Embrace the Season: Exploring the Most Popular Summer Foods

As the days grow longer and the sun shines brighter, there’s a shift in what customers may want to eat. Summer brings an abundance of fresh, vibrant ingredients that inspire light, flavourful dishes perfect for enjoying under the warm sun. From refreshing salads to grilled delights, let’s delve into the most popular summer foods that make this season a dining delight.

1. Grilled Goodness: There’s something satisfying about cooking outdoors during the summer months. Grilling has become a popular pastime, whether it’s juicy burgers, steaks, or perfectly charred vegetables, the smoky aroma and rich flavours of grilled food capture the essence of summer dining perfectly and will elevate any summer menu seamlessly.

2. Cool and Crisp Salads: As temperatures rise, light and refreshing salads should be a staple on summer menus. From classic Caesar salads to inventive fruit salads, these dishes are not only delicious but also offer a much-needed rest from the heat. Incorporating seasonal produce like tomatoes, cucumbers, and watermelon adds a burst of colour and flavour to every bite.

3. Frozen Treats: What better way to beat the heat than indulging in frozen delights? From creamy ice creams to fruity popsicles, there’s no shortage of icy treats to enjoy during the sweltering summer days. Whether you’re a small or large operation, cool desserts are a quintessential part of the summer experience.

4. Seafood Sensations: With coastal regions bustling during the summer months, seafood takes center stage on many menus. Whether it’s freshly shucked oysters, grilled fish tacos, or buttery lobster rolls, the flavors of the sea add a delicious touch to summer dining. Suggest pairing these dishes with a crisp white wine or a refreshing citrus-infused cocktail for the ultimate seaside feast.

5. Barbecue Classics: From sticky ribs to tangy barbecue chicken, no summer food list would be complete without mentioning classic barbecue fare. The smoky flavours and savoury sauces of barbecue dishes evoke a sense of nostalgia and friendship that defines the summer season. Consider pairing these options with fresh seasonal vegetables.

6. Seasonal Sippers: Alongside the culinary delights of summer, refreshing beverages play an important role in your guests’ staying cool and hydrated. From fruit juices to zesty lemonades, there are limitless variations of refreshing drinks to offer during the hot summer months. For those seeking a more adult indulgence, tropical cocktails like piña coladas and margaritas add a touch of vacation vibes to any menu.

7. Fresh Farmer’s Market Finds: Summer brings an abundance of fresh produce to farmer’s markets and grocery stores alike. Ripe heirloom tomatoes, sweet corn, and vibrant berries bring colour to so many menu options. Whether you’re grilling vegetables for a side dish or incorporating fresh herbs into a housemade pesto, the bounty of summer produce elevates every meal.

In conclusion, summer is a time of culinary exploration and celebration, where fresh ingredients and vibrant flavours take center stage. Whether you’re firing up the grill, tossing together a refreshing salad, or providing frozen treats for guests, there’s something for everyone to enjoy during this sun-kissed season. So, embrace the abundance of summer foods and create lasting memories for friends and families under the warm summer sun.

Menu Engineering: Boosting Restaurant Success

You might think that creating a menu is simply a matter of listing out dishes you plan to serve. However, menu engineering is an essential component of the success of any restaurant. Menu engineering is the practice of optimizing a menu’s design and pricing structure to maximize profits and customer satisfaction.

Here are some reasons why menu engineering is so important for restaurant owners:

Boosts Profitability

Menu engineering can significantly boost your restaurant’s profitability. By analyzing your menu, you can identify your most profitable items and focus on promoting them. You can also adjust the prices of your dishes based on customer demand, seasonality, and ingredient cost. For instance, if a dish is very popular and has a high profit margin, you can increase the price slightly to maximize revenue.

Improves Customer Satisfaction

A well-designed menu can improve customer satisfaction. By presenting your dishes in an appealing way and highlighting your restaurant’s unique offerings, you can entice customers to try new dishes and increase their likelihood of returning. Additionally, by offering a variety of options to accommodate different dietary needs and preferences, you can ensure that all of your customers feel welcome and satisfied.

Helps with Inventory Management

Menu engineering can also help with inventory management. By identifying which dishes are selling the most, you can adjust your ordering patterns to ensure that you have enough ingredients on hand to meet demand. Additonally, you can avoid over-ordering ingredients for less popular dishes, which can reduce waste and save money.

