MARKETING: 3 Alternative Ways for Restaurants to Market Frozen Drinks [Presented by f’real]
The summer season means frozen drink season for restaurants and bars. And lots of times, frozen drinks market themselves to guests. But sharp restaurant operators will look for fun and engaging ways of marketing their frozen drink program, including featured frozen drink of the day, thematic menus, frozen drink pairings, and even tastings.
DID YOU KNOWS…
Bourbon a Casualty of Trade War
Trump’s “America First” policy was pushed more to the forefront with tariffs on imported steel and aluminum products from some of America’s closest allies including Canada, the EU and Mexico. In retaliation, the EU and Canada have imposed a tariff on some US imports, including whiskey, bourbon, Levi jeans, and Harley-Davidson motorcycles. So not only will the price of canned beer go up, but local whisky/bourbon exports can also expect to take a hit.
You'll Need Deep Pockets for a Night Out in Zurich
Corporate life usually is exhausting and often enough it’s no fun at all. So, after a long week of hard work, many people need long nights as kind of a reimbursement for all the pain, stress and over hours that bottled up over the week. Research by UBS found that Saturday night escapades are the cheapest in Mexico City whilst dancing your sorrows away in Zurich, Miami or Stockholm hits your pockets the hardest.
RIP Barbara Kafka
Legendary cookbook author/editor/recipe guru/restaurant consultant Barbara Kafka passed away over the weekend. She was 84. Kafka wrote a number of influential cookbooks over her career, including a vegetarian guide, a high-heat cooking manual, and how to cook with a microwave.
YOU KNOW WHAT CAN REALLY HELP YOU SORT THROUGH THESE IMPORTANT ISSUES? [CLIP]
Why it matters to you: Starbucks unveils a new “Magenta Frappuccino” that is just a strawberry milkshake.
When you go to Starbucks next time and want that pink drink you saw someone walkin’ around with don’t be confused -- it’s a Magenta Frappuccino. This drink is the newest addition to Starbucks’ permanent menu and the newest edition of our increasingly frequent series: Oh god, why? Why, god why? What did we do to deserve this?!
Joking. There really isn’t a ton wrong with this week’s edition of the series other than the name. In reality, the magenta Frappuccino is just a strawberry milkshake. There is no such thing on the planet as a “magenta Frappuccino. We assume it being called “magenta” is just a marketing play for Millennials, a buzz word that is allegedly going to be the new IN color for fall 2018.
That is where our issue rests, however. Why not just call it the flavor it is? Magenta is not a flavor. Do you know what is a flavor? Strawberry. We won’t go on ranting for much longer. We give them props for an interesting way of marketing their new frozen drink, but it would be nice if one day Starbucks didn’t try to painfully hard to keep the Millennial crowd enticed and focused more on training their baristas properly or how to not be racist.
TO BAN OR NOT TO BAN?
Why it matters to you: San Diego may ban plastic foam food containers over pollution concerns.
This is a discussion we need to be having as a country and not just as a report about a Californian city where we all go “Oh yea, that is definitely something we should do soon before we kill our oceans.” More than 116 cities in California have banned polystyrene and more are slated to do the same. The ban in San Diego came after officials said that the city collected more than 12,500 pieces of the foam containers on their beaches last year alone. Yikes.
The unfortunate reality we are seeing from these bans is that some restaurants are opposing them, citing higher costs for themselves and their customers. Local operators claim there are no viable options that recycle and keep food hot or cold. The councilman who is leading the charge, Chris Ward, said the packaging industry has been evolving this, making the concerns invalid. We will see how this all pans out, but we hope that they can find a viable option for both our oceans and our fellow restaurant folks.
