As temperatures change, customers palates crave food that we have come to associate with each season. Even though you have to bear in mind the fruits and vegetables in season when planning your menu, your restaurant has to adapt to each season, in order to keep customers coming in.
Review your ingredients
In cooler weather most people are looking for hearty food and drinks that keep them warm. These could be in the form of roasts, soups or casseroles. At the top of most people’s list at this time of year, are pumpkin inspired dishes and beverages. In addition pumpkins can be used in desserts, entrees as well as appetisers. If your chefs are creative, challenge them to add pumpkin to meals such as pizzas or pasta dishes.
In addition to pumpkin, other food to warm customers up are butternut and sweet potatoes. These are versatile, healthy options that can be prepared in a number of ways. Their taste allows them to be used in sweet dessert dishes or as part of a savoury meal.
For entrees, vegetables such as squash can be paired with pork or chicken. They can also be diced and used as pizza toppings. You could also offer the traditional butternut soup, and add some pizzazz to it by using unique garnishing to top it off.
Pears and apples are also a winter favourite. In addition to having health benefits such as helping with diabetes and heart health, they can be used in a variety of dishes from drinks to desserts. Mixed with the right spices, they can be used to create punch, sangrias and other cocktails.
Since apples and pears can be baked, they can also be added to puddings and pies. That’s not all. Both can help to reduce sauces and used in beef, pork or roasted chicken dishes.
Get suggestions
When coming up with ideas of the kind of meals to add to your menu, get your staff and customers involved. Your staff may know more about what your customers need and could come up with great suggestions. Involving them may also give them a sense of ownership of the menu, which may lead to more staff engagement. Getting customers involved, will serve to keep your brand on top of people’s minds, and may encourage them to try the new meals.
Inform customers
As with any change that happens at your restaurant, you have to let customers know about your new dishes. A quick, low cost way, is to use your social media channels to post the seasonal additions to your menu. This will help customers keep your restaurant in mind when they are looking for hearty winter warmers.
In order to cater to customer needs, you need to adjust your menu to ensure you give people the winter warmers they crave. Doing this will give your customers something new to try and keep a steady flow of traffic into your restaurant.
Malebogo Tshosa
Brand and communication expert,
Copywriter for Napkin