Streamlines Kitchen Operations

A well-designed menu can also streamline your kitchen operations. By organizing your dishes in a logical way, you can help your kitchen staff prepare and serve dishes more efficiently. Additionally, by identifying which dishes take the longest to prepare, you can adjust your menu or kitchen processes to ensure that wait times are minimized.

Enables Data-Driven Decision Making

Menu engineering enables you to make data-driven decisions about your menu. By analyzing sales data, you can identify trends and make informed decisions about menu changes. For instance, if a dish is not selling well, you can either remove it or make changes to improve its appeal. Additonally, you can use data to identify areas where you can upsell customers, such as offering add-ons or suggesting higher-priced items.

In conclusion, menu engineering is a critical component of the success of any restaurant. By optimizing your menu’s design and pricing structure, you can boost profitability, improve customer satisfaction, streamline operations, and make data-driven decisions about your menu. If you haven’t already, consider working with a consultant or menu engineer to help you analyze your menu and make necessary changes. Your restaurant’s success depends on it!

Rising inflation, currently affecting food and many other goods, is challenging restaurateurs and consumers alike. And food inflation is just one of the factors that can lead to menu inflation in restaurants.

The challenge for restaurant operators is to create a menu that’s cost-effective for both themselves and consumers, so they can operate with the best possible margins while still encouraging business in this time of renewed restrictions and rising costs.

Understanding the restaurant inflation crunch

Canada’s Food Price Report 2022, an annual collaboration of Dalhousie University and the Universities of Guelph, Saskatchewan, and British Columbia, “forecasts an overall food price increase of 5% to 7% for the coming year, the highest predicted increase in food prices since the inception of the report 12 years ago.”

Given the current rate of food inflation, it’s not surprising that menu inflation is occurring in restaurants. Restaurants Canada’s Restaurant Outlook Survey Q3 2021 reports that “nearly six in 10 respondents are expecting to raise their menu prices by 4% or more, with 23% expected to raise menu prices by more than 7%,” (the highest level above 7% since the survey began in 2011). 

1. Source: Canada’s Food Price Report 2022
2 Source: Restaurants Canada’s Restaurant Outlook Survey Q3 2021

Food prices aren’t the only pressure contributing to menu inflation. Others include supply chain issues, labour shortages, pandemic-related dining-in restrictions, the costs of PPE and other safety measures, and the need to implement vaccine passports in some jurisdictions. Restaurants Canada reports that many of their survey respondents intend to partially absorb operating cost increases, rather than fully pass them downstream to customers via menu price increases.

Restaurant menus need to be as cost-effective as possible for the benefit of both operators and their price-conscious customers who may be responding to inflation by tightening their discretionary spending belts. 

Here are 7 tips to increase restaurant profits

A combination of complementary strategies to address increasing food and operating costs can help you provide more cost-effective menus. And doing what you can to help those in need just may encourage your community to keep supporting your establishment through these difficult times.

Downsize Menus

Shorter menus are here to stay. They’re a good way to mitigate supply issues and higher costs, while managing a return yet again to takeout and delivery only in some provinces. Pared-down menus also help you streamline staffing, manage inventory more effectively, and reduce waste. They also make it easier for restaurant operators to benefit from dishes where high sales and maximum profit intersect.

Streamline Operations

With today’s labour supply challenges now further complicated by the higher absenteeism rates caused by the Omicron variant, restaurant operators must keep effective retention and recruitment top of mind. Optimizing scheduling, maintaining good employee relations, and showing appreciation for staff who step up to fill gaps in the schedule can help you avoid the costs of reduced capacity or closures due to absenteeism. Menu streamlining can help you reduce your base staffing complement – important in a time of labour shortages.

Manage the Supply Chain

Now more than ever, it’s important to have good lines of communication with your suppliers. Work with them to keep on top of product availability and price fluctuations so you can plan your menu accordingly. Also talk to them about any special offers you can benefit from. 

Get Creative with Proteins

Proteins are usually the centrepiece of a dish. And animal proteins are generally the costliest ingredient. With some creativity, you can move beyond the extravagant steaks and typical chicken breasts to offer proteins in more affordable ways. In addition to smaller portions of meat and poultry, explore using cheaper cuts, which are often more flavourful and offer the chef more creative scope. Think chicken thighs in a hearty sauce instead of grilled breasts. More economical plant-based proteins, like chickpeas and lentils, either in wholly vegetarian or vegan dishes, or in combination with smaller portions of animal proteins, are another approach to a more cost-effective menu. For more ideas, see the article What’s the True Cost of Proteins for Foodservice Operators?

