Food Delivery A service still alive and well

you must cement these elements into an identifiable brand. Having a cool name for your business is one thing, but having an elegant logo coalesces your brand identity.

Choose a snappy logo that matches your aesthetic carefully and ensure that it ends up on your menu. Maybe there’s no reason to put it on every page, but at the very least, it should be on the front. Symbols are important for guests to retain a visual memory of your menu, and the perfect logo can be exactly the symbol you need to do just that.

4. Consider Dietary Needs

Most restaurants these days do their best to accommodate dietary needs and preferences as best they can, and yours likely does the same. While it’s not necessary to give detailed thought to every single ingredient in your kitchen, there are some common allergens any restaurateur can anticipate, like dairy or gluten. Consider adding signifiers to the dishes on your menu that indicate that they are allergen friendly!

While too many signifiers can make a menu design look crowded and a little corporate, a small “GF” next to a dish will be more than enough to indicate to diners that they can safely avoid gluten in a dish. You can similarly add a “V” for vegetarian items. Still, it might also be good practice to include a small note at the bottom encouraging diners to notify servers of dietary needs. This extra step will help guide your guests toward their best options and will make them feel more comfortable.

5. Don’t be Afraid to Make Changes

If your menu design isn’t working or frequently causes confusion, throw it out and start from scratch. It’s entirely possible to follow these tips and miss the mark; menu design sometimes requires a little trial and error. By no means should you let this discourage you. If you need to redesign your menu, draw up a quick list of what works about it and what doesn’t. Don’t limit the insights to your own perspective, either. Ask your staff what they think! After all, they’re diners too, and they’ve navigated many menus in their lives. Make your team a part of the redesign process and put together something new. Coming up with a fresh menu can also breathe a little new life into a dining experience that’s getting rote for your customers. It might be a small touch, but it can make a big difference.

Remember: the more time and thought you put into your menu, the better it will come out as a finished product. Your guests might not think much about the menu’s design itself, but that’s exactly what you’re going for — they should be thinking of its contents. Put a little work in and show off what you’ve got; your restaurant’s menu will bring in diners in droves.

Megan Prevost is a content manager for MustHaveMenus. When she’s not writing about restaurant marketing, she’s hanging out with her cats and binging the latest television shows. Her work has appeared in All Business, App Institute, Bar and Restaurant, Bar Business, Beer Connoisseur, BevSpot, Business Opportunities, Ganjaprenuer, International Bowling Industry, RestoBiz, RestoHub, Small Business Currents, and Total Food Service.

Is Food Delivery Dead?

Your presence on food delivery platforms may keep it alive

by SUSIE MCKINLEY

Food delivery is not dead! It was a part of the restaurant industry before the pandemic, and it will continue to be a part of the industry post-pandemic and into the future. The concept is solid, has been proven to be successful and many improvements have been made to deliver food hotter, faster and crisper. Virtual food brands have been developed to compliment restaurant delivery programs, and the virtual food brands are one of the hottest trends out there when it comes to restaurants.

It is tough to maintain an efficient delivery program. Even with the options given by third-party delivery companies, if something goes wrong, the restaurant is always to blame, as pointed out by Danielle Wiener-Bronner of CNN Business. Wiener-Bronner added that it is “stressful for employees, who must balance taking care of in-store customers while filling increasing numbers of to-go orders.” Additionally, if a restaurant doesn’t manage its own in-house delivery program and its affiliated costs, there are costs that must be paid to the third-party delivery companies one way or another.

But it’s a program that you don’t want to miss out on. It can help your bottom line — not only because it is an additional sales outlet, but also it can generate interest in your brick-and-mortar location.

Remember this: If you aren’t on a restaurant food delivery platform, you aren’t being seen — plain and simple. People won’t order from you if you aren’t visible on their go-to app. Keep that in mind, and know that there are dozens of food delivery companies feeding America. Many of these are specific to restaurant delivery. There are national, regional and local brands. You may want to make it your business to find out where you want to appear.

Also, it is important to note that there are aggregators for the delivery channels to assist in managing your delivery program. These companies pull all of the delivery software into one place in your restaurant, improving efficiency and eliminating costly errors that can impact one order or future deliveries to a customer.

You can engage your business in delivery, and doing so will bring in needed dollars. There is a future for this industry, and the opportunities are endless. So get to ordering!