Industry Tips: The Food Venture Gals

QUESTION:

“Hello Food Venture Gals! I fnd that September and October are slower months with the back to school routines starting up again for families. People are eating at home more or getting take out instead of dining in. Do you have suggestions on how to increase sales for these months?”

Signed, Back to school

ANSWER

As the summer months come to an end and we go back to school, work, and our busy schedules, restaurants may see a decrease in sales. As you said, with busier days, patrons may skip dining in and opt for take out or delivery. The good news is, there are many different ways you can amp up your sales to make up for the potential loss in dine-ins.

1. MEAL KITS:

With public health-related closures, we have seen meal kit delivery systems become popular options. In cities across the country, popular restaurants have adapted this idea and provided meal kits based on their most popular recipes. Pasta Louise, a New York City favorite, did exactly this. Pasta Louise offers meal kits, fresh pasta, sauce subscriptions and pre-made dinners to suit the needs of every customer. Meal kits are a great option for restaurant owners as they allow you to decide how much of your recipe you want to share with your customers. For example, if you have a secret sauce recipe that you want to keep within your restaurant, you can include the pre-made sauce in a biodegradable container instead of having the customer make it from scratch like they would in a traditional meal kit.

2. SAUCES, SEASONINGS AND INDIVIDUAL PREPPED INGREDIENTS:

If creating meal kits feels like you are biting off a little too much to chew, start with preparing your signature ingredients or components for sale. Items like seasonings, sauces, dips and dressings can be a great place to start and still allow customers to bring your items to their kitchen. Alternatively, you can focus on preparing “mains” for sale. For example, if your restaurant prepares a well loved fank steak, consider selling a premarinated fank steak, prepped with your in-house marinade for customers to cook at home. The options are endless!

3. TASTING AND COOKING EVENTS:

Hosting in-house special events may also drive people to visit your restaurant. For example, limited edition seasonal menus to get people into the autumn spirit may attract some customers. Alternatively, creating a special tasting menu which features a variety of your dishes could bring new clientele to the restaurant. Finally, if you have the capacity, hosting an in-house cooking class that features your most popular dishes may attract some of your dedicated customers. Having the chance to learn from the very chefs that produce the customers favorite dishes can be an experience like no other for a dedicated foodie.

Although fall brings an exciting opportunity to get creative with sales, it is important to remember what works for you and your customer base. Ultimately the goal here is to ensure sales remain constant during a potentially slow season. Brainstorm with your team and see what you can create within your budget. While you’re at it, you can already start thinking of creating meal kits for the upcoming Christmas holiday season! A great gift idea for consumers!

Sincerely,

The Food Venture Gals Kiran & Sima

Contributor: Saffron Locas If you’re looking for more resources on menu or product development, we can help! Find more information at www.FoodVentureProgram.com or email us at info@foodventureprogram.com The Food Venture Gals are the founders of Food Venture Program; a leading organization in North American food and beverage product development offering online programs to help food entrepreneurs turn their recipes into retail-ready products!

Sources: https://www.theinfatuation.com/new-york/guides/nyc-restaurants-selling-groceries-and-meal-kits https://www.pastalouise.com/ https://www.foodserviceandhospitality.com/top-10-foodservice-trends-for-2022/?cn-reloaded=1 https://linchpinseo.com/trends-shaping-the-meal-kit-industry/