On Tap

FROM THE EDITORON TAP ON TAP

Enrich Your Customers’ Experience with a Photo Booth

Over the last few years, it’s become apparent that what truly separates one bar from another is the experience it provides to its patrons. Even in the age of COVID-19, with new social distancing restrictions, customer experience will still be paramount.

If you’re looking for something unique to add to your bar that will keep the interest of your patrons, consider adding a photo booth. Photo booths have surged in popularity over the last five or so years, and they are a staple at many special events. But why not bring them into your bar? Your guests are already taking photos—this gives them another way to remember their experience at your bar.

“A photo booth that offers prints can dramatically change the guest experience at bars,” says Suzanne Seagle, director of Marketing at DNP Imagingcomm America Corp. “People love to go to bars to meet up with friends, unwind from daily life, and have fun! Photo booths capture those moments and make those memories last far beyond their time at the bar. People at bars are already taking selfies, but a photo booth can easily print those memories and give guests a physical reminder of a fun night out.”

DNP is the industry leader in dyesublimation photo printers and are often the printers chosen by photo booth companies to include with their solutions. Unlike typical ink-jet printers, dye-sublimation printers use ribbon heating and cooling technology that produce high-resolution prints in seconds that don’t smudge or fade.

“DNP’s latest printer, the QW410, is the most compact, lightweight dyesublimation photo printer on the market, making it that much easier for restaurants and bars to set up permanent installations without taking up a lot of space,” says Seagle.

And in the digital age, when printed photos are a rarity, photo booth printouts are a sought-after and popular novelty. “It’s not that the value of a memory, a time, or a place has changed with technology, it’s that printed photos have the ability to take us back even when we’re least expecting it,” explains Seagle. “Even with a camera in everyone’s pocket and social media at our fingertips, technology cannot replace the innate feeling of physically holding onto a memory.”

Photo booths also offer bars a unique form of marketing. “Many photo booth set-ups allow businesses to add their logo to each print, making the photo an easy way to increase brand awareness and advertise with customers,” says Seagle. “Bars can also run contents and promotions or throw fun marketing events as a way to draw in more customers and add money to their bottom line.”

Just be sure you have cleaning protocols in place between each guest that uses the photo booth.

Expand Your Capabilities with a Ghost Kitchen

ChefReady will open the first “virtual” kitchen of its kind in the Platt Park neighborhood of Denver this summer, offering ten rentable, high-tech commercial kitchen stations under one roof for delivery-only concepts.

ChefReady will provide solutions to problems that have plagued the bar/ restaurant industry for years, by offering lower rent, lower overhead, and reduced equipment costs. It also offers personalized customer service and efficient and affordable labor services to its restaurateur partners, something that is urgently needed during these times.

Even before COVID-19, the food delivery industry was expected to grow from $43 billion in 2017 to $467 billion in 2025, according to Morgan Stanley. The recent pandemic has seen unprecedented restaurant delivery sales, creating new habits that will likely continue. ChefReady offers a way for restaurants to maximize their delivery footprint. This delivery-only style of kitchen also decreases risk to restaurants

Food trucks have exploded in popularity over the last few years. According to IBISWorld, there are 23,873 active food truck businesses in the US and the average industry growth from 2014–2019 was 6.8%. According to Food Truck Nation, food trucks are a $2 billion-plus industry. during financial crises. Following COVID-19, many venues won’t be able to open or reopen as brick-and-mortars or be unable to succeed at limited occupancy. Virtual kitchens can provide an affordable, stable avenue for bars/ restaurants to (re)establish themselves.

Ghost kitchens are also a way for bars without a kitchen or the means to build out a kitchen to make and serve food. In addition, it’s a way for bars to meet local restrictions requiring food be served if they offer curbside pickup for alcohol. Bars could even use ghost kitchens to prep cocktails to-go. “In March, Colorado Governor Jared Polis allowed bars and restaurants to offer to-go alcohol. If he continues to extend this legislation, then our tenants should be able to offer alcohol to go as well,” said Nili Malach Poynter, who founded ChefReady with her husband Robert Poynter. “We would encourage our tenants to offer alcohol with their food, if possible. However, we are not looking to have tenants that strictly serve

It only makes sense that as bars get back on their feet during the COVID19 pandemic, they should look to partner with this sector of the food industry. One way they’re doing so is to meet certain government requirements around the need to serve food. alcohol. We would like booze to be an added bonus.”

