← Glossary

Plow Horse

A menu item with high sales volume but low contribution margin. Plow horses drive traffic but may not generate proportional profit.

A menu item with high sales volume but low contribution margin. Plow horses drive traffic but may not generate proportional profit.

Related terms

  • Menu Engineering Matrix — A four-quadrant classification tool mapping menu items by popularity and profitability to identify stars, plow horses, puzzles, and dogs.
  • Menu Profitability — Measuring the profit contribution of each menu item by comparing sales revenue against ingredient costs and required preparation labor.

Want to see this in practice?

Start a trial