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neW Year Jan-packed
Tips for boosting business
during caterers’ quietest
month of the year
The turkey bones have been boiled for stock; the
festive frills are back in the box and you’re toying
with the idea of renaming your establishment,
‘la marie celeste’.
Don’t you just love January?
if this year’s figures are anything like 2010’s - your
sales could sink by up to 50 per cent at this time
of year.
Figures in a report by industry forecasters
horizons reveal the snowstorms of 2010 caused
a sudden sales slide - while conversely the
takeaway market boomed.
says report author peter backman: “While each
year differs, January is always a slow month.
06 stiritup January/february 2011
Peter Backman
Do you have a functional
breakfast menu to satisfy
your over-nighting guests?
latest research from mintel shows that just
over two-fifths of britons now opt for foods
with added health and nutritional benefits
when doing their shopping.
The ’functional foods’ they buy, according to the
research, are primarily breakfast goodies - eggs
with added omega rich fish oils, yoghurt pots,
“Last year we had snow for two weeks - this
helped the fast food and home delivery market.
For example Domino’s sales went sky high.
“However restaurants have to work much
harder to entice people in using discounts,
special menus and themed nights. Marketing
should be stepped up during January,
particularly aiming to get regular clients in.”
some restaurateurs - such as stir it up columnist
mark baumann - choose to close their businesses
for part of january.
says mark: “We are all pretty tired from the
Christmas season, so we take a couple of
weeks off to rest and also give the restaurant
a deep clean.”
but while a january break suits some
establishments, there are still many things you
can do to survive the post christmas lull.
check out our tips . . .
Winter blues-buster 1:
a reported 79 per cent of brits go on a diet in
january each year - so offer customers a ‘new
year, new you’ menu, bursting with healthy
options, low fat sauces and puds.
Winter blues-buster 2:
This is the month to come up with discounts
and theme nights. what about ‘discount divas’,
offering a free glass of wine for the ladies with
each meal ordered?
Winter blues-buster 3:
don’t over-staff. work out the fairest way to cut
hours throughout the month of january so you
are keeping your workforce happy too.
yoghurt drinks and breakfast cereals, which claim
to help reduce cholesterol, boost the immune
system to fend off infections or aid digestion, as
well as similarly spiced-up spreads, water, juices
and milks.
with the market for functional foods predicted
to grow, to curry favour with your guests and
encourage their return, should you be making such
choices available to them?
says a mintel spokesman: “Just over two-thirds
of consumers claim to prefer to eat functional
foods rather than take vitamins and a fifth of
Winter blues-buster 4:
use cheaper ingredients and provide ‘sharing
dishes’ on your menu. Tapas and chinese sharing
plates are particularly popular with customers.
Winter blues-buster 5:
This is a good time to give your menu an overhaul
and let your customers know about it with a chalk
board on the forecourt or a sign in the window.
check your local supplier for special cheap food
deals and base your new dishes on this.
Functioning to Please
consumers claim to be buying more functional
foods now compared to a year ago.
“The healthy eating agenda has been a key issue
for the UK food industry with rising obesity levels
in adults focusing the Government’s attention on
the need to encourage consumers to maintain a
balanced and healthy diet.”
The functional foods market, according to the
report, has been enjoying healthy sales growth
with value sales increasing by 3.7 per cent
between 2008 and 2009 to reach £719million.