Picking the healthiest options from a restaurant menu can often involve a good deal of scrutinizing. As the popularity of dining out has risen so too has the obesity epidemic; Americans receive over a third of their calories from meals prepared outside of their homes.  Unfortunately for restaurants, high margin foods are usually not the healthiest choices, so it would be smart to start selling higher margin healthy dishes, but how do you get the guest to order these foods?

A Cornell University professor of food marketing, Brian Wansink, believes that by tweaking menus, restaurants can find a way to satisfy the needs of  the guests, operators and physicians! According to Wansink’s study published by the International Journal of Hospitality Management , here are a dew ways to redesign menus to entice the guest to order healthier options:

• Using color highlights, creative fonts and graphics to bring focus to the vegetables and whole grains. Descriptives such as “Chef’s Recommendation” or “Traditional Favorite,” have been shown to increase consumption by 28 percent.
• Avoid using the label “healthy”—in food psychology, the guest mentality is that if they wanted to go healthy they would have opted for a different establishment that specializes in that domain.
• People naturally scan menus like they do editorials, so by placing the healthier dishes in the four corners of the menu they will attract more attention.
• Place the healthy food options at the tops and bottoms of columns—these items sell 25 percent more.
• Rename the dishes by adding on a few adjectives. For example, “Succulent Italian Seafood Fillet,”will sell 28% more than “seafood salad.”
• Whole dollar figures ($10) create the illusion that items are cheaper than if there is a decimal value ($10.00) . If possible, it is also recommended to remove the dollar sign completely so guests are not thinking about how much they will have to pay but rather what they are going to be consuming.

Wansink believes altering a menu can help to “shift attention, enhance taste expectations  and increase perception of value” to get people to make healthier eating choices.  To read more and check out a visual diagram he created, click here

Over the past year Burger King has attempted to change its menu not by creating new items that require new ingredients, but rather by creating new items that use ingredients that already exist on hand in the kitchen. Burger King has said that this approach to menu innovation is working in their favor; Daniel Schwartz, Burger King Chief Executive Officer has stated that the third consecutive quarter of growth was “driven by our strategy of launching fewer, more impactful products and by the continued popularity of our core offerings.”

In the last quarter Burger King launched five new items, less than it has in past quarters, which were all essentially versions of existing burgers with small adjustments. For instance, the new Chicken Big King is a Big King with a chicken patty that replace the beef patty. Similarly, the new BBQ Bacon Whopper is essentially a Whopper that has bacon and sauce added to it, and the Extra Long BBQ Cheeseburger utilizes the same hoagie bun that is currently used for the chicken sandwich and inserts two beef patties, cheese, BBQ sauce and onion rings.

In the past Burger King has launched seasonal new items which caused complications in the kitchen, which led to this more modest menu innovation strategy. McDonald’s is also attempting to simplify the menu in order to increase speed and efficiency at its restaurant locations. The ordering and execution will be more streamlined with simpler menu items that do not require too many ingredients or a complicated time-consuming assembly process. Burger King’s President for North America, Alexandre Macedo, has stated that this new menu strategy that tweaks original menu items without adding new products or ingredients will enable the company to focus spending in certain high-impact areas and will also allow Burger King to be more consistent across the board in its marketing efforts.

To read more about Burger King’s menu strategy, click here

Erle Dardick has been in the catering business for fifteen years and is known as the expert when it comes to helping multi-unit restaurants create successful catering revenue channels. Erle also founded a software, MonkeyMedia Software, that provides catering solutions to multi-unit restaurant operators.  The use of online and mobile ordering technology is the strongest sales and marketing tool to grow a business. Research shows that the average ticket is 30% higher on online ordering platforms than it is in-stores. In order to have a successful online ordering platform that is quick, easy and efficient in order to meet customers’ demands, a solid strategy must be put in place to promote the platform. Below are Erle Dardicks’s five marketing methods to promote an online catering platform:

1. Make your platform user friendly. The online and mobile ordering platforms should be very customer friendly and intuitive. It should be set up in a way that satisfies the needs of the customer in a user-friendly manner.

2. Determine the best way to drive frequency. Promotional offers and/or discounts on group orders over are a good way to increase ordering frequency. Rewards and loyalty programs are also a great tool to promote the online platform.

3. Drive in-store traffic to your online and mobile ordering platforms. Good signage in-stores that promote the catering program and online/mobile ordering platforms will increase awareness. Staff should also be trained to redirect callers who call in to place an order from the store to the online/mobile ordering platform (they could also offer a promotional code for a first time use of the service).

4. Reward first-time users.  Incentivizing first-time users of the online/mobile ordering platforms is of utmost importance. Research shows that consumers find it easier to redeem coupons and promotions online or through mobile devices, and will do so when prompted. This means that restaurant operators have an increased opportunity to promote their off-premise program through promotional offers that will drive online and mobile ordering, increasing sales as a result. The follow-up with these first-time users will prove useful as it is an opportunity to gather important information about their experience.

5. Follow-up about the customer experience. Feedback about the online and mobile ordering process and experience is important because it allows you to discover what customers like and what they believe has some room for improvement. It is as important to really ask the correct questions; ie. Were there any concerns after placing an order? Was everything to their satisfaction?

To read more about the way the proper technology tools can grow off-premise profitability, click here