Big Morale, Small Budget: Keeping Staff Happy in Peak Season

Peak season can be both the busiest and the most exhausting time for your team. Long shifts, higher guest volumes, and constant pressure can quickly lead to burnout. The good news? You don’t need to spend big to boost morale.

Small, thoughtful actions can make staff feel valued, supported, and ready to give guests their best. Happier teams lead to better service and better reviews.

Why Morale Matters More in Peak Season

• Energy impacts service – Guests notice when staff are tired or disengaged.
• Retention is cheaper than rehiring – Losing a key team member mid-season is costly.
• Positive culture drives upselling – Staff who feel appreciated sell more naturally.

10 Low-Cost Morale Boosters You Can Use Today

1. Personal Shout-Outs – Recognize staff in pre-shift meetings for going above and beyond. Public praise costs nothing but means everything.

2. Flexible Scheduling – Offer shift swaps or slightly shorter shifts where possible to prevent burnout.

3. Staff Meals & Snacks – Provide a good meal before the shift or quick snacks during peak hours.

4. Small Incentives for Performance – Gift cards, dessert vouchers, or extra breaks for top upsellers.

5. Rotating “Easy Nights” – Assign a less demanding station or shorter shift after a particularly hard day.

6. Manager Check-Ins – Take 5 minutes to personally ask how each team member is doing.

7. Theme Days – Fun dress codes or small competitions (e.g., “Best Upsell Pitch of the Night”).

8. Staff Involvement in Specials – Let staff suggest feature dishes or drinks; name them after the creator.

9. Encourage Peer Recognition – A “shout-out board” where staff can thank each other.

10. End-of-Season Celebration – It doesn’t need to be lavish; a BBQ or potluck goes a long way.

Brand Points PLUS Tip:

Use loyalty program rewards creatively for small staff prizes. This turns morale boosts into measurable sales gains.

Operational Morale Tips

• Streamline workflow – Reduce stress by tightening station setups and menu complexity.
• Give clear daily goals – Teams work better when they know exactly what success looks like for the night.

Boosting morale doesn’t have to break the bank; simple gestures can keep your team energized and motivated during peak season. When staff feel valued, service improves, sales grow, and everyone ends the season stronger.

Think Local, Source Smart

For independent restaurant operators, reliable supply is the foundation of smooth operations and steady profits. But seasonal shortages, unexpected delays, and rising transportation costs can quickly disrupt service. That’s why building strong relationships with your Brand Points PLUS participating Canadian family-owned foodservice distributor should be your first move.

Local sourcing can be a valuable supplement—but only when it complements what your distributor can’t provide. The goal? A balanced procurement plan that maximizes convenience, keeps costs predictable, and supports your business year-round.

Why Distributor-First Sourcing Matters

Your primary distributor relationship gives you several competitive advantages:

• One-stop ordering – Minimizes delivery fees and admin time.
• Brand Points PLUS rewards – Points and cash rebates on eligible purchases.
• Stronger negotiating power – Better pricing through consolidated volume.
• Consistent quality control – Distributor-vetted products reduce risk.

Every time you split orders unnecessarily, you risk higher per-unit costs, less predictable service, and missed rewards.

When Local Sourcing Makes Sense

Local sourcing is a powerful tool when used strategically:

• Seasonal Specials – Spotlight fresh, short-season produce when they’re at peak quality.
• Unique Flavours – Signature Canadian cheeses or heritage meats that differentiate your menu.
• Event or Theme Nights – Tie into community events with Canadian-grown or produced features.

But the key is to work with your distributor to integrate these items into your supply plan, so you still streamline deliveries and maintain reliable procurement for your core needs.

How to Make Distributor + Local Work Together

1. Collaborate with Your Distributor
Ask your sales rep about regional sourcing programs or seasonal product lists. Our distributors already work with local producers, so they can get you the product without adding a new supplier to your roster.

