Managing LTO Flavors with Style

At each season change independents and chains alike are flashing the trending flavors to entice customers to indulge. Unfortunately, staying ahead of the game doesn’t stop with menu planning and POP displays. And this fall’s demand for the classic pumpkin flavor is already in full swing according to the latest post on Nation's Restaurants News blog: Restaurant beverage menus increasingly feature pumpkin flavors.

Server Pumps with Custom Knob

Integrating limited-time-only flavors in your kitchen workflow is crucial to maintaining your service level. One helpful strategy can be applied if you’re using Server Products stainless steel pumps or jar lids. 

Identify your contents with a custom knob

Server’s stainless steel pump and lid knobs can be color coded and engraved so there’s no messy label sticker or guessing what flavor is inside. Custom engraved and color coded knobs are available at no additional charge (when ordering) and can be ordered separately to accommodate rotating flavors and limited time offers. Extra knobs are available at a minimal cost and can keep your pumps and lids looking neat and clean.

What strategies have worked to keep your LTO items in order? 

For complete product catalog, click: www.server-products.com

5 Examples of Specialty Drinks Boosting Restaurant Sales

There has been a lot of buzz in the media lately about how various quick-serve restaurant chains benefited from expanding their menus with specialty beverages. Below are 5 such examples and some bullet points of how adding specialty drinks to your menu can benefit your restaurant.

·         In 2008, Taco Bell launches the very popular fruity Frutista frozen beverage line that boosts beverage sales in a time when soft drinks are losing momentum.

·         In 2008, Subway launches the Subway Café concept offering additional menu items such as Seattle’s Best coffee and a full line of espresso-based coffee specialty drinks. Subway is taking this concept slow but 40 units are currently in the pipeline.

·         In 2009, McDonald’s launches McCafé with lattes, cappuccinos, smoothies and ice coffees. The result was a huge boost in sales and a greatly improved brand appeal with consumers. The internal champion of the project, COO Don Thompson, secures his spot as the next CEO of McDonald’s. The success of McCafé launched a specialty drink movement among QSR’s.

·         In the winter of 2011, Starbucks sees an uptick in sales due to a limited time offer specialty drink holiday menu.

·         This year, Burger King made menu expansions to include mango & strawberry-banana smoothies and mocha and caramel frappes among other food items. The idea was to draw customers beyond the traditional young male demographic to also include women, families and the health conscious. Results have been very positive. In the second quarter Burger King posted a system wide same-store bump in sales of 4.4% globally.

How Specialty Drinks Can Benefit Your Restaurant

·         Higher price points and profit margins than typical drinks

·         Increases average receipt total

·         Balances out the downward consumption of soft drinks

·         Consumers are attracted to creative and unique beverage options

·         Increases “beverage-only” purchases by non-typical demographics and in non-peak times

·         Brings in various demographics that may be currently under served such as women and teens

·         There is a cultural movement toward wellness and nutritious eating and many specialty drinks can be branded as such to bring in this demographic

·         Seasonal specialty beverages is a great limited time offer menu item to keep your menu fresh

·         Millennials are fans of choice and control; custom specialty drinks is a great way to cater to this generation

·         Stay current with the latest trends such as exotic flavor smoothies and drinks with whole fruit

·         Offering new flavors and toppings to your beverage menu can be easy by adding flavors to your existing rail.  http://server-products.com/en/slim-jar.htm

Learn more about Server Products' beverage service solutions:

http://server-products.com/Brochure-Beverage-Equipment.pdf

5 Fatal Food Safety Mistakes to Avoid

This list isn't a scare tactic, but rather a reflection to take into account how quickly one can become a statistic. Each of the mistakes listed below resulted in sickness, death and usually bankruptcy. Fortunately, casualties of this type are avoided with a commitment to put food safety before all decisions and actions. National Food Safety month is a fantastic time to review your HACCP guidelines, launch new initiatives and maybe even start food safety award programs to keep your staff involved and engaged. 

1. E. Coli Outbreak in South Wales, 2005
   An E. Coli outbreak occurred in South Wales in 2005, sickened 157 people and caused the death of a 5-year old boy. Most of the 157 cases were children, attending 44 different schools. The cause was traced to meat supplied by a butcher where a vacuum packing machine was used to package both raw meat and cooked meat without being properly cleaned between batches.
2. Hepatitis A Outbreak at Chi-Chi’s, 2003
   In 2003, a Chi-Chi’s restaurant in Pennsylvania caused the death of four people and sickened 650 others. The cause was green onions infected with Hepatitis-A through contact with feces that were imported from Mexico.  The restaurant chain no longer exists.
   
3. E. coli at Sizzler, 2000
   In 2000, over 60 cases of E.Coli were linked to Sizzler restaurants in Wisconsin and claimed the life of a 3-year-old girl. An investigation found that a mixer had been used on both raw meat and other food items. In 2008, the parents of the 3-year-old victim reached a $13.5 million dollar settlement against Excel.
   
4. E. coli at Jack in the Box, 1993
   In 1993, four children died and 700 other customers became sick after eating undercooked, contaminated meat from Jack in the Box restaurants in four states.  The outbreak caused a national panic and the brand was suddenly tainted. Jack in the Box rebounded by creating the now infamous “Jack” character for an ad campaign in 1994, which likely kept the company alive.
   
5. Botulism at Skewer Inn Restaurant, 1983
   In Peoria Illinois, 28 people were hospitalized and 20 patients were treated with an antitoxin for Botulism; 1 death resulted. The source was sautéed onions made from fresh raw onions served on a patty melt sandwich. The sandwiches were served at the Skewer Inn Restaurant located inside Northwoods Mall. The restaurant did not survive the botulism outbreak.  (Excerpted from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)
   

Successful In-House Training Tips

• Explain the purpose and objective of the training session (corrective reason or newly developed process).
• Keep training sessions brief and to the point
• Maintain focus on food safety— do not include other business topics
• Add activities to keep the training concepts interesting.  For example: Have employees wash hands, apply some Glo-Germ and turn off the lights. They will remember the importance of washing better after seeing the green glow of bacterial residue.
• Follow up the training by posting materials that remind employees about what they've learned

Ultimately, a good training program helps to retain employees, and in turn, you’ll spend less time training new employees and more time producing safe good quality foods. What activities have you done to keep training concepts interesting in your operation?