Digital Menu Boards in Australia: The Practical Guide for Cafés and Restaurants

If you've reprinted a menu because one price changed, you already know the problem digital menu boards solve.

This guide covers what they are, which screens suit which spots, how kilojoule labelling rules apply to a digital screen, and what a real rollout across more than 120 Australian stores looked like.

 

What is a digital menu board?

A digital menu board is a commercial screen that shows your menu, prices and promotions instead of a printed board. Content is managed through software, so you can change prices, swap breakfast for lunch on a schedule, or hide sold out items in seconds, across one store or hundreds, without reprinting anything.

Most setups have three parts: commercial screens built to run all day, a media player (often built into the screen), and content management software such as Cybercast.

 

Why cafés and restaurants are switching

Printed menus look fine on day one. The trouble starts with the second change.

• Price changes: supplier costs move, and every change means a reprint, a delay or a sticker over the old price.
• Time of day menus: breakfast, lunch and dinner need different boards, or one cluttered board trying to do all three.
• Sold out items: customers order something you don't have, and the queue slows down.
• More than one site: every store ends up with a slightly different version of the menu.

Digital boards fix all four from one dashboard. We break down the hidden costs of print in The Real Cost of Printed Signage.

 

How Sushi Hub rolled out digital menu boards across 120+ stores

Sushi Hub has more than 120 stores across Australia, a mix of company and franchise locations.

 

The problem: printed posters were slow to get out to stores, expensive and hard to manage. Stores ended up with stale or inconsistent messaging.

 

What they did: trialled SONIQ displays in several stores first, then rolled them out nationally, including countertop strip screens.

 

What changed: head office now controls the brand and content centrally, printing costs dropped, and the screens promote seasonal offers, add ons and impulse buys. Local stores can still add their own promotions.

 

That last point matters. A good setup isn't head office locking everything down. It's a central template with room for each store to sell what's working locally.

 

Do digital menu boards have to show kilojoules?

If you're a large chain in NSW, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia or the ACT, yes. Kilojoule rules apply to electronic menus as well as printed ones. Queensland's and the ACT's guides both name LCD screens specifically. Smaller and independent cafés generally don't have to, though some choose to.

 

Who has to comply

State or territory	Chains that must display kilojoules
NSW	20 or more outlets in NSW, or 50 or more nationally
Victoria	20 or more outlets in Victoria, or 50 or more nationally with at least one in Victoria
Queensland	20 or more locations in Queensland, or 50 or more in Australia
South Australia	20 or more outlets in South Australia, or 50 or more nationally
ACT	7 or more locations in the ACT
WA, Tasmania, NT	No mandatory scheme at the time of writing

 

All five schemes ask for the average kilojoule content of each standard menu item, plus the statement "The average adult daily energy intake is 8700 kJ".

 

What this means for a digital screen

The Queensland and ACT guides spell out details that matter on a screen:

• Same size as the price. The kJ figure must use the same font and at least the same font size as the price. In Queensland it must also be the same colour. If your price numerals vary in size, match the largest one.
• Same time, same duration. In Queensland, the kJ figure must show at the same time as the item's name or price, and for as long. On a rotating board, every slide that shows an item and price needs its kJ figure on that slide too.
• Online ordering counts. For apps and online menus, kJ information must appear where the customer decides to buy, though not on every screen after that.

Queensland also says businesses below the threshold can display kilojoules voluntarily, but if they do, they must follow the same display rules.

The practical takeaway: build kJ space into your menu template from day one. It's far easier than squeezing it in later.

Rules last checked October 2026. This is general information, not legal advice. Confirm the current requirements with your state food regulator, such as the NSW Food Authority.

 

Which screen goes where

The right screen depends on where it sits and how much light hits it.

 

Behind the counter, indoors. This is the classic menu board. Commercial displays such as SONIQ's 55 inch and 65 inch models run at 350 nits, which suits typical indoor lighting. The 65 inch is 4K and rated for 7 x 24 operation.