The kitchens are “plug and play” and equipped with commercial hoods; sinks; back-up generators; AC; heat, electric, and gas hook ups; and pest control. The kitchens range in size from 200-250 square feet. ChefReady also gives tenants the ability to customize their kitchen’s layout with extra refrigeration, extra storage space, and deep-cleaning services, and they can have customized kitchens built out and ready to go in as little as two to four weeks.

They also provide delivery assistance, including software that aggregates thirdparty delivery programs and employs food runners to bring the food from stations to delivery drivers. In addition, ChefReady has a team of experts to help bars and restaurants succeed, including marketing, architectural, and permitting guidance.

In addition to ChefReady’s first location in the Platt Park neighborhood of Denver, the company is looking to open a few additional locations around Colorado and to possibly expand out from there.

“We decided to create a company that offers the convenience of a ghost kitchen, but with more of a ‘mom and pop’ personalized level of customer service, as well as greater efficiency, and a ‘greener’ footprint,” said Nili Malach Poynter. “We want to provide a more affordable avenue for restaurateurs to open their second ‘restaurant,’ experiment with a new concept with a low cost to entry, or give them extra space to fulfill delivery orders.”

ChefReady will be accepting applications for new tenants until all 10 stations are filled.

Food Trucks Help Bar Owners Get Back in Business

chefready.com

Across the country, local governments are requiring that bars serve food if they offer curbside pickup for alcohol. Many bar owners do not yet have the resources to open kitchens, so they are tapping local food trucks to meet that requirement.

Roaming Hunger has over 18,000

food trucks across the country in its network and over 11 years experience booking trucks for private and public events. Now, they’re working with bars in need of food service by booking trucks at no cost to the owner.

Food trucks provide many unique advantages, including:

It’s estimated that nearly 500 million straws are used in the United States daily, and bars and restaurants are a big contributor to that statistic.

Over the last year or so, there have been many plastic straw bans in cities across the country—especially in coastal communities where a five-year cleanup study estimated there are 7.5 million plastic straws on U.S. coastlines alone.

As a result, many bars and restaurants have made the switch from plastic to paper straws. However, finding high-quality paper straws that hold up can be difficult. Enter Greensmart Paper Co.

The company offers paper straws that are strong enough to last under normal use conditions in hot or cold beverages for over 60 minutes, but gentle enough on the environment that they start to break down in just three days.

“They are multilayer and last a lot

• Food from a controlled, limitedaccess kitchen, subject to the Health

Department’s highest scrutiny. • Quick and efficient food supply and distribution. • Individually prepared meals served in accordance with social distancing protocols. longer than your conventional paper straw that’s on the market right now,” explains Mario Scavuzzo, Owner/ Operator of Greensmart Paper Co. “Our straws are biodegradable, recyclable, and cause zero harm to any marine and wild life.”

Greensmart Paper Co. straws won’t make fizzy drinks flat, and they also eliminate the soggy paper taste many customers complain about.

The straws are currently available in a range of diameters and in lengths of 5.75, 7.75, 8.5, and 10 inches.

They also come in various colors, including black and white paper straws, black paper cocktail straws, and paper straws in red, orange, yellow, blue, green, purple, pink, and black and white stripes. There are also limited-edition, special occasion designs available.

Another benefit is that the paper straws are individually wrapped for maximum hygiene and safety so that

To get the process started, Roaming Hunger only needs a few details from bar owners about when and where they’d like the trwuck to show up. From there, interested food trucks that want to participate will apply through Roaming Hunger’s system. Owners then pick from the available food truck options to choose the best fit for their business and customers.

Owners can choose a food truck for one event or for every day of the week. There’s also the option to set up an entire food truck program. Roaming Hunger can help bars build out a complete schedule and actively manage it to make sure the whole thing is a success.

Roaming Hunger even handles all of the paperwork (insurance, health permits, etc.) so that bar owners can focus on running their business. A dedicated account manager will also provide any needed support to ensure everything goes smoothly.

A Company Gets “Smart” About Paper Straws

https://bit.ly/2YjPW9t bars can stay committed to preserving the environment while still also following recommended safety protocols during the uncertain times created by the pandemic.

“They are wrapped and disposable,” says Scavuzzo, “perfect for use during the COVID-19 pandemic.”

greensmartpaperco.com