20 intelligent ideas to sustain in food and beverage industry – COVID-19

Ideas to sustain in F&B Industry or any other industry isn’t less than a challenge in the prevailing pandemic situation. The world in totality is battling to endure. Sustain in Food and beverage industry is one of those rarest Industries that have shown some hopes for growth & affluence. It incorporates fast food cafes, catering businesses, quick-service restaurants, pubs, hotels, cloud kitchens, full-service restaurants, food transportation services, etc. Some of them kept operating well in the course of the lockdown also.

Facing challenges in formulating ideas to sustain in the F&B industry? It's time to address these issues openly and demonstrate persistence in the face of unfavorable contingencies. Partner with DNY Hospitality, led by the visionary Yash Dalwani, to navigate and overcome the challenges in the food and beverage industry. Together, let's forge a path to sustained success despite unforeseen obstacles. 

Ideas to sustain in F&B Industry – Challenges

The major challenges to sustain in food and beverage industry to endure and find out the ways to make your restaurant sustainable are due to multi-faceted rationales. Comprehending the impediments to sustain in food and beverage Industry is the most prolific tactic because knowing the target to hit it accurately is indispensable. Here are the challenges making us ask: ‘How restaurants can survive right now?’

1. COVID 19 Phase for Restaurants : Ideas to sustain in F&B Industry

The major challenges to sustain in Food and Beverage Industry that you are confronting to increase your restaurant sales and to sustain in food and beverage industry are owing to Novel Coronavirus 2019. The lockdown and social distancing have resulted in no gatherings of the masses. It has severely affected all the industries of the world in terms of execution of operations and generation of revenue.

2. Low Salaries of Restaurant Staff

COVID-19 has created very dissatisfactory consequences on all the industries and some of the industries are painfully hit by it. Everybody has understood the importance of savings together with The Corporate. They are in the agony of losses and can’t pay full remuneration to their employees. Individuals also have a propensity to reflect an identical manner to save money for the near future. Therefore, the disposable income that people splurge on weekend sprees and online food ordering from restaurants and hotels isn’t adequate in the present state of affairs. This is one of the major stumbling blocks to sustain in food & beverage industry.

3. Layoffs in Restaurant Industry

Many people have lost their jobs, especially those who were in small-scale companies or outlets because they could not put up with the financial fatalities through the lockdown. Many small outlets have got vacant once again in view of less or no footfalls of clientele. They are under pressure to get new jobs with compromised salary packages making it intricate to sustain in food and beverage industry. It is difficult to order food online to take delight, as anyone would prefer to save money under such dark times.

4. Restricted Movement

The world was on lockdown for almost 2 to 3 months with mere essentials in the process of transport. The restricted movement due to the pandemic outbreak has also made it arduous to sustain in food and beverage industry. Restaurants commenced delivering food online subsequent to a long time of unlocking in an assortment of countries. Sustain in Food and beverage industry got the liberty to operate quite later with manifold restrictions. The restricted movement has affected the arrangement of ingredients to serve fresh food also. This has compelled the restaurants unable to serve their expert food items with demanded taste on account of the dearth of some ingredients.

20 Ideas to sustain in F&B Industry

Problems are an element of life and this time the world is together to conquer the current situation. Besides, no problem takes birth without a solution. There are numerous ways and tactics to sustain in food and beverage industry. ‘How restaurants survive right now?’ is a burning question of the year and almost certainly the impact of the current year’s circumstances may last long for the whole decade.

As a ray of hope, it’s important to remember that one who sustain in food and beverage industry is making multi-billion dollars with escalating scope. Here are all the tactics for you to increase your restaurant sales and triumph over the challenges in food & beverage industry.