Reduce Waste and Pay It Forward

Wasted food and wasted supplies is wasted money, and who can afford that? A smaller menu leads to a tighter, more manageable inventory, helping you use items before their expiry dates. Designing your menu so ingredients can be used in multiple dishes is another waste reduction strategy.

Support community members who are suffering the effects of food inflation by donating food you can’t use in time to local food banks, shelters, and other programs. 

Harness Technology for Agility

One word we’ve all heard over and over during the pandemic is pivot. With menus switching up frequently due to ongoing supply chain issues and price fluctuations, digital menus allow for easy revision. Having a website built on the Sociavore platform, for instance, provides you an online ordering system that frees up staff for other tasks. It also helps you avoid steep third-party fees by using local delivery networks or the DoorDash integration for order fulfillment.

And like many things today, when it comes to food waste there’s an app (or many) for that. For example, Too Good to Go has launched in Toronto, Vancouver, and Montreal, and allows restaurants, bakeries, grocers, et cetera to sell leftover food and prepared dishes at a discount through the app. Not only does this reduce waste and help you recoup a portion of your costs, but it helps build good community relations.

Utilize Government Support Programs

Inform yourself about the government support programs your business qualifies for and identify which meet your needs. Taking advantage of economic support can bolster your efforts to keep menu inflation at a level that still encourages your community to dine in or order out.

Menu engineering, the process restaurateurs use to analyze the cost and popularity of menu items and adjust pricing to maximize profitability, is more important than ever for Canada’s foodservice operators. 

The industry faces many challenges in this late-pandemic period, including staffing shortages, supply issues and rising costs. As patio season winds down, consumer hesitancy about in-restaurant dining continues, yet many people are eager to return to their favourite spots. Demand for takeout & delivery and expectations for a demonstrably safe dining experience remain high.

As a result, many restaurants are looking to downsize menus to upsize revenue, focusing on dishes that hit the sweet spot where high sales and maximum profit meet. They also need the flexibility to quickly change what’s on offer, as well as ways to demonstrate their ongoing commitment to in-house dining safety.

Operators need to go beyond the traditional, time-honoured calculations of menu engineering to reconsider the very nature of menus. How can they be easily changeable and available to patrons as conveniently and safely as possible? 

The answer is digital restaurant menus.

“The main benefits of using digital menus are ease of access and flexibility. Any customer can view a digital menu anywhere . . . restaurant owners can add or modify menu items at any time.” 

Amina Gilani, Co-Founder and COO of Sociavore

The benefits of digital restaurant menus

• Access and Agility — Amina Gilani, Co-Founder and COO of Sociavore, the independent restaurant website platform and Brand Points PLUS partner, says, “The main benefits of using digital menus are ease of access and flexibility. Any customer can view a digital menu anywhere, right from their smartphone, tablet or computer, even after hours when the restaurant is closed. Restaurant owners can add or modify menu items at any time without having to print new physical menus.” 
• Many Ways to Share Your Brand Story — Digital menus go beyond simply listing food choices; they’re important marketing tools, since so many people check out menus online before choosing a restaurant to visit or order from. Your digital menu is a way to complement the brand story you tell on your website and in your physical premises.
• Maximizing Profit — Designing menus to highlight the most profitable items can influence customer choices to help restaurants maximize profit. Gilani says that digital menus give you the ability to “create engaging menu descriptions and add mouth-watering food photography to accompany each menu choice.”
• Expanded Information — Digital menus allow customers to easily access information about dietary concerns and restrictions, which traditionally have required conversations with the server. With the click of a link, customers can check ingredients and nutritional details.
• A Shoppable Experience — Your static digital menu can be converted into a shoppable ordering menu. Gilani says this allows customers “to browse and place orders for pickup or delivery right from your restaurant website.” With Sociavore’s commission-free delivery integration you can save on third-party delivery fees and retain your customer data too.

