The Coronavirus pandemic has completely upended the restaurant market and left many establishments struggling to stay afloat.
As such, moving forward, eateries will have to work hard to retain existing customers and attract new diners to sample their dishes.
A great way to rejuvenate your restaurant and help entice more diners is to launch new menu items. Menus need to be changed regularly so that customers enjoy fresh dishes and feel incentivised to visit your establishment.
Now is the perfect time to be adding new items to your menu, as you have the time to finesse your recipes and can use your new dishes to draw diners back to your establishment once it reopens after the lockdown.
If you’re unsure of how to develop and launch a new menu item, then read on to find our practical guide.
Check Out Your Competition
In such a competitive market, it’s crucial that you know what your competitors are doing to bounce back from the crisis and try to create dishes that are even more spectacular. Follow your main competitors on social media, so that you can check out their updates and make sure that your new dishes are more creative and inventive.
Embrace Food Trends
The food market is constantly evolving and adapting, with new trends being introduced and new diets dominating the market. Recently, veganism has been on the rise, with consumers eager to embrace a plant-based diet and reduce their impact on the environment. Another common diet is the keto diet, where diners reduce the number of carbohydrates they ingest to help them to lose weight and enjoy a healthier lifestyle. Try to incorporate these trends into your menu and show your customers that you are committed to providing them with the meals they want.
Show Your Dishes In Their Best Light
A great way to introduce customers to your new dishes and encourage them to sample them is to share professional photographs and video content showing the construction of your new dish. These can not only be used on your website, but they’ll also look great on social media (particularly on Instagram). To give you a feel for what the end product might look like, you can visit the food videographers at Pocket Creatives who have a portfolio on their website dedicated to all the food and drink productions they’ve created. This London based video production company have extensive experience providing professional food photography and video content, so should you choose to get involved they’ll be able to help entice customers to order your new delicacies.
Push Your New Menu Items On Social Media
Now that you have professional visual content, you can start promoting your new menu items online. Social media is a great way to reach out to a wide range of diners and potential customers. You can use adverts to promote your posts and reach an even wider audience so that even more diners will be tempted to taste your products.
Offer Your New Products For A Limited Time Only
Create urgency among diners by announcing that your new menu items will be available for a limited time only. If the products are popular, then you can add them to your menu permanently at a later date. For now, informing customers that they only have a short amount of time to order your new dishes will drive them to try them before they become unavailable, raising your sales and offering your restaurant the chance to recover from the Coronavirus crisis.
Offer Promotions To Encourage Customers
Once the lockdown is over, and customers start returning to their normal dining habits, they will need to be incentivised to choose your eatery and indulge in your new menu items. Try using promotions and discounts to encourage diners to try your new products and propel your business back to success and prosperity. Choose cost-effective promotional strategies, so that you’re still able to earn money while at the same time offering diners the chance to sample fresh, new menu items.
