I saw an article about how restaurants will be changing the way they display their menus after lockdown to enhance the safety of customers (link below). It seems most will be opting for single use menus, one big menu board in the restaurant or digital versions used via the customers phones. 

I’m thinking paper menus will be the most user friendly / convenient but what’s your thoughts? What would you prefer? 

If you are considering getting single use menus or working on other print projects at the moment, I thought I’d pop some little tips that I’ve discovered over time on how you could keep print costs down…

1. Only use one colour on the artwork: 
That doesn’t mean it has to be black and white. Your choice of colour could be one of your corporate colours. (Just make sure it stands out against the paper colour – customers what to be able to easily read what delicious food choices are available!) 

2. Pick a standard paper type and size: 
Generally the thicker the paper the higher the price (there are some exceptions!).  You may see the term ‘GSM’ when looking at paper options, which means ‘grams per square meter’. The higher the GSM the thicker the paper. Something worth remembering is that ‘100gsm’ is similar thickness to ‘normal’ printing paper that you use in printers at home / in the office. 

You may also want to consider choosing a standard paper size (ie, A5, A4, A3) as these are more cost effective. 

3. Avoid extra processes (such as folds / staples / glue): 
These extra processes all add cost as it’s extra time and/or material that the printers need to consider in their pricing. 

4. Quantity:
The more you order the better price per item…but also consider how much you actually need and if you are likely to need to update the artwork regularly. There is nothing more annoying than having boxes of outdated prints stacked up and in your way! 

5. Order multiple print jobs at the same time:
Do you have some promotional flyers to print at the same time? Try to bulk them into one print order – The more print jobs at the same time the better the price may be! 

6. Talk to your printer! 
Printing companies are super helpful with answering any questions and will happily recommend options that can help keep your project cost low. 

Bonus: One last little suggestion / request from me…
Stay local, please 🙂 This is more important now than ever before! 

Also, if you are in the restaurant industry and need a hand re-working your menu to suit a single use version, if you have questions about print options or need some local printer recommendations – I’ll be happy to help and try to answer any questions you may have. 

It’s times like this we all need to help each other. 

Original article about how restaurants need to rethink menus: https://www.foodsafetynews.com/2020/05/rethinking-menus-to-help-restaurants-enhance-safety-when-they-reopen/