Planning a Vietnamese Lunch Buffet Menu for a Finnish Restaurant: Case Sulo Restaurant

There have been studies on Vietnamese dishes or Vietnamese restaurants in Finland; however, there is no specific research in Kajaani about Vietnamese cuisine, especially applying Vietnamese dishes into a Finnish restaurant's menu. The choice of topic was based on personal interest in the restaurant business operation and menu creation. The author hopes that the thesis will contribute to the development of the restaurant industry in Kajaani becoming more diverse. During the process, the author used results from previous studies as a resource for this research. The main goal of the thesis was to develop a lunch buffet menu for Sulo by adding Vietnamese food during the timeframe from November 2019 to November 2020. The thesis consists of a theoretical background related to the food culture of Vietnam and Finland, product development, menu planning. Respondents of the survey were 154 customers who visited Sulo restaurant for three days in September 2020. A combination of quantitative and qualitative research methods was used through interviews and surveys among Sulo's staff and customers to collect in-depth information for the idea to design the new menu. As a result of the thesis, many customers expected that Vietnamese food would be served by Sulo restaurant monthly. Also, four suggested menus have been selected by the author, which have to be useful and suitable in accordance with all the rules and regulations of the Sulo restaurant. The research paper has answered the research questions, although there are some limitations. The author wishes to have the opportunity to continue the studies, or an-other student interested in the topic might implement the suggested menu at Sulo to get accurate feedback from customers on Vietnamese food