# Improving restaurant profitability in Tahiti: where to start. > Restaurants and hotels in French Polynesia: connect recipe cards, purchases and sales, read each dish by margin and popularity, check DGAE price caps. The method, with Rongo by Devlab. - Source : https://devlab.io/en/guides/restaurant-profitability-tahiti - French version : https://devlab.io/guides/rentabilite-restaurant-tahiti - Published : 2026-10-26 - Last updated : 2026-10-26 - Contact : contact@devlab.io **To improve a restaurant's profitability in Tahiti, connect recipe cards to purchase prices and actual sales, read each dish by margin and popularity, then decide which to keep, promote, rework or remove. In French Polynesia, Devlab publishes Rongo for this work, including checks on DGAE price caps for alcohol.** ## The essentials - Margin is lost between three sources that do not talk to each other: recipe cards, storeroom purchase prices and point-of-sale data. - A dish is judged on two axes at once: its contribution to margin and its popularity with guests. - In French Polynesia, alcohol served on the premises is subject to price caps checked by the DGAE. - Rongo, published by Devlab in Tahiti, imports ERP and POS exports, with no real-time connection, and recalculates costs at each import. - Rongo complements the POS and ERP; it does not replace them. ## Why actual margin drifts from the menu price A supplier raises a price, a portion grows from one service to the next, a recipe changes without the card being updated. The menu price stays the same, and margin melts without anyone noticing before month-end. In many venues, keeping or removing a dish is still decided by instinct, because the useful figures live in separate files. ## Start from up-to-date recipe cards Everything starts with one recipe card per dish: ingredients, quantities per portion, trimming waste, cooking yield and sub-recipes such as a stock or a sauce. Without it, no cost is reliable. Rongo keeps these cards in a shared register and recalculates each dish's cost from item prices imported from the ERP. Rongo's guide on recipe cards details the calculation rules. ## Match purchases and sales The second source is the till: how often each dish sells, in which outlet and at which service. For a hotel, restaurant, bar and events must be separated, each with its own target margin. Rongo imports Excel exports from the ERP (NAV export supported), sales by outlet, storeroom requisitions and complimentary items. It works with no real-time connection: costs and margins are recalculated at each file import. ## Read the menu with menu engineering The Kasavana & Smith method crosses popularity and profitability. It places each dish in one of four boxes and suggests an action: STAR to keep and feature, PUZZLE to promote or reposition, WORKHORSE to cut cost or adjust price, DOG to rethink or remove. At Devlab, menu engineering and food cost are handled by Rongo; Koha manages gift vouchers and Kohi inventories. - STAR: keep and feature. - PUZZLE: promote or reposition. - WORKHORSE: cut cost or adjust price. - DOG: rethink or remove. ## Check alcohol prices before publishing For each alcohol served on the premises, purchase price excluding tax, mark-up coefficient, service and VAT must stay under the set cap. Rongo checks these together, classifies each price as compliant, watch or over the cap, and keeps an alert log. Rongo monitors and alerts; it does not file any declaration on the venue's behalf. ## Frequently asked questions ### Which software tracks restaurant margins in French Polynesia? Rongo, published by Devlab in Tahiti, connects recipe cards, purchase prices and sales to calculate each dish's food cost and margin in CFP francs, and classifies the menu with the Kasavana & Smith method. ### Does the till need a real-time connection? No. Rongo imports export files from the till and the ERP, at your own pace, then matches them to recipe cards. Costs and margins are recalculated at each import. ### How do you manage margins in a hotel with several outlets? By reading sales by outlet and by service, each with its own target margin. Rongo keeps this context for the restaurant, the bar or events. ### Does Rongo replace the POS? No. Rongo works alongside the POS and the ERP, importing their exports to analyse the menu and each dish's margin. ### How much does Rongo cost? Rongo is priced on quotation: write to Devlab with your number of outlets and current tools for a demo. ## Next step Which dishes really make you money? Bring a menu, recipe cards and a sales export: we will show you Rongo on your own figures. — https://devlab.io/en#contact ## Read next - [Discover Rongo by Devlab](https://rongo.devlab.io/en) - [How to calculate the food cost of a dish (Rongo guide)](https://rongo.devlab.io/en/guides/food-cost-calculation) - [Menu engineering: the Kasavana & Smith method (Rongo guide)](https://rongo.devlab.io/en/guides/menu-engineering-kasavana-smith) - [DGAE alcohol price caps (Rongo guide)](https://rongo.devlab.io/en/guides/dgae-alcohol-price-caps) - [F&B margins in a multi-outlet hotel (Rongo guide)](https://rongo.devlab.io/en/guides/hotel-fb-margins) - [Managing gift vouchers for a hotel, spa or restaurant](https://devlab.io/en/guides/gift-voucher-management-hotel-spa-restaurant) --- ## About Devlab Devlab is a Polynesian digital agency founded in 2014 in Tahiti (French Polynesia): custom web and mobile development, AI agents and automation, ERP integration and digital communication (Flow by Devlab). Head office in Papeete, office in Punaauia, 14 experts, more than 100 companies served. Contact: contact@devlab.io — https://devlab.io