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 Wrapping it all Up
It's the end of the year, and the holidays are here. That means businesses like yours are likely flooding subscribers' inboxes with emails offering 20% off a meal, buy one meal and another person eats for free, free drinks and/or desserts, and other offers of that type. Holiday time is a notorious one for overcrowding in the inbox. But no matter what time of year it is, it can be a challenge to separate yourself from the crowd.
So how do you do it? By effectively using all your communications channels - particularly email and social media - to reach customers, clients, and supporters. When you blend email and social media, you present a stronger communications message, one that's more engaging and more visible. Email and social media, when used effectively, can make the difference between a business whose messages blend into the others, and one where its customers, clients, and supporters actively look forward to receiving and interacting with them.
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2012 Trends Focus on Consumer Needs
Seven emerging trends could help shape restaurant strategies in 2012, according to the foodservice research firm Technomic.
Amid an uncertain economy, restaurants are challenged on many levels, and these trends have the common theme of staying relevant to one's customer, said Mary Chapman, director of product innovation for the Chicago-based consultancy.
Technomic sees these seven developing trends on the horizon:
Twists on the familiar: While customers are uneasy about taking risks in this economy, they do embrace novel flavors incorporated into comfort foods. "We might consider a taco a comfort food, or at least a certain generation of Americans do, so a Korean taco would be a twist on that familiar item," Chapman said, pointing to Los Angeles-based Kogi's Korean tacos as an example. Other examples include chef Michael Mina's lobster corn dogs at his Bourbon Steak and Michael Mina restaurants in San Francisco, with the deep-fried lobster mousse carrying the familiar corn dog's cornmeal batter and a mustard dipping sauce.
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 Value in Catering isn't Just About Price
Catersource believes that value to many shoppers of catering is not always about money. Value is found in the eyes, minds, and nervous systems of your shopper. A restaurant offering catering can discover their value goals by listening to what the prospect says and through intelligent questioning. Value to one buyer may be entirely different than value to another one.
VALUE TIPS THE SCALE TO CREATE A WIN-WIN
Many buyers are weary and suspect of anything "free" because they realize that nothing is really free. They believe that if the caterer gives some free stuff in one area, they will just make it up in another area. Most buyers of catering do enjoy surprise discounts filled with value instead of something free. Remember that all buyers of anything are hoping to get some sort of discount - getting a better price is just human nature even when chefs buy stuff.
My suggestion is to offer value that is important to the shopper instead of forcing them to take your view of what value is or should be. Consider creating a list of perks that your buyers can select from if they purchase from you that represent a wide variety of advantages and/or savings to buyers
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Sustainable Design: Renewables Gain Traction as Products Improve, Mindsets Change
An improving selection of products at prices moving closer to the mainstream, coupled with growing consumer support for sustainable business practices, is prompting the increased use of materials made from rapidly renewable and reclaimed resources in foodservice construction, according to operators and designers.
Examples of such materials are beginning to surface regularly. They range from the flooring made of fast-growing bamboo and fixtures crafted from reclaimed local college athletic bleacher wood in the weeks-old LYFE Kitchen, a fast-casual restaurant in Palo Alto, Calif., to the recycled quarry tiles, bamboo countertops and salvaged wood floors used by Fox Restaurant Concepts' four-unit True Food Kitchen casual-dining chain.
Even pioneers in the use of such alternative building materials are continuing to try the newest products or strategies for reducing their business' impact on the environment, including Evos, a 17-year-old, eight-unit "healthier fast-food" chain. Evos co-founder Michael Jeffers said the Tampa, Fla.-based chain is currently testing concrete flooring that is stained without the use of harmful chemicals.
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