1. Serve What’s in Demand : Ideas to sustain in F&B Industry

The very first tactic to sustain in food and beverage industry is to optimise your menu and cater to what’s in demand in present age. Strive to launch novel food items and adhere to all the guidelines laid by the government to serve food innocuously to increase your restaurant sales. Try some inventive methods of amalgamating cuisines for by means of spices of different cuisines or preparing High-Tea. Try to bond with your customers by social media marketing and ask for their demands to serve them better to sustain in food and beverage industry

2. Carbon-Free Dining

Carbon-free dining is an ultramodern and happening term in the food and beverage industry. Restaurants are progressively taking the certification for Carbon-free dining to sustain in food and beverage industry. This has an undeviating impact on branding and generation of reverence in the minds of people and besides your diners. It is an initiative in favour of the environment by the Green Earth appeal according to which the diners and the restaurants must plant fruit trees as an attempt to save the environment.

It has proven itself to be one of the most successful ways to make your restaurant sustainable. It is perfect to call this certification program a ‘hotcake’ because it volunteers to your potential to sustain in food & beverage industry in a straight line.

3. Develop Rapport; Then Upsell

Upselling means convincing a customer to buy more that he might not have intended or are more expensive. Upselling at restaurants to increase your restaurant sales is not very uncomplicated. There-fore it’s imperative to develop a rapport with the visitors first to sustain in food and beverage industry. Building rapport entails emotional attachment which results in mounting customer lifetime value (CLV) and conviction in the restaurant staff. Sooner or later, the staff members upsell to the diners with a smiling demeanour and soft-spoken approach.

4. Reduce Costs

A restaurant has miscellaneous costs. For instance, operational costs, rent, salaries, raw material costs, maintenance charges, packaging costs, point of sale system costs, kitchen equipment costs, etc. Decrease some of them like operational costs, maintenance charges and electricity bills due to everyday visitors, salaries & wages to sustain in food and beverage industry. Cost reduction is directly proportional to revenue and profits giving you a cushion to prevail in this pandemic period.

5. Convert to Cloud kitchen

Cloud kitchen is a remote or ghost kitchen that serves food to the individuals without offering dine-in space. This is not less than a blessing at this point in time to sustain in food and beverage industry. It automatically reduces various costs like rent, operational costs, electricity charges, salaries and many others. You may be innovative in re-launching your restaurant as a multi-brand cloud kitchen by redesigning the menu. In addition, co-working cloud kitchens are outperforming because it reduces the costs to half or one-third depending on the number of rental partners. Your concerns related to your restaurants’ assets are valid. No worries about them to. You may sell them for their best prices from the restaurant store.

6. Lower the Prices 

Lowering prices is one of the most competitive and oldest keys to success in every industry. It has always and it will always grant desired results to sustain in food and beverage industry. Low salaries, layoffs, restricted movement and many other challenges make grounds for cutback the prices. Some of you might think that it reduces the proceeds but it’s vital to transform the outlook and comprehend that the tactic is helping to survive because if you won’t you may not acquire any revenue.

7. Avail Discounts and Offers – Restaurant Marketing

Discounts and offers are an unbreakable part to sustain in food and beverage industry on occasions. Offers also serve as a successful tool for market penetration and beating the competition. This is the perfect instance to avail them to sustain in food and beverage industry. It is one of the best ways to persuade people to order food or visit your restaurant. Such a tactic will also lay the foundation for creating an impression on the clientele that they would get valuable offers and become contented during happy occasions.

You will also gain the edge of branding to make the masses in high spirits not only during happy occasions but also during tough times. Don’t forget to market the discounts & offers to let your target market know about them. It is better if you plan it first and then launch it under some creative names. For instance, you may call discounts on Christmas to be Christmas specials with captivating creative designs. It would have a spectacular impact on your attempt to sustain in food and beverage industry.

8. Introduce Happy Hours in your Restaurant

The term ‘Happy Hours’ is common with liquor on hard drinks. It is an excellent idea if you launch Happy Hours in restaurants for your highly-demanded products. For instance, McDonald’s may launch ‘Happy Hours’ for ice creams, shakes, burgers, etc; depending on the demand. It is a great example of an innovation to sustain in food and beverage industry. Your restaurant will gain an instant recognition with the tactic.

