FINANCIAL: Use Seasonal Ingredients to Lower Food Costs [Hack #103]
A great way for to keep your restaurant financials low is to buy food seasonally. Not only will it taste better, but it'll keep your restaurant's food costs down. It’s ripe for local marketing and promotions!
DID YOU KNOWS…
$5 Moscow Muellers
The Bird, a Washington, D.C. restaurant, is offering $5 “Moscow Mueller” drinks every time special counsel Robert Mueller’s team indicts someone. This is the same restaurant that offered discount drinks whenever Trump fired someone from the White House, and offered a special cocktail “the Mooch” following Anthony Scaramucci’s early departure.
Thanks, Blink-182!
We might be seeing French fries at Taco Bell, thanks to Mark Hoppus, co-founder of pop-punk band, Blink-182. He tweeted recently that Del Taco is better than Taco Bello because it has fries; Taco Bell responded with “That might change soon, Mark ;-)” Color us intrigued.
A Bloody Discount
Anna Loulou Bar in Israel is giving a 25% discount to any woman who’s on their period. Dubbed the Bloody Hour, the goal is to make women more comfortable talking about their menstruation and normalizing the topic to men’s ears. Here’s more on their promotion!
EXCUSE ME?
Why it matters to you: Excuses are like tushes, everybody has one and they all stink
Imagine your business is large enough that your comments during a call with investors could lead to the ousting of CEO at the National Football League. That’s exactly what may come of comments from Papa John’s Pizza founder John Schnatter during his most recent Wall Street guidance call. Schnatter blamed the NFL’s leadership (read: Roger Goodell) for allowing the player protests to destroy ratings and ultimately sink Papa John’s sales and profit.
Full disclosure: I like Papa John’s Pizza. His ingredients are good quality and the produce rarely disappoints, but frankly this is some serious nonsense. Given that ratings for the NFL have been dropping for several years and that the NFL had essentially “dealt” with Colin Kaepernick by colluding to sideline him.
No, the real problem is that his rivals like Domino’s and Pizza Hut have been investing in technology and improving their service experience while he has been playing politics. To start, neither Domino’s nor Pizza Hut have needed excuses as their sales have grown over the past few years. While market conditions can certainly impact bottom lines, blaming a sport for your woes is whining. Besides, there are plenty of people staying away from his product because of his political positions. Maybe he should focus on his core business practices and keep the politics for after the pizza is delivered…just sayin’.
JUST KID-DING
Why it matters to you: How would banning children impact your restaurant?
A restaurant in Tampa has banned children. Troy Taylor, owner of Hampton Station (a beer garden & pizza restaurant) banned children after an incident where a child was endangered because their parents weren’t supervising them. Most casual-themed full-service operators bend over backwards to accommodate families. Whether it is special menus, games, balloons or other premium items, these operators are convinced families are a core part of their audience, and they work hard to attract them.
That doesn’t mean that every location is an appropriate venue for children.
In fact, you may be surprised how some of the moms in a Tampa area mother’s group responded to the “no kids’’ policy. One mom posted, “To put it simple ... it's a bar. It does seem they serve pizza and some bar-style dishes, but really ... it's a bar with food.” She continued, writing, "Everyone deserves a little kid-free time and, really, like it or not, businesses can make these changes." There were also angry and defiant folks who claim they will never visit the restaurant again.
Make no mistake, this is your prerogative as a business owner. You can make your establishment kid free, but you have to measure the benefits to the consequences. Have any of you established a kid-free zone? If so, let us know how it works in the comments below.
