Menu Engineering 101: The Hidden Power of Ham, Bacon and Salami

Menu engineering is about more than choosing ingredients. It’s the craft of building dishes that balance food cost, speed, and flavour while maximising customer satisfaction and profit.

Smallgoods like ham, bacon, and salami can play a strategic role in this process. Affordable, quick to prep, and packed with flavour, they help strike the right balance across all three factors, making them a powerful tool in any kitchen. 

Balancing Food Cost, Speed, and Flavour 

Want to make life easier in the kitchen and lift your bottom line? It all comes down to three menu must-haves: speed, cost, and flavour. Here’s how smallgoods deliver on all fronts:

• Speed
  Time is money in a busy kitchen. Ready-to-go options like Primo’s pre-sliced ham, bacon and salami keep service quick and consistent.
  
  
• Food Cost
  Portion-controlled formats help reduce waste and improve margins, giving you more value from every serve.
  
  
• Flavour
  From crispy bacon to bold salami, smallgoods pack a punch with minimal prep to bring the crave factor to every dish.

Real Plates, Real Impact

Let’s put these principles into practice with a few simple yet effective examples of how ham, bacon, and salami can shine on your menu. 

The Ham & Cheese Croissant
A café classic that’s quick to prepare, easy to scale, and seriously profitable when made with Primo Ham. One venue that’s nailed it? Lune Croissanterie in Melbourne and Sydney proves it best! Shaved ham, Swiss Gruyère and mustard wrapped in flaky pastry, baked fresh each morning. It’s a crowd favourite that keeps the queues long and the service snappy. 

Top with Bacon
Need a winter warm-up? With Primo Bacon, you can mix up your toppings by using different cuts and cook styles to suit your menu. At The Leadbeater Hotel in Richmond, the Mac and Cheesey Group has built a whole menu around comfort food. Their ‘Miss Piggy’ mac and cheese, finished with crunchy bacon bits, is a clear favourite. Just goes to show — bacon on top makes everything better.

Salami That Sizzles
Primo Salami is your shortcut to big flavour.. It’s a simple, high impact topping for pizzas, sandwiches or toasties, offering richness without the extra labour. In McLaren Vale, local favourite Pizzateca in McLaren Vale serves up their spicy ‘Diablo’ pizza with salami, sugo, asiago, chilli flakes and house-made chilli honey. It’s bold, simple, and packed with punch.

Make It A Moment! 

Events like State of Origin, National Hot Dog Day, and the AFL Grand Final are perfect opportunities to tap into high-energy moments and draw a crowd.

Across the country, pubs and venues cater to these events with fast, group-friendly food. Think meat-loaded platters, shareable bites, and toasties that fly out of the kitchen. It’s food made for social, celebratory vibes.

National Hot Dog Day (third Wednesday in July) is a valuable occasion for fun, low-effort specials. From themed menus to eating contests, venues get creative with classic or fully loaded dogs that bring people together and boost foot traffic.

Smart use of ham, bacon and salami isn’t just about taste – it’s a strategic way to build a menu that works harder for your business. When speed, cost and flavour are in sync, even the simplest dishes can become best-sellers.

Collaboration between kitchen teams and suppliers plays a big role here, helping ensure every ingredient on the plate is working hard. Primo’s range of smallgoods is designed to support kitchens looking to balance quality, efficiency and creativity; whether you’re building quick-service options or crowd-pleasing classics. 

Grab the bull by the horns and check out our full range of smallgoods today: primofoodservice.com.au/our-products