Different Ways to Digitize Your Menu

Menu digitization ranges from low-tech options to highly integrated systems:

• At the lowest tech level, some restaurants simply post photographs of menus on their website or Facebook page. The photography isn’t always optimal, but even when it is, readability can be an issue, especially on mobile devices. And the photos need to be reloaded each time the menu changes.
• Other restaurants upload PDF menus to their website and social media. This approach has the same mobile readability and reloading challenges as photos.
• Next level up are web-based menus. “Restaurateurs can use Sociavore to create and manage digital menus on their restaurant websites. With a few clicks of a button, you can add new items, limit inventory, add custom fees and taxes, and more,” says Gilani.
• Making QR (quick response) codes — those square barcodes that look a bit like abstract art — available on tabletop, at the storefront, and on marketing materials is the next rung up the digital menu ladder. They allow customers to quickly click through to the most current version of your digital menu as soon as they’re seated.
• Finally, QR codes can be integrated with contactless ordering and payment systems. A Restaurants Canada press release from December 2020 states: “QR codes are the new norm for menu viewing, touchless ordering, and paying the bill.”

A Deeper Dive into QR Codes

While QR codes have been around since the ’90s, they’ve really taken off as foodservice operators and consumers adapted to the realities of the COVID-19 pandemic. Using them is easier than ever, helping foster their ready acceptance by the dining public. 

Many newer smartphones have built-in QR code viewers, so no special app is needed. A patron can simply open their phone’s photo app, focus on the QR code, and then follow the pop-up link to the restaurant’s menu. This makes ordering faster and minimizes contact with the server.

The right website platform can take QR codes to the next level with contactless ordering and payment system integration. Customers can order and even pay the bill from their phone to have their meal delivered to their table (or for takeout and delivery), for the ultimate in convenience and contactless dining.

“Guests can easily access the restaurant’s ordering menu via the QR code and order directly from the menu. This reduces short-term labour costs and increases table turnover with faster, more efficient ordering.”

Amina Gilani, Co-Founder and COO of Sociavore

QR codes also benefit restaurant operations, as Gilani explains: “Sociavore’s contactless dining feature streamlines the restaurant’s service by sending orders directly from the guest’s phone to the kitchen. Guests can easily access the restaurant’s ordering menu via the QR code and order directly from the menu. This reduces short-term labour costs and increases table turnover with faster, more efficient ordering.” She says, for instance, that this feature has powered the largest patios in Toronto (the Distillery District and RendezViews) as well as many independent restaurants.

Letting your community know about these safety enhancements may encourage the hesitant to return to in-person dining more quickly. It’s also helpful in retaining and attracting staff, a major industry concern.

Bye-bye Paper Menus?

The pandemic has certainly accelerated the demise of the formal printed menu. Many restaurants switched to single-use menus for safety reasons before moving to QR codes. But it may be premature to declare paper menus as passé as paper letters. 

Not everyone has a smartphone. Some don’t have data and need your WiFi to use QR codes. Sometimes people simply forget their phone. Even the most tech-advanced restaurant should have some single-use paper menus available as a contingency.

Tips for the Digital Menu Age

• Embrace digital design — “Let your menu reflect your brand!” Gilani says. “Don’t be afraid to switch it up and create new menus for special events or holidays. Also, be sure to include a clear, well-lit photograph of each menu item — you’ll notice a significant increase in online sales and basket size.”
• Help customers become tech savvy — Some customers need to get comfortable with menu technology. Tactfully show them the ropes. Demonstrate that using QR codes is as easy as opening their phone app, and show them how to find more details about menu items. Once they’ve got the hang of how simple it is to use a tabletop QR code, they’ll be converts.
• Be generous with those QR codes — Consider placing several QR code stickers on each table. After all, patrons clamouring to click through to your digital menu won’t want to queue up for their chance!

Big non-meat, plant-based alternatives are here to stay – and growing. 

A recent study by Technomic reports “almost two-thirds of Canadian consumers (65%) consider vegetarian offerings to be slightly or much more healthy. And, a quarter express they are ordering more healthy items at foodservice now than two years ago.” 

According to Technomic, “Gluten free is the top health claim across segments due to its popularity for both dietary and allergy reasons. Gluten-free claims also line up with many low carb diets like keto that are rising in popularity. Since these leading labels are on the top 200 restaurant menus, consumers may expect to see specialty options more widely available.” 

Healthy Claims at Top 200 Limited-Service Restaurants

Healthy Claims at Top 200 Full-Service Restaurants

As a result of this demand shift, restaurants are featuring plant-based proteins in a variety of applications. Optimism that the future is bright for plant-based protein has been fuelled by the reaction to the wave of products from Beyond Meat and others that have seemingly cracked the code and done the improbable – bridging the chasm between meat and meat-alternatives – by offering healthful and appetizing alternatives to beef and pork that replicate the taste and mouth feel consumers crave. 

