Sign up to receive updates from Chef Works: new product info, promotions, discounts and more! Source: Flickr. From vibrant tomatoes and juicy corn in the summer to cozy cookies and hot toddies in the winter, there are foods which evoke the season and can help your establishment appeal to customers.

Conclusion: Seasonal specials can offer a great marketing and promotion opportunity for your restaurant. They keep your offerings fresh for customers, and can increase sales for your establishment.

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Sincerely, Chef Works. Create seasonal beverages to complement food specials. Part of the fun of seasonal cuisine is enjoying it with a weather-appropriate beverage.

Be sure to create a roster of seasonal cocktails to support your culinary offerings for each season. For instance, in the summer, you might make watermelon margaritas or sangria featuring seasonal fruit. In the cooler months, hot toddies and robust craft beers will tempt your customers to stay cozy as they sample your food.

Season-appropriate beverages also allow you to tie your seasonal food specials in with happy hour specials , which are proven to garner attention from customers.

The bottom line? Create a sense of the season on social media. Be sure to use social media outlets to post delicious-looking photos of your seasonal fare. For instance, if you are offering pumpkin spice cheesecake for dessert during the fall, create a scene where a plated dessert has vibrant leaves all around it, or is propped next to a row of pumpkins.

Creating scenes like this for social media will get people in the seasonal spirit, and it will make your seasonal offerings seem more timely and appetizing.

Source: Flickr Make seasonal specials available for a limited time only. However, when you offer seasonal specials for a limited time only, you create a sense of urgency for the customer to visit while the special items are still available.

Offering certain foods for a finite amount of time only creates interest and demand. It also urges customers to order something different and maybe even a little more than usual because the items in question might not be available the next time they visit. Source: Flickr Create a specific seasonal menu.

Create a separate menu for your seasonal specials. This can be as simple as separate menus printed on good quality paper, which can accompany your permanent menus, given to customers once they are seated.

Or, you could create a seasonal special menu which appears on a board in a highly visible spot within your establishment, or dedicate a special section of your menu to seasonal items.

Separating the seasonal specials in this way instantly makes them worthy of attention from the customers. It brings attention to the fact that they are a limited time offer that should be taken advantage of while they have the chance. Offer a package deal. This can be an invaluable way to promote your seasonal specials.

They get a value for bundling, and you get a higher overall sale, because without the bundle, the customer might have only ordered one of the items.

Source: Flickr Tell the story of your seasonal dishes. Everything tastes better with a backstory, and your seasonal specials are no exception. This is why a diversified seasonal menu is a good tool and a pretext for a "camouflaged" price increase that is not discouraging for your guests.

Analyze data from previous seasons and observe this year's results. This will help you to know which dishes to keep on the menu for the next year. Perhaps some of them will become your hallmark over time? The analysis will also allow you to determine which of last year's specials to replace with new ones.

It is a good idea to plan your seasonal menu well in advance, especially if it is to be based on perishable ingredients. If there is a chance that your fresh produce suppliers won't be able to provide enough seasonal ingredients, or that there is not enough proper storage space, you can always use a reputable semi-product supplier.

For example, Aviko's sources its frozen goods directly from producers - local certified suppliers with years of proven record. Modern shock freezing technology keeps Aviko products as fresh as possible. This is a reliable solution to ensure quality and continuity of supply. However, your restaurant does not have to be Michelin-starred to regularly attract loyal guests and steadily increase turnover.

If your seasonal proposals are well thought out and paired with the rest of your offerings, the leverage of seasonal menus can work to your advantage all year round, regardless whether you run a pizza place, burger joint, street food, or even a bar with Belgian fries and beer!

Photo credits: Unsplash. A seasonal menu offers a number of advantages that you as a food professional should know about.

We have found some great examples and give you some tips on how to go about it. Discover what makes sweet potato so special, and find inspiration for original sweet potato dishes.

en en es. Our products Our solutions Inspiration Search Menu. Our products Assortment Product overview Highlighted products Premium fries SuperCrunch Potato specialties Gratins Mashed potatoes Sweet potato Appetizers Churros.

Our solutions Solutions Green Delight - Plant based snacks Home delivery. Inspiration Market segments Restaurants Fast food Hotels and accommodations Leisure News and blog Trends blog Sustainability Recipes All Aviko recipes. Assortment Product overview. Highlighted products Premium fries SuperCrunch Potato specialties Gratins Mashed potatoes Sweet potato Appetizers Churros.

Solutions Green Delight - Plant based snacks Home delivery. Market segments Restaurants Fast food Hotels and accommodations Leisure. News and blog Trends blog Sustainability. Recipes All Aviko recipes. Limited offer The power of seasonal dishes and beverages is found in the limited offer mechanism, which is an ideal way to generate sales.

Stand out of the crowd In the pandemic, the bar of creativity for restaurateurs to attract guests has gone up. Menu prizing How to set prices?