 

Facing a window or the street. Sunlight washes out standard screens. If your menu faces a shopfront window, look at the high brightness range. Our guide on outdoor and sun facing screens explains how to choose.

 

A long, narrow space above the counter. The 88 inch Smart Digital Stretched Display has an ultra wide 3840 x 1080 screen at 700 nits, built for 24/7 use. It fits one continuous menu across a wide counter where two or three standard screens would leave gaps.

 

On the counter or a shelf. The 23 inch strip display is a thin touch screen suited to add ons, combos and specials right where people pay.

 

Already have screens? The Cybercast Digital Signage Box plugs into an existing screen by HDMI and runs Cybercast content (a Cybercast licence is needed). It's a low cost way to test before upgrading.

Whatever you choose, use a commercial display rather than a home TV. TV warranties are usually written for domestic use. Samsung's Australian TV warranty card, for example, is for domestic rather than commercial environments.

 

How many screens, and what size?

A simple way to plan it:

1. One screen per menu section. For example, one for coffee, one for food, one for specials. Customers find what they want faster than on one crowded screen.
2. Plan for the queue, not the counter. Stand where your customers usually wait, not where staff stand.
3. Test before you buy. Print a mockup of one screen at full size, tape it up, and read it from the back of the queue. If you can't read the prices and kJ figures easily, go bigger or put fewer items on the screen.

Designing a menu board people can actually read

• Fewer items per screen. A board that tries to show everything gets read by no one.
• Big prices, and kJ at the same size if you're covered by the rules.
• Photos for your best sellers. Use them for the items you most want to sell, not every item.
• Go easy on rotation. Customers in a queue need time to read. Keep your core menu static, and rotate a separate promo area instead.
• Make it easy to edit. Keep prices and item names as live text in your template, not baked into an image, so anyone can change them without a designer.

For more on why motion works for promos, see Does Digital Signage Work?

 

Running your menus with Cybercast

Cybercast is SONIQ's cloud content platform, hosted on Amazon Web Services. For cafés and restaurants, that means you can:

• Schedule breakfast, lunch and dinner menus to switch automatically
• Push a price change to every store at once, from any device
• Manage one screen or a national network from a single dashboard
• Give head office control of the template while letting stores add local promos

Digital menu board checklist

 

Before you buy, check you've covered these:

• Commercial displays rated for long daily use, not home TVs
• Enough brightness for the spot (window facing needs high brightness)
• Screen count and size tested from the back of the queue
• A menu template with space for kJ figures if you meet a state threshold
• kJ on every rotating slide that shows an item and price
• Content software that schedules by time of day and covers every site
• A plan for who updates prices, and how fast

Frequently asked questions

 

Do I need to show kilojoules on a digital menu board?

Only if you meet your state's chain threshold, usually 20 or more outlets in the state or 50 or more nationally (7 or more in the ACT). Large chains in NSW, Victoria, Queensland, SA and the ACT must show them, and the rules cover digital screens as well as print.

 

Can I use a normal TV as a menu board?

You can, but TV warranties are usually written for home use, and you'll be changing content by hand. A commercial display is built for long hours and works with scheduling software.

 

Can I change menu prices from my phone?

Yes. With a cloud platform like Cybercast, you can update prices, menus and promotions from any device, and push changes to one store or every store.

 

Can menus change automatically through the day?

Yes. You can schedule different content for breakfast, lunch and dinner so the screens switch on their own.

 

What screen works best above a long counter?

An ultra wide stretched display, such as SONIQ's 88 inch model at 3840 x 1080, shows one continuous menu across the counter instead of several separate screens.

 

Can I pay off digital menu boards?

Yes. Afterpay is available on SONIQ purchases up to $4,000, and ABN holders can apply for business finance through Procuret.

 

Planning your menu boards?

SONIQ has been Australian owned and operated for over 20 years and has rolled out screens for national food chains like Sushi Hub. Tell us about your counter, your menu and how many sites you run, and we'll recommend a setup. Book a consultation or explore our restaurant and hospitality solutions.