2. Use Local for Menu Highlights, Not Staples
Keep your high-volume items such as proteins, pantry staples, and beverages coming from your distributor. Use local sourcing for feature dishes and high-margin specials where supply inconsistency won’t hurt you.

3. Build Marketing Around Your Sourcing Story
Guests love knowing where their food comes from. Use menu callouts like “Locally sourced from [Region]” or “Proudly supplied by [Distributor Name], a Canadian family-owned business.”

Brand Points PLUS Tip:

Whenever possible, channel your spending through your participating distributor so you earn points and cash rebates. Even if an item is sourced locally, check if your distributor can handle the order for you, keeping your procurement efficient and your rewards intact.

Balancing your distributor relationship with smart local sourcing gives you the best of both worlds—consistent supply, predictable costs, and the flexibility to feature seasonal Canadian products. Keep your distributor at the core, and use local sourcing as a strategic add-on to strengthen your menu and your margins. Learn more about our distributors and find the one closest to you here!

The Top Food Trends for 2025: What Every Restaurant Owner Needs to Know

As we step into 2025, the restaurant industry is evolving rapidly, driven by shifting consumer preferences, technological advancements, and sustainability concerns. To stay ahead, restaurant owners must anticipate and embrace these trends. Here’s what’s shaping the food scene this year:

Hyper-Local Sourcing and Regenerative Agriculture

Hyper-local sourcing is becoming increasingly important as consumers demand more transparency in their food sources. Restaurants are forming partnerships with local farms, rooftop gardens, and urban greenhouses to provide fresh, seasonal, and sustainably grown ingredients. At the same time, regenerative agriculture—farming practices that restore soil health—is gaining traction as diners become more environmentally conscious.

Next-Generation Plant-Based Eating

The rise of plant-based eating continues, but 2025 is all about next-generation plant-based meats, seafood alternatives, and hybrid proteins. Diners are looking for more creative, whole-food-based options rather than highly processed alternatives. Ingredients like mushrooms, seaweed, and fermented foods are leading the charge in innovative plant-based dishes.

Global Fusion and Bold Flavours

On the flavour front, adventurous palates are embracing global fusion. Culinary mashups blending flavours from different cuisines are taking center stage, from Korean tacos to Japanese-Peruvian Nikkei cuisine and African-inspired street food. Spicy, umami-packed dishes featuring bold ingredients like gochujang, harissa, and tamarind are becoming menu staples.

The Hot Honey Craze

Hot honey is heating up menus everywhere, offering a perfect balance of sweet and spicy that elevates everything from pizza and fried chicken to cocktails and charcuterie boards. Made by infusing honey with chili peppers, this bold condiment is gaining popularity for its versatility. In 2025, expect to see more restaurants using it as a key ingredient in marinades, dressings, and even desserts. This trend reflects diners’ growing love for complex, layered flavours that deliver both heat and sweetness in one irresistible bite.

Functional and Mood-Boosting Foods

More consumers are also seeking food that does more than just satisfy hunger. Functional and mood-boosting foods are gaining popularity, with adaptogens and probiotic-rich ingredients making their way into everyday dining.

The Rise of Mindful Drinking

The mindful drinking movement is also growing, with restaurants capitalizing on the trend by offering elevated non-alcoholic cocktails and low-ABV beverages. Herbal infusions, fermented drinks like kombucha, and sophisticated alcohol-free spirits are giving customers delicious alternatives to traditional cocktails.

Cultural and Ethical Dining Experiences

Beyond the menu, cultural and ethical dining experiences are taking priority. Consumers increasingly value authenticity, storytelling, and restaurants that highlight the stories of farmers, artisans, and food producers. Ethical sourcing and fair-trade commitments are resonating deeply with diners, making them key considerations for forward-thinking restaurants.

What This Means for Restaurant Owners

To thrive in 2025, restaurants must be agile, innovative, and responsive to consumer trends. Crafting unique, memorable dining experiences will set businesses apart in a competitive market. By staying ahead of these trends, restaurant owners can attract new customers, foster loyalty, and ensure long-term success.