View our Olive Garden specials today. Browse our lunch specials, dinner specials, new entrées and more prior to your visit Specials vary by location and price. Specials subject to change at anytime. ‡Offer not valid for Pizookie® Trio, Pizookie® Platter, or seasonal Pizookie® Two decades ago, Starbucks introduced the world to the pumpkin spice latte. The autumn staple is back on the coffee brand's fall menu

Seasonal food deals - Indulge in the warmth of the season with these delicious dishes and Wine available to order online at select locations only. VIEW SEASONAL SPECIALS BELOW View our Olive Garden specials today. Browse our lunch specials, dinner specials, new entrées and more prior to your visit Specials vary by location and price. Specials subject to change at anytime. ‡Offer not valid for Pizookie® Trio, Pizookie® Platter, or seasonal Pizookie® Two decades ago, Starbucks introduced the world to the pumpkin spice latte. The autumn staple is back on the coffee brand's fall menu

Restaurants that succeed at seasonality tend to think outside the box when it comes to menu updates. In fact, according to DataSsential , pumpkin is appearing on percent more appetizer menus, 92 percent more entrée menus, and 53 percent more menus overall, compared with 4 years ago.

Dishes like curry pumpkin bisque, pumpkin tortellini, and even pumpkin mac and cheese make this seasonal favorite better than basic — and are a great way to entice customers seeking a taste of fall flavors.

For example, fall brings a variety of rich produce like beets, Brussels sprouts, and pomegranate, as well as gamier proteins like lamb, duck, and mussels.

Experiment with all the ways you can incorporate these ingredients into your menu, and use them across several dishes. Not only does this tie together your menu, it also helps reduce waste and keeps your operations more sustainable — in turn lowering food costs and further increasing profits.

The most important step to take when implementing seasonal menus is finding a vendor you can trust to provide fresh, local ingredients each season. Although not all of your ingredients need to be locally sourced, having reliable access to these ingredients reduces the stress of managing inventory and qualifies your restaurant as a more sustainable — and healthy — operation in the eyes of a consumer.

Another important piece of the seasonality puzzle is printing your new menus. No matter which route you choose, however, look to print about two menus for every three guests.

This provides extra inventory if menus are torn, worn, lost, or stolen. Updating your menu seasonally not only helps your business benefit from new items, it also sets an ideal timeline for analyzing your entire menu each quarter.

Also take the time each quarter to evaluate whether your menu design needs to be updated with a fresh look and optimized layout. Ultimately, knowing what has worked in the past helps you make informed decisions when creating new items for your menu, or even freshening up your current one.

The best way to get everyone on board, and sprinkle in some team building, is by hosting an all-employee tasting. While your servers are trying the dishes, be sure to describe each item in the way that can be used with a customer, so each staff member can respond appropriately when a diner asks what a dish is like or requests a personal recommendation.

Finally, when shifting your restaurant business model to focus on seasonality, you need to consider the impact frequent updates and these fresh, local ingredients will have on your back-of-house equipment and kitchen design.

You may need to switch between simmering stews in the winter and chilling ceviche in the summer, so prepare your kitchen and staff to handle these operational shifts with the right procedures and equipment. Since these local, fresh ingredients may have a shorter shelf life and higher cost, they also need to be optimized to their full use to balance the added expense.

If you find that certain seasonal ingredients take longer prep time, make sure your kitchen crew is trained on how to handle these ingredients efficiently. To optimize production, you may also need to reorganize the layout of certain stations.

This can be an invaluable way to promote your seasonal specials. They get a value for bundling, and you get a higher overall sale, because without the bundle, the customer might have only ordered one of the items.

Source: Flickr Tell the story of your seasonal dishes. Everything tastes better with a backstory, and your seasonal specials are no exception. Use your seasonal specials as an opportunity to share these stories with your customers.

This will not only enrich the customer experience, but it will make them feel more emotionally connected with your restaurant. There are many ways in which a story can be told about a dish.

For instance, say the Beef Wellington on your Christmas menu goes back five generations. Or perhaps the chef grows the late spring strawberries featured in the seasonal salad in his own garden.

Telling these stories will make it a more interesting meal for the customer, with a much more personal touch. These stories can be told on the menu, or by servers or bartenders. Source: Flickr Train your employees to sell the dishes. Speaking of servers, be sure to train them so that they can really sell your seasonal offerings.

First, make sure that all of your servers have sampled the seasonal offerings, so that they can adequately describe them to customers. If, for dietary or ethical reasons, the server cannot sample the dish, be sure to train them with descriptors so that they can at least accurately describe the dish.

Be sure that the servers know selling points for the dish, such as where the ingredients came from, what the story behind the dish is, or anything that makes it extra special. Servers carry a lot of weight and authority when it comes to selling items to customers, so be sure they are adequately trained to do so.

It can increase not only your overall sales, but improve tips for your servers as well! Employ seasonal decor in your restaurant. Make your customers feel the mood of the season by adjusting your decor accordingly. This could be as simple as featuring centerpieces made from mini pumpkins in the fall, or fresh wildflowers in vases in the summer.

Or, perhaps you have special napkins or dishware that you can employ depending on the time of year. Creating a pleasant ambiance will get your customers in the mood to engage with the seasonal specials in your restaurant!

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