Chapter 9 Marketing Healthy Menu Options

Marketing The process of finding out what your customers need and want, and then developing, promoting, and selling the products and services they desire.

Gauging Customers’ Needs and Wants Interview waitstaff about customer requests. Do a customer survey. Informally get customer feedback. Key in on:  What are your customers asking for?  Which items are most frequently requested?  How much time does your staff have to meet these special requests?  Which requests are easy to meet? Which are not?

Developing & Implementing Healthy Menu Options Who is involved? How to inform your customers of healthy options:  Simply describe the items well.  Have waitstaff offer and describe the items.  Highlight items with symbols or worlds.  Include a separate section on the menu.  Add a clip-on to the menu and/or a blackboard or lightboard.

Soups Louisiana Chicken and Shrimp Soup Roasted Butternut Squash Soup with Spiced Crème Fraîche Lentil Soup with Sausage and Spinach St. Andrew's Soup Sampler ********************** Salads St. Andrew's Garden Salad Goat Cheese, Hazelnut Crisp and Citrus Vinaigrette Arugula Salad with Toasted Walnuts and Pear Vinaigrette Champagne and Pear Vinaigrette ********************** Starters Wood Fired Sea Bass Tomato-Fennel Ragut Steamed Wontons Shrimp, Brown Rice and Soy Dipping Sauce Risotto Special of the Day Seared Tuna Loin Wakame Seaweed Salad and Miso Sauce St. Andrew’s Café Dinner Menu - CIA

Main Courses Grilled Tuna with Soba Noodles Asian Scented Vegetables Tea Cured Pork Loin Sweet Onion Jam and Dried Morello Cherry Sauce Pan-seared Sea Scallops Edamame Soy Beans, Shiitake Mushrooms and Orange-Soy Glaze Udon Noodles with Tofu Soy-Ginger Broth with Cashews Grilled Beef Tenderloin, Steamed Wild-Pecan Rice Wild Mushroom and Burgundy Wine Glaze Marinated-Grilled Chicken Breast Spicy Apple Chutney, Whole Wheat Spaetzle and Mustard Jus St. Andrew’s Café Dinner Menu - CIA

Desserts Chocolate Mousse Cake with Raspberry Coulis and Whipped Cream with a glass of Fonseca Tawny Porto Sorbet of the Day with Oatmeal Crisp with a glass of Nivole Moscato d'Asti Panna Cotta with Strawberries and Aged Balsamic Vinaigrette with a glass of "Electra" Orange Muscat Strawberry-Rhubarb Crisp with Ricotta Glaze and Caramel Sauce with a glass of "Elysium" Black Muscat Dessert Sampler with a glass of Nivole Moscato d'Asti St. Andrew’s Café Dinner Menu - CIA

Promotion Advertising Sales promotions Publicity  Press releases  Column for local newspaper  Cooking demonstrations  Restaurant newsletter Sources of Promotional Materials -Food manufacturers -Distributors -Food marketing boards and associations

Staff Training  Scope and rationale for program  Grand-opening details  Ingredients, preparation, and service for each menu item  Some basic food and nutrition concepts  How to handle special requests  Merchandising and promotional details

Program Evaluation 1. How did the program do operationally? 2. Did the food look good and taste good? 3. How well did each of the healthy menu options sell? How much did each item contribute to profits? How did the program affect profitability? 4. Did the program increase customer satisfaction?

Fine-Tuning the Program: Possibilities Develop ongoing promotions to maintain customer interest. Add, modify, or delete certain menu items. Change pricing. Improve the appearance of healthy items. Listen to customers more to get future menu and merchandising ideas.

Restaurants and Nutrition Labeling Laws Food prepared and served in restaurants or other foodservices are exempt from mandatory nutrition labeling found in packaged foods. Restaurants are not exempt from FDA rules concerning nutrient claims and health claims when used on menus, table tents, posters, or signs. Any food being used in a health claim may not contain more than 20% of the Daily Value for fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, or sodium.

Restaurants and Nutrition Labeling Laws When providing nutrition information for a nutrient or health claim:  restaurants do not have to provide the standard nutrition information profile and more exacting nutrient content values required in the Nutrition Facts panel of packaged foods. They can present the information in any format desired, and they have to provide only information about the nutrient(s) that the claim is referring to.

Restaurants and Nutrition Labeling Laws Restaurants may use symbols on the menu to highlight the nutritional content of specific items. They are required to explain the criteria used for the symbols.

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