Which trend are you most excited to implement in your restaurant?

Do locals tell their friends and family members, “You definitely have to eat here”?

The chains and franchises may have big marketing budgets and instantly recognizable brands, but many people prefer—and are fiercely loyal to—the unique, small restaurants, bars, and coffee shops in their communities. 

Here are ten big ideas that don’t require a big budget:

Follow your personality

Does your establishment have a homey Mom and Pop vibe, or is it funky and casual? Is it green and clean or elegant and sophisticated? Up your recognition factor by making that personality a consistent part of your brand through your storefront, signage, décor, food styling, digital presence, and even the music you play.

Carve out your niche

Focus on your signature dishes. When people feel your restaurant is the place to get these menu items, it’s a powerful way to establish your presence.

Celebrate local specialties

Go beyond the usual Canadian dishes available across the country to celebrate your local or regional specialties, including craft beer and wine.

Source locally

Locally sourced ingredients are becoming important to an increasing number of customers.

• Be a local booster – Promote your local producers and suppliers. If you’re flipping pancakes in Trois-Rivières, be loud and proud about serving them with local maple syrup. Making burgers in Red Deer? Celebrate local Alberta beef. Consider flags on the menu or a chalkboard featuring suppliers.

Rock your digital presence

Regardless of its size, your independent diner or sports bar can have an attention-grabbing Instagram account and popular videos on TikTok. A multi-functional website enhances the guest experience from ordering takeout to making reservations.

Support your community

While sponsoring sports teams and donating financially to important causes may not be in your budget, there are alternatives (i.e.: hosting an event at your establishment). Focusing on the cause rather than your contribution will prevent you from appearing boastful.

Know your customers well

Being small gives you a unique advantage to build relationships with your regulars.

Get out into the community

Feature your specialties at local fairs and events. You’ll not only contribute to the success of the events but also entice new customers to visit your restaurant.

Create standout promotions

Unique promotions, especially ones with a local angle, draw people in. Go beyond the standard holiday promotions by selecting a few signature days each year and creating special offers. You may also want to consider partnering with local suppliers for cross-promotions.

Be consistent

It’s not a bad thing to keep things fresh and occasionally add new dishes to your menu, but don’t change for the sake of change. Customers appreciate the sense of coming home to their favourite dishes that is provided by staff they’ve come to know. 

Based on the post “Small restaurant, BIG presence—does size matter?” written by Marlene Cornelis.

Is your small restaurant the place that locals most often name following the phrase, “You have to eat at …”?

Your eatery may be small, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be mighty. The chains and franchises may have big marketing budgets and instantly recognizable brands, but many people prefer – and are fiercely loyal to — the unique small restaurants, bars and coffee shops in their communities. 

Translate your uniqueness into a big presence with the resources available to you. These 10 tips will help you make a big splash without a big budget:

Follow your personality

What’s your establishment’s personality? A homey Mom and Pop vibe, or funky and casual? Is it green and clean, or elegant and sophisticated? A restaurant’s personality may reflect the style of food it serves, the owner’s character, and more. Up your recognition factor by making that personality a consistent part of your brand through your storefront, signage, decor, food styling, digital presence and even the music you play.

Carve out your niche

Obviously, everything you serve should be delicious, but focus on your signature dishes. When people feel yours is the only place to go for homemade pie or vegan falafel, that’s a powerful way of establishing your presence. 

Celebrate local specialties

Go beyond the usual Canadian dishes seen on menus across the country (poutine and a Caesar, anyone?) to celebrate your local or regional specialties. Serving brunch in St. John’s? Put touton on the menu, and how about salt beef hash with those eggs? Offer up hodgepodge for dinner in Truro, flapper pie for dessert in Edmonton, and puffed wheat squares in your Saskatoon coffee shop’s bakery case.

