While brunch used to be reserved for special occasions like Mother’s Day and Easter, more and more diners are regularly spending money on weekend brunch. Here’s why your restaurant should consider offering weekend brunch service.
Lower Food Costs
Managing rising food costs is one of the biggest challenges that restaurants face today. While paying staff to open up early might seem like a counterintuitive way to increase restaurant profits, brunch menu items heavily feature eggs, which are one of the most cost-effective ingredients available today. By creating a smart brunch menu with omelettes, scrambles, and breakfast burritos, you can take advantage of lower food costs to create an exciting menu that will keep diners coming back for more.
In addition to utilizing traditionally cost-effective ingredients like eggs, creating a seasonal brunch menu allows for you to take advantage of lower food costs on in-season ingredients. During the summer, for example, you might feature a strawberry French toast, while your fall menu might feature apple cinnamon waffles. Plus, seasonal menus can create opportunities for experimentation while giving diners more incentive to visit.
Increased Beverage Sales
For many diners, weekend brunch isn’t just a meal, it’s an experience. In fact, for many, brunch is considered a weekly social event for friends to get together and talk over drinks. Because alcoholic beverages have such a high profitability, hosting a weekend brunch means the opportunity for huge beverage profits.
To take best advantage of this restaurant trend, consider offering a themed cocktail, bottomless mimosas, or a bloody mary bar. You might even consider offering mocktails, one of this year’s hottest beverage trends, to take advantage of the growing number of diners who don’t drink alcohol, but still want the opportunity to splurge on a delicious, well-crafted, non-alcoholic drink.
Free Marketing
If it’s done right, brunch is an experience that diners will want to share with the world. Weekend diners are more willing to brave long waits, and because many view brunch as an opportunity to indulge in drinks and socialize with friends, brunch often includes a side of social media.
To take advantage of this free restaurant marketing opportunity, make sure your food and drinks are particularly photogenic. You can even offer incentives for people to post photos to Instagram through hashtag giveaways. Remember, word of mouth is key, and social media offers an opportunity to get people talking about your restaurant. At McDonald Wholesale, we understand the challenges of the business, which is why we’re dedicated to providing menu analysis and development services and restaurant marketing services for our customers on top of offering high-quality, wholesale food products. Contact us today at 541-345-8421 to get started, and check out the McDonald Wholesale blog, where we cover everything from how to grow your restaurant’s takout business to restaurant trends like all-day breakfast.