A&W introduced the Beyond Meat burger in Canada in 2018 and, thanks to unexpectedly high consumer trial, sold out beyond the ability of the supply chain to maintain inventory. A&W soon after introduced a Beyond Meat Breakfast Veggie-sausage sandwich that shocked consumers by the degree to which the product tasted like “real” sausage.

Large protein players like Tyson Foods and Maple Leaf are betting many millions that this trend has even longer legs. Maple Leaf announced plans in 2019 to build a US$300 million 230,000-sq.-ft. processing plant in Shelbyville, Indiana to more than double Maple Leaf’s investment in meat alternative offerings like its Lightlife Burger. Michael McCain has called plant-based protein “a billion dollar opportunity,” and recently told analysts that “it is on the cusp of becoming mainstream.”

In an interview with the Toronto Star, he said “in our plant-based business, we are confident that there’s a significant growth opportunity. Right now, most of our activity is around organic growth. We’re investing in new plant capacity, new innovation.”

Kids and plant-based restaurant menu alternatives

Even kids’ menus, traditionally boasting options like breaded chicken fingers and mac ‘n cheese, are going healthier.

According to a recent Technomic insights report: Over the past year, traditional kids menu offerings have declined, including kids grilled cheese (-16.5%), kids hamburger (-22.2%) and kids french fries (-36.4%), while lighter categories, such as kids salad, have seen an increase (+29.4%). “This demonstrates the swap of some heavier dishes for healthier choices that millennial parents most especially have been gravitating toward for their children.”

Fastest growing ingredients on kids’ menus

Savvy operators are taking note and adjusting their kids’ offerings to make them healthier and more mature.

Where do you play in the “healthy” sandbox?

A host of operators – including heavyweights like McDonald’s and Tim Hortons – emerging in all segments of foodservice have, in full or part, revamped their offerings to appeal to the broad constituency of health-seeking consumers (Exhibit 2). Sift your menu through this growing group to see how much ground you cover in the “healthy” sandbox.

One company, Montreal-based Copper Branch, billed as the largest vegan restaurant chain in the world, has ridden the plant-based wave to more than 30 locations including in the US. 

Copper Branch has gone beyond vegetarian/vegan, and embraced the key elements of what “healthy” means to today’s consumer – fresh, natural (non-GMO, nothing added), free-from, unprocessed, sustainable, low carbs, nutraceutical, and more. Their menu items tick a lot of consumer boxes, from raw and organic naturally fermented Kombucha beverages, to sandwiches served on a choice of organic ancient grain kamut bun, gluten-free bun, collard green wrap or organic spelt wrap… and they let their customers know through bold menu design and social media.

Does your restaurant menu measure up?

It’s clear, if your menu is not speaking the language of current consumer health and wellness perceptions, you’re losing ground.

So, how do you make sure this key sales tool of your restaurant operation reflects your values if you want to communicate a shift to healthier options? The solutions are easier – and less expensive – than you might think:

• Speak the language. Copper Branch uses terms like “100% plant-based, gluten-free options, all-natural, many organic & non-GMO ingredients.” If you choose to make these claims, though, be prepared to back them up with what emerges from the kitchen.

• Use symbols in the form of a menu legend and place them next to menu items, much the way soome restaurants let diners know if dishes are mild, spicy or super-hot. WebstaurantStore blog recommends a menu legend like this one:
  
  
  1. Grill – A grill shows that chicken, sandwiches, patties, fish, and other foods can be grilled rather than sauteed, deep fried, or cooked in butter.
  2. Leaf – A leaf shows that pasta dishes, sandwiches, wraps, salads, and other foods can be made vegetarian.
  3. V – A “V” shows that vegetarian dishes can be made vegan.
  4. Grain – A grain shows that sandwiches, subs, and wraps can be made with whole grains instead of white flour.
  5. Zigzag – A zigzag symbol inside of an oven shows that crab cakes, seafood, meats, and poultry can be broiled rather than deep fried or sauteed in butter.
  6. Vegetable – A vegetable shows that certain meals can be made with organic ingredients.
  7. Sugar-Free – A sugar-free symbol shows that desserts or drinks can be made without real sugar. 

• Offer sensible substitutions – and let your guests know. Use your menu to communicate that you can create healthier alternatives, such as grilled instead of breaded and fried, if diners reqest them.

• Try “healthy” promotions like a special “Meatless Monday” menu.

• Use social media to spread the word that you’re a “healthy” place to be.