Source locally

Many locals and visitors are drawn to a locally-sourced menu. Paula and Richard Shea, owners of O’Shea’s Pub and Eatery in Kinkora, PEI, say, “Being part of a rural community, we are lucky to be surrounded by a variety of wonderful farms and resources. […] We have built relationships with those farmers and suppliers, which has helped keep a consistent supply of the freshest foods that our customers expect.”

• Be a local booster – Promote your local producers and suppliers. If you’re flipping pancakes in Trois-Rivières, be loud and proud about serving them with local maple syrup. Making burgers in Red Deer? Celebrate local Alberta beef. Feature local growers and producers in your small restaurant, from the fishery that provides your seafood to the farm that grows your spuds. Consider flags on the menu or a chalkboard featuring suppliers: Today’s asparagus comes from.… 

Rock your digital presence

When it comes to having an attention-getting presence on social media, size doesn’t matter. Your independent diner or sports bar can have an attention-grabbing Instagram account and popular videos on TikTok. A multi-functional website  enhances the guest experience from ordering takeout to making reservations to keeping in touch through your newsletter. The Sheas say, “Social Media is a great cost-effective way to grow a business.” Time invested in keeping your accounts current and well-managed is well spent.

Ideas to amplify your restaurant’s presence digitally – Your social channels and website are powerful tools for complementing and amplifying what’s happening on your premises. Here are some tips to bolster your presence digitally:

• Ensure your digital presence is true to your eatery’s personality and stay on brand. 
• Profile local dishes, especially those unfamiliar outside your area like fish and brewis, to whet the appetite of visitors and stir local pride.
• Celebrate your signature dishes.
• Share the stories of local suppliers.
• Promote community events and fundraisers and maintain a digital calendar of events.
• Feature your staff and their stories.
• Honour your regulars with profiles or photos.
• Publicize pop-ups, special events, promotions and loyalty programs.
• Celebrate your history and thank the community for making it possible.

Support your community

Sponsoring sports teams and donating to causes may be top of mind as community support activities. But not every way of giving back requires a budget. Local organizations appreciate a well-managed community bulletin board to publicize their causes. Hosting events on your premises helps them and also boosts your profile. Just remember to keep the focus on the causes and not on your contributions to avoid the turn-off of appearing boastful.

 “Whether it be donating to fundraisers, hosting events or contributing to local initiatives, we like to give the same support back to the community that we feel we get from them,” say the Sheas of O’Shea’s Pub and Eatery.

Know your customers well

Being small gives you a unique advantage in building relationships with your regulars, and so does having loyal, long-standing staff. “Listening to and engaging with our locals, learning their likes and dislikes and using that to maximize their experience are all factors we believe have helped grow our long-lasting business,” add the Sheas. “It makes our customers feel good when we have their beverage and table ready as they walk in our door.”

Get out into the community

Consider having a pop-up at local fairs and events, featuring your specialties. You’ll not only contribute to the success of community events but entice new customers to your establishment.

Create standout promotions

Unique promotions, especially ones with a local angle, draw people in. Go beyond the standard holiday promotions by selecting a few signature days each year and creating special offers for them. For example, celebrate your founder’s birthday for a multi-generation family restaurant or commemorate an important day in your community’s history. Leverage national food days or create your own days for your specialties! Partner with local suppliers for cross-promotions too. If you’re famous for your beer stew, you and the local craft brewery can collaborate on specials for your very own Beer Stew Day.

Loyalty cards can also work well. “Buy ten coffees and get one free” can be a powerful way of keeping regulars coming through your doors.

Be consistent

It’s not a bad thing to keep things fresh and add new dishes to your menu from time to time, but don’t change for the sake of change. As the adage goes, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!” Customers appreciate the sense of coming home to their favourite dishes, maybe cooked and served by staff they’ve come to know over the years. 

“Consistency is key,” say the Sheas. “We have been operating for 18 years and feel our customers know what to expect when they walk in the door. We do our best to offer the same meals with the same locally sourced ingredients and it seems to keep them coming back!”