FOODSERVICE UPDATES
  • Foodservice Updates
  • Trends
    • Commodities
  • Digital Media
  • Technology
  • Safety
  • Management Tips
  • Free Newsletter
  • Recipes
    • Mains >
      • Handhelds
      • Pasta & Rice
    • Soups & Sauces
    • Salads
    • Appetizers
    • Desserts & Snacks
    • Sides
  • Foodservice CEO

​Winter-ready restaurant promotions

11/8/2021

0 Comments

 
promotions
While life has slowly opened back up in recent months as more people have received the Covid-19 vaccine, concern has lingered for families with children who are too young to receive the vaccine and others who have health conditions that prevent them from receiving it. As a result, this winter we can expect to see more families reforming the bubbles they created for support in the early months of the pandemic. It’s something to consider when planning your menu and marketing promotions. For families, meal bundles will likely continue to be in demand for not only the holidays but for weekend meals throughout the winter. Think about offering soups and comfort foods that can be taken home to fill the freezer, promotions that offer discounted kids’ meals with the purchase of adult meals, or to-go packages of appetizers, entrées, cocktails and desserts for small groups. At the same time, this winter could also present an opportunity for you to make your onsite promotions extra special for guests who don’t fit those categories and are looking for a good excuse to go out. Consider offering prix-fixe meals for two, date-night cocktail specials or dessert samplers, bringing in musicians, or hosting private events with your chef or sommelier

0 Comments

​Having the right product at the right time

7/27/2020

0 Comments

 
protein
How can you best protect your business from future spikes in COVID-19? Recent research from Technomic found that operators are looking for manufacturers and distributors to offer support in managing current product shortages – and how best to stock up on ingredients if future outbreaks occur. More than three-fifths of restaurant operators are reporting product shortages, mainly in animal proteins, which is leading them to consider choosing frozen over fresh product. Just over half of operators said there were likely to switch to frozen beef, for example. Beyond that, there may be opportunity to secure longer payment terms and more flexible delivery schedules as product shortages persist.
0 Comments

​A to-go menu that’s right for the moment

7/20/2020

0 Comments

 
curbside
In surveys Datassential conducted in June, consumers showed a commanding preference for purchasing meals to go/pick up over both delivered food and meals eaten in a restaurant. For limited-service and full-service restaurants, an average of 63 percent of consumers preferred meals to go, while 36 percent preferred delivered food and 41 percent opted for sit-down meals in a restaurant. As you continue to assess your to-go menu options, consider new consumer preferences and how well your menu can flex to accommodate them. For one, consumers are placing greater focus on their health right now. Older adults who have been in isolation, as well as others concerned about finances or struggling to juggle the demands of work and home life during the pandemic, may have been over-relying on comfort foods. Promoting fresh produce, healthy proteins and high-fiber grains can help generate business as both restaurants and consumers look for ways to get back on track in the coming months. Datassential found, for example, that dishes like vegetarian turmeric-cauliflower and quinoa were popular choices for both to-go and delivery customers. At the same time, it’s wise to continue to cater to groups too, as people reconnect with family and friends this summer but may not yet be comfortable eating in a restaurant. Datassential found that family-style feasts are still getting a lot of support on to-go menus right now, with pizza and pasta dishes, as well as sandwich bundles, being among the most popular choices.
0 Comments

​Think outside – or maybe about – the box

4/13/2020

0 Comments

 
carry out
Many operators are reworking their business models right now in an effort to keep business going while people are quarantined. Even restaurants that are providing meals through takeout and delivery are branching out and offering a menu of meal boxes that contain various combinations of seafood, meat, produce and appetizers. This approach can tick a number of boxes (and it is the first item suggested in a recent report from FSR Magazine about tactics restaurants should be implementing right now): Meal boxes allow operators to sell larger packages of food at higher price points and with fewer customer interactions, appeal to couples or families who are quarantined together and crave quality meals, help keep suppliers going in these unstable times, demonstrate a restaurant’s values and brand, and reinforce connections with customers. At the UK-based restaurant Little French, operators are offering boxes full of local fruit and vegetables that promote their support of local suppliers, as well as boxes of various cuts of meat and seafood – along with a recipe – to demonstrate the care they put into the preparation of their menu ingredients. To sweeten the deal, they sell home-baked bread, suggest different bottles of wine that complement each box, and offer other specialty items like olive oil, vinegars, cured meats and olives. For those looking for an interactive cooking experience – or a little help with restaurant-style preparation – the restaurant’s chef will be posting videos of himself preparing dishes that use the ingredients in each box. How can you box up the best parts of your brand to keep business flowing right now?
0 Comments

