

• Identify the allergens in every ingredient — from the labels and specifications of the products on the final recipe card, for each component and sub-recipe, with any precautionary “may contain” statement noted
• Update the allergen matrix and have it checked — the new dish added, any dish coming off removed, and a second person checking every line against the specifications before the matrix is used
• Update the allergen information customers see — menu notes, the allergen folder or chart, and the notice telling customers how to ask, all matching the new matrix
• Label food packed on site before it is ordered — a label on every pack made on the premises before it is ordered or selected, checked against the final recipe card and the matrix
• Work out the calories and add them to menus in England — the energy in kcal for a portion, or for the whole item when it serves more than one, with the portion size, next to the description or price, and the 2000 kcal statement on every menu page
• Add calories to US menus and menu boards — the calories for each standard menu item next to its name or price, on every menu and menu board including online menus, with the two statements 21 CFR 101.11 requires
• Prepare the written nutrition information and its records — the written nutrition information kept on the premises for guests who ask, and the records that show how the values were worked out
• Check every claim in the dish’s description — words such as vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free, free from or local, checked against the recipe, the specifications and how the dish is cooked and served
• Sign off the allergen and nutrition information for the launch — the matrix, the menu wording, any labels and any calorie or nutrition figures checked once more against the final recipe card before training starts

Get everything guests see and staff use ready, but keep it switched off until launch day. The online tasks appear only when the dish will be sold online, by phone or through delivery apps.

• Update printed and digital menus and menu boards — the dish name and description, the price, and the allergen or calorie information the rules ask for, proofread against the recipe card and the matrix
• Set up the dish on the POS — the button, price, options, kitchen printer or screen routing and any allergen prompts, tested with a dummy order and kept off sale until launch
• Prepare the online ordering and delivery app listings — the name, description, photo, price and options on your own website and each delivery app, set to go live on launch day
• Check allergen information for online and phone orders — the allergen information a guest can see before ordering online or by phone, and what comes with the food on delivery or collection
• Brief the marketing for the launch — photos, descriptions and dates for social media, email and the sites, using only the claims the allergen lead has checked

Every site cooks and sells the dish to standard before anyone decides to launch. The approver’s go/no-go halts the checklist: nothing after it can be completed until the approver completes it.

• Train the kitchen team at every site — cooking to the recipe card and plating photo, prep and storage, how allergen orders for the dish are made, and who to ask
• Train front of house to sell and serve the dish — how to describe it, its allergens and how to answer questions, what to suggest with it, and how an allergen order reaches the kitchen
• Update prep lists, labels and food safety records at each site — prep and par sheets, date labels and the temperature checks for the new dish in each site’s food safety records
• Check launch stock has arrived at every site — each new product delivered, checked and stored, with enough for launch week
• Have every site cook the dish to standard — a final cook at each site, checked against the recipe card and plating photo by the development chef or the launch lead
• Decide go or no-go for the launch — the test cooks and tasting, the costing, the signed-off allergen and nutrition information, the menus, POS and training, and every site’s final cook, taken together
• Meet the approver’s conditions before launch — each condition the approver set, done and recorded before the dish goes on sale
• Hold the launch and decide what happens next — tell the sites, keep the dish off the POS, menus and online listings, and record whether it will be fixed and rescheduled or dropped

Applies only when the launch goes ahead: a No-go on the go/no-go hides this phase. Launch day and the first week. Watch the dish in real services, fix what they show, and put any change to an ingredient through the allergen information before it reaches a guest.

• Put the dish live at every site — the POS item switched on, menus and boards out, online listings live, and any dish it replaces taken off everything at the same time
• Check the first services — plating against the photo, ticket times, portion sizes, waste and how allergen orders were handled, site by site
• Collect guest and team feedback from launch week — what guests said and left on the plate, and what the kitchen and front of house found hard
• Fix what launch week showed — changes to the recipe card, training or stock, with any change to an ingredient checked against the allergen matrix before it is served
• Check sales against stock and adjust orders — how many portions each site sold, what was wasted, and the par levels and orders for the weeks ahead

Applies only when the launch goes ahead: a No-go hides this phase. About a month after launch, check the dish against its brief and decide its future.

• Review the dish after 30 days — sales, the actual food cost against the costing, waste, guest feedback and how the kitchen copes, site by site
• Decide whether to keep, change or remove it — the decision, the reasons and what happens next, with any recipe change going back through the allergen and calorie information
• File the final records — the recipe card, specifications, costing, allergen matrix version, any calorie or nutrition workings, training records and this review, where the next menu change can find them