Gregg Rapp

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Gregg Rapp
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Background information
Birth nameGregory Thomas Rapp
Born (1958-09-05) September 5, 1958 (age 65)
Dayton
DiedNovember 11, 2020(2020-11-11) (aged 62)
Palm Springs
Occupation(s)Menu Engineer

Gregg Rapp (born September 5, 1958) was a professional restaurant menu engineer.[1] His use of science-based empiricism helped make restaurant menu design evolve from an art to more of a data-based science.[2] He is credited with reimagining menus for some of the most well-known restaurants across the globe.[3]

Professional Impact

Rapp's approach to menu design was empirically driven by analyzing the purchase frequency of individual food items, their ingredient costs, and their price and profit margins.[4] A key goal was to make menus more attractive to consumers and thereby more profitable to restaurant owners.

Over the years, Rapp's analysis of various menus led him to make a number of behaviorally-based generalizations, which were a mix of psychology, marketing, and intuition. These included suggestions to organize your menu like a magazine, design so that less is more, and eliminate leader dots and dollar signs.[5]. They also included more subjective aesthetic suggestions about colors, design, and layout. A number of books have discussed his insights and how they dovetail with published research in psychology and behavioral economics. For instance, his insights about using elaborately descriptive menu names was discussed in Mindless Eating and Slim by Design, and his observations about how overpriced decoy menu items cause a person to pay more for the other items they order was discussed in Predictably Irrational.

Rapp spoke regularly to graduate students at Cornell University, Duke University, and Culinary Institute of America. His approach and his discoveries have been widely reported in Time[6] The New York Times[7] , the trade press, and on the Today Show[8][9] and BBC[10] He often said his mission was to "improve the world, one menu at a time."[11]

Personal

Rapp was raised in Dayton, Ohio, and graduated from Washington State University. He spent the majority of his adult life in Palm Springs, Californina].

In 2019, Rapp was asked to appear as himself on the gameshow To Tell the Truth. All the three celebrities wrongly selected one of other two female decoy contestants as the "real menu engineer.[12]

Honors

In 2019, Rapp's alma mater, Washington State University announced the Gregg Rapp Menu Engineering Scholarship.[13][14] In 2022, Gregg was honored again by being inducted into the Hospitality Hall of Fame.[15]

References

Further reading

  • Ariely, Dan (2010). Predictably Irrational. New York: Harper Collins Publisher. ISBN 9780061353246.
  • Kershaw, Sara (December 22, 2009). "Using Menu Psychology to Entice Diners". New York Times: D1.
  • Miranda, Carolina (June 11, 2006). "Menu Magician - Gregg Rapp knows just how to influence what you order". Time.
  • Poundstone, William (December 3, 2009). "Menu Mind Games". New York.
  • Wansink, Brian (2006). Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think. New York: Bantam Books. ISBN 978-0345526885.
  • Wansink, Brian (2014). Slim by Design: Mindless Eating Solutions for Everyday Life. New York: William Morrow and Company. pp. 80–81. ISBN 978-0062136527.

References

External links

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