When should a kitchen set par levels for a brand new menu item?

Set a starting par before launch, and keep it low

The par should exist before the first day the item is on the menu, because a prep sheet with a blank next to a new dish means the cook will decide, and they will usually decide high to avoid running out. Pick a number on purpose. A reasonable approach is to look at the most similar existing item in the same menu category and price range, then start below its par, since a new item has to earn attention from guests and servers.

Keep the initial batch size small even if that means prepping it more often for a week. Over-prep on a new item is expensive twice: you waste the product, and you learn nothing about real demand because the shelves were never empty. Under-prep on a new item is cheap by comparison, as long as the line knows to report every time it runs out. A short run-out with a note is data. A full walk-in of an item nobody ordered is just waste. Related: What causes over prep and under prep, and how do you stop both?

Keep reading: How do you build a daily prep list from par levels the right way?, What causes over prep and under prep, and how do you stop both?, How should you assign prep tasks across stations so nothing gets missed?. See how PrepDeckr helps you kitchen prep lists and par-based prep sheets.

Count it daily for the first two weeks

For a normal item, a par can be reviewed weekly. For a new item, count it every day and write the count next to the par with a note about the day: was it pushed by servers, was it featured, was the dining room full or half empty. Two weeks of daily counts on a new item will tell you more than two months of weekly counts, because the demand is changing fastest right at the start. Related: How do you build a daily prep list from par levels the right way?

Watch for the pattern rather than the single number. A new item often spikes in the first few days from curiosity and staff enthusiasm, then settles. If you set the par on day three you will over-prep for a month. Wait for the numbers to hold roughly steady for several days in a row before you call it a real par, and expect that steady number to be lower than the opening days.

Account for what the new item replaces

A new dish rarely adds pure demand. It usually pulls orders from something else on the menu, often the item it most resembles. When a new pasta launches, the existing pasta's par probably needs to come down, and the shared components, the sauce base and the cooked pasta, may need to go up in total. Look at the whole category when you review, not the new item alone.

This is also the moment to check component pars. If the new item uses a garnish or a sauce that was previously only on one dish, that component's par was built for one dish's demand. Add the expected new demand to it before launch, then adjust as the counts come in. Component-level shortages are the most common way a well-planned launch turns into a scramble on the line.

Decide when the item graduates to a normal par

An item is ready for a normal weekly review when its daily counts have been stable for a couple of weeks, when the line has stopped reporting run-outs, and when the servers have stopped treating it as the new thing. At that point, set its pars by day of the week like everything else and fold it into the regular cadence. Note the date, because you will want to know later how long it took to settle. Related: Why should prep par levels change by day of the week for a kitchen?

Some items never settle because they never sell. If a new dish is still at the bottom of its category after a month with a reasonable par and normal promotion, that is menu information, not a prep problem. Lowering the par further just hides it. Take the number to whoever owns the menu and let them decide whether to push it, change it, or drop it, with real prep and sales numbers in hand. Related: What is the fastest way to count prep on hand and stay accurate?