Make Your Menu a Landmark |
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Raise Prices—But make adjustments to menu items (like a new side or sauce) to justify the higher cost |
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Don't Cut Quality—Instead, put less on the plate or use a house brand for non-essential ingredients that have little impact on the final dish; learn more about Perdue's premium Poultry and Sliced Meats |
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Offer Smaller Portions—Not only are they in demand, it can cut costs and increase sales as customers are likely to buy more than one |
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Tweak Protein Portions—For example, use two 3 oz. chicken breasts instead of one 7 oz.; this lowers the plate cost and increases plate coverage |
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Stay on Top of Menu Trends—Drive traffic with on-trend offerings |
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Make Your Place Special—Give current items a twist to distinguish your menu from the competition |
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Offer Craveable Dishes—Offer dishes your customers can't duplicate at home; consumers report they will accept bigger price hikes for these menu items1 |
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Serve Comfort Foods—Consumers turn to comfort foods during a down economy, so attract patrons with familiar favorites but with a twist |
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Beware of Competition—Consumers are turning more and more to supermarket delis for meals, and research shows they offer better pricing and convenience, healthier options and fresher ingredients |
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| Exit High Costs and Waste |
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Lower costs by using fewer distributors and ordering less frequently |
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Avoid surcharges by ensuring all deliveries are over the minimum drop amount |
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Use products with innovative processing and packaging technologies that guarantee longer shelf life, reducing your need for frequent deliveries; check out PERDUE® TENDERREADY® |
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Be sure you are using your ingredients across multiple parts of your menu (each product should fit on your menu at least three ways) |
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Avoid Unnecessary Food Costs—Train servers to ask if customers want all the items that come with a dish—sandwich add-ons like lettuce, tomato and onion are often pushed to the side |
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Review what customers are leaving on their plates and not taking home with them to help to uncover opportunities to reengineer your menu offerings |
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Invest in additional storage; the investment will pay off quickly through better pricing, reduced surcharges and labor savings |
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Cut labor costs by using fully cooked and pre-sliced products—click here to learn more about PERDUE® products that can help optimize your labor |
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| Shift Out of High Operational Costs |
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Use online ordering to eliminate time spent on paperwork and save money on envelopes and postage
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Establish equipment startup and shutdown times to conserve energy |
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Examine your cooking procedures to ensure that the most energy-efficient methods are being used |
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Heating water is one of the more energy intensive aspects of an operation so use hot water heater insulation jackets and insulate water lines |
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Keep equipment clean to maximize efficiency; rinse and flush steam kettles and pressure cookers daily, keep burners adjusted and make sure oven spills are cleaned up immediately |
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Keep frying oil clean and filtered and don't damage the oil by turning on the fryers too early; oil goes bad much sooner with nothing in it |
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| Opportunities Ahead |
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Add Delivery—Delivery will increase incremental sales; delivery vehicles can act as brand awareness billboards |
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Sports Appeal—Many customers cut out their cable sports packages to save money, so make your place a destination for the big game |
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Offer Catering—Consumers still don't feel like cooking when entertaining, and businesses are cutting costs by ordering in for office meetings |
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Try a Frequent Diner Program—Drive traffic on slower days by offering extra points; increase business on special occasions—"eat free on your birthday" drives loyalty and keeps patrons coming back |
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Switch to BioDiesel—Convert delivery vehicles to run on recycled fryer oil; the investment will significantly cut fuel costs and increase profitability of your delivery operation |
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Keep Your Kitchen Open Later—18-24 year olds are taking advantage of late night snacking opportunities |
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Maximize Space—Consumers are still looking to celebrate special occasions and businesses are looking for meeting venues; use underutilized space for corporate meetings or banquets (wi-fi and video-conferencing capabilities are a plus) |
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