Bread is one of those foods that inspire strong feelings in people. But people who love it really love it – and will go out of their way to get it. So why not let that inspire the bread products on your menu? Could you fine-tune your appetizer menu with a salty focaccia? Bake a simple bread in-house to elevate your sandwich menu (and lure bread-loving guests who smell it baking)? Could you even swap out the kind of bread or roll guests expect to see in a dish – and replace it with something fun and flavorful? Many foods that are popular with consumers right now walk the line between health and indulgence: Take cauliflower wings, black bean burgers or broccoli mac and cheese – all comforting, but without the guilt that can go along with some comfort foods. The dips, spreads and sauces on your menu can also incorporate the best of both worlds, combining flavor and comfort without sacrificing health. Think about weaving seasonal vegetables into colorful hummus varieties or yogurt-based dips, or creating a flavorful dipping sauce with immune-boosting spices. Burgers are a blank canvas – and ripe for splashy presentations that make for eye-catching, mouth-watering photos. If your burger selection needs an injection of creativity, the potential combinations are endless. Change up the protein. While eggs may still be impractical, you can still stack a burger high with a mix of proteins or experiment with bread of different textures. Upgrade it with bacon or incorporate its smoky flavor into a jam. Try a new cheese, top with pickled or fermented vegetables, or offer a different take on classic onion flavor by preparing onions in a different way. A sweet or savory aioli can also offer greater variety without a lot of labor – search the US Foods website for a wide range of variations that can help elevate the flavor of your burgers. Adding seafood to a dish can help you upgrade your menu with healthy, budget-friendly protein. It can also give you a good story to tell guests at a time when more consumers seek out foods with a lower environmental impact – recent research has found that seafood is a low-emissions protein in relation to other animal proteins. If you’re looking for seafood that can help you upgrade your menu in climate-friendly ways, talk to Team Four and also look to Seafoodwatch.org, which recommends --- and allows you to search for – domestic and imported sources of seafood that are fished or farmed in environmentally sustainable ways. As consumer work habits have shifted over the past few years, restaurant dayparts have blurred too, making it feel appropriate to eat meals at in-between times previously relegated to snacks and drinks. But while this shift has, in theory, created some opportunities for restaurants to appeal to guests between meals, other challenges – notably inflation – have made operations more difficult in recent months. Although signs point to the U.S. experiencing decreased inflation and (as of the timing of this writing) possibly avoiding recession, economic uncertainty has still affected how consumers are spending in restaurants. Guests’ desire for value has meant that when they go to a restaurant, they are more likely to do so for a meal than for a snack. But that doesn’t mean your snack menu is obsolete. In fact, it could actually help you upsell to your guests and increase perceived value if you change how you frame these items. For example, try offering snack-sized portions on your appetizer menu or position them as small plates that can help guests feel like they are maximizing the experience they are getting for their bill total. Or, as a recent Restaurant Business report advised, you can offer some of these items as add-ons or combo deals. |
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April 2024
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