Uber Eats aims to streamline the dine-in experience

8/5/2019

0 Comments

 
Uber Eats
Now that Uber Eats is testing a “Dine-In” feature on its app, expect other third-party delivery providers to follow suit. The feature allows a person to order food at a restaurant, track the process of its preparation so she can arrive at the restaurant in time to eat it, and also leave a tip. The benefits to restaurants could include having to pay a smaller fee to the delivery provider than would be required for third-party delivery, faster table turnover, and the opportunity to offer deals that could attract dine-in guests during slow periods. It remains to be seen how accurate the app’s food preparation tracker will be at peak periods, but if you’re struggling to fill seats, it might offer an opportunity to entice guests to come in and sit down.
0 Comments

Hospitality operations test packaging alternatives

6/24/2019

0 Comments

 
Picture
Banning plastic straws is so last month. Around the country and the world, hospitality brands are taking stock of all single-use plastic in their operations, along with other materials that burden the environment, and searching for technology that offers suitable replacements. If you’re looking for models showing how it can be done, examples abound. Take Live Nation, which hosts more than 35,000 events worldwide annually and recently pledged to eliminate single-use plastics at all of its festivals and venues by 2021. The Spoon reports that in addition to eliminating plastic straws, Live Nation will remove plastic food trays, beer cups, water bottles and toiletry bottles, and plans to test plant-based alternatives where possible. This is part of a larger initiative Live Nation has planned to eliminate its landfill waste by 2030.
0 Comments

​Turn delivery into a science

3/4/2019

0 Comments

 
delivery
Delivery has long been more about convenience than taste — it’s hard to make a delivered meal tastier than one served right out of the kitchen, right? Well, that may be changing as operators think more scientifically about food preparation and delivery. The Spoon reports that the fast-casual brand Dig Inn just piloted a delivery-only virtual kitchen called Room Service that rethinks food preparation for delivered foods. In a restaurant, for example, Dig Inn cooks salmon to medium-rare at 115˚F and then serves it immediately. Salmon ordered for delivery via Room Service, however, is plated rare at 105˚F, then paired with a hot potato puree that travels well. Along the route, the puree warms the salmon so the transit time improves the quality of the item when served. It’s food for thought for restaurant operators offering delivery. As ghost kitchens become more prevalent and improve upon the methods long used for delivery, how well do your food preparation plan and food safety program adapt?
0 Comments
    Foodservice Commodities

    Subscribe to our newsletter

    Picture
    Outlook
    Picture
    Picture

    Archives

    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018

    RSS Feed

    Categories

    All
    Ajvar
    Alcohol
    Appetizers
    Bacon
    Beans
    Beef
    Beverages
    Bowls
    Bread
    Breakfast
    Buffet
    Burgers
    Cafeteria
    Calzones
    Cauliflower
    Cbd
    Cheese
    Chicken
    Chocolate
    Classic
    Climavore
    Comfort Food
    Comfort-food
    Commodities
    Convenience
    Customization
    Dairy
    Data
    Dayparts
    Delivery
    Dessert
    Diets
    Dips
    Dressing
    Drinks
    Eggs
    Entrees
    Event
    Fermented
    Flavor
    Fruit
    Gluten Free
    Gluten-free
    Gochujang
    Grab-n-go
    Grain
    Grilling
    Health
    Healthy
    Hummus
    Icecream
    Ingredients
    International
    Italian
    Juice
    Kitchen
    Limited-time
    Lobster
    Local
    Lto
    Management
    Meal-kits
    Meatless
    Mediterranean
    Menu
    Milk
    Nutritional
    Omnichannel
    Packaging
    Pasta
    Personalization
    Pivot
    Pizza
    Plantains
    Plantbased
    Plant Based
    Plastic
    Plate-presentation
    Popup
    Portion Size
    Predictions
    Preparation
    Presentations
    Pretzels
    Produce
    Profits
    Promotions
    Protein
    Readymade
    Recipes
    Recycle
    Restaurant-week
    Rice
    Salad
    Salty
    Sandwich
    Sauce
    Seafood
    Seasonal
    Shape
    Sharing
    Shelfstable
    Simplify
    Sliders
    Small-plates
    Smoke
    Smoked
    Snack
    Soup
    Sous-vide
    Specials
    Spice
    Spicy
    Sriracha
    Steak
    Stew
    Street-food
    Sugar
    Sushi
    Sustainable
    Sweet
    Take-out
    Take-out
    Trends
    Vegetables
    Versatility
    Waste
    Wraps

Get our Free Newsletter
Team Four Foodservice
​Recipes
Corona Virus Resources
Value 4
Quarterly Outlook
​Palette Foodservice
​
Foodservice CEO
© 2021 Team Four Foodservice
  • Foodservice Updates
  • Trends
    • Commodities
  • Digital Media
  • Technology
  • Safety
  • Management Tips
  • Free Newsletter
  • Recipes
    • Mains >
      • Handhelds
      • Pasta & Rice
    • Soups & Sauces
    • Salads
    • Appetizers
    • Desserts & Snacks
    • Sides
  • Foodservice CEO