by more than
Marketing
The 2019 catering trends have emerged, and if you like the flavor of ‘taste menus’ that allow you to sample a little bit of this and a little bit of that, you’re going to love what’s on the table in foodservice for the year ahead. From futuristic culinary masterpieces that delight consumers who are hungry for new, innovative dishes, to full inventories of ancient spices and grains that date back to the Stone Age, there is plenty of variety for your chefs to sink their teeth into.
In our recent article, “Restaurant Robotics Are Here to Stay,” we talked about the dawn of the robot age and whether robots entering the food industry meant that people (waiters, chefs, bartenders) were on their way out. We concluded that only time would tell but urged restaurant owners to continue to follow automation trends while acknowledging that the human element was unlikely to be eliminated altogether.
The New Year has arrived, making this the perfect time to check out the latest wedding catering trends. Whether you manage a restaurant, catering service, food bar, take-out operation, or food truck, here are some of the wedding food trends on the horizon for 2019.
As a restaurant owner, caterer, or professional party planner, you already know that color can set the tone for your client’s entire event! From creating an atmosphere, to capturing attention, to enhancing decor, and much more – it is safe to say that color and catering go hand-in-hand. So read on to discover how the Pantone Color of the Year can expand your food horizons.
Instagram is everywhere and in a previous post we discussed how to create Instagrammable food to promote your restaurant. However, for a restaurant’s purposes, Instagram is so much more than rainbow toast and unicorn shakes. It’s more than customers coming in, ordering something, photographing it and then sending it off to the digital world known as Instagram.
Instagram has been around for a while and, from its inception, the photo-based app has been positioned at the center of trends in food and beverages in general, and in the restaurant business in particular. Restaurants are offering rainbow-colored “unicorn foods” with Instagram in mind, and creating fabulous and original spaces, and then waiting for the lines to form after images of their products and menus go viral.
Much has been written – including right here – about why a restaurant’s location is so important to the success of the business. Visibility is the number-one factor in choosing a site for a new restaurant, as being seen is the basis for drop-in business, which is vitally important. For this reason, off-street locations have long been considered undesirable real estate options.
For many people – and many restaurants – food and drinks go together. And when we say “drinks,” we mean alcohol. Restaurants that want to offer a complete dining experience have bars that are stocked with the latest spirits and manned by the most knowledgeable and skilled bartenders. However, word on the culinary street is that there is a trend afoot that might alter the food-drink synergy.
While restaurateurs are frequently advised to aim their marketing campaigns and sales pitches at millennials, they may be missing their biggest target audience if they do. The economy is always shifting, and the preferential customer and the demographic that can make or break a restaurant’s reputation and success changes along with the times.
One of the niftiest features on Facebook – an oldie but goodie that was introduced back in 2010 – is Facebook Places, which allows people to use the GPS on their mobile phones to let their friends know where they are located. Using Facebook’s Check-In button users can announce their location to friends and followers, including the name of the business they are currently frequenting.