9. Pioneer Buffet Using Cart Service

Pioneering and innovation go hand in hand. Buffet service and cart service are poles apart. How about it making a combination of them and creating a tactic to make your guest feel special! When you get people for buffet, allow them to serve themselves initially and then introduce cart service as the part of the buffet all of a sudden as a gesture of care to them. It would give better results if you do not market it officially but if your customers would broadcast it with mouth publicity.

It is equivalent to showering respect to your guests at home. It will be unbelievably helpful to sustain in food and beverage industry. When your staff will begin walking between the tables with the cart asking your guests about their needs it would it give your guests surprise, comfort and peace of mind while consuming their meals, nothing in the world can be more gratifying than this!

10. Get Online to Sustain in Food and Beverage Industry

To sustain in food and beverage industry counts on taste and quality. Millions of restaurants haven’t registered their presence online and are still victorious in building an incredible brand image. Some restaurants also serve only one dish and they specialise in it to the extent that people visit them from far-flung areas passionately and they have been serving the industry for generations.

However, in the existing situation-demands get online and let your customers discern that you are all set to endow them with your scrumptious eatables at their doorsteps. It is also essential to be updated with changing times.

11. Revise your Restaurant Menu – Sustain in food & beverage Industry

Your menu engineering skills must be outstanding for sure. However, it is necessary to amend your menu if you are dealing with issues to increase your restaurant sales. To sustain in food and beverage industry look at your menu with a modified outlook and make crucial changes in the presentation like innovative names or offering combo meals; if you are not ready for changing food items. Although, we have already discussed serving what’s on-demand on priority in the article above.

12. Extend Restaurant Services & Open seating

To lucratively sustain in food and beverage industry you must elaborate your restaurant services. You may opt for a quick-service restaurant (QSR) or full-service restaurant (FSR) alongside a cloud kitchen at the same premises. Numerous big hotels also have special dine-in areas and a cafeteria for serving snacks as an example of the tactic of elaborating restaurant services. Similarly, they encompass a retail outlet serving bakery items under their brand logo.

This would augment your points of sale to boost revenue and you can better sustain in food and beverage industry. Adopting open seating will encourage the safety against the spread of virus in AC rooms and closed dine-in.

13. Offer Complimentary Food Items

Giving discounts, offers and complementary items in any industry is a trend to handle financial concerns and to revive growth. You may offer some complementary food items along with main offerings like cupcakes with tea or coffee or garlic bread with pizzas as a complementary food item and not in a combo. It may have a slight effect on revenue generation negatively but to sustain in food and beverage industry in the long run, it will be beneficial for sure. Your regular diners would bear in mind about your complementary offers when we all will have overcome this recession-oriented situation.

14. Begin a Customer Loyalty Program

You must have come across ‘customer loyalty programs’ in supermarkets. We present these loyalty programs as an innovative tactic in restaurants also. You may do it by furnishing some exceptional benefits to the customary visitors. For instance, they would get a heavy discount on their 3 or 4 visits in a month. It would persuade your customers to visit again and again. It is also a long-term investment with short results to sustain in food and beverage industry.

15. Organise Events to Sustain in Food and Beverage Industry

You must welcome event organisers at your quick-service or full-service restaurants. There are different kinds of events these days except for the conventional stage performances. You may host a small event without much crowd by a YouTuber which he would post on his channel. Ask him to post it with the hashtag before your restaurant’s name. Hashtag marketing is one of the latest tactics to sustain in food and beverage industry and to get immediate access. We are aware of the popularity of hashtags and YouTubers these days.

You may also cater to the traditional stage performances related to dancing, singing and stand-up comedy. Stand-up comedy by fresh faces is also making people laugh and is adequate for you to sustain in food & beverage industry by creating a long-lasting ebullient impression.

16. Tie-ups with Other Food Brands & Franchise

Establishing tie-ups with other brands can consolidate both the brands in the times of need and you both will be able to sustain in food & beverage industry together and better. It is likely to be with diverse arrangements and understandings. For instance, catering business entities may establish tie-ups with cloud kitchens for different food items that are usually not in demand in the conventional menu of catering like sauces.

You may also add cloud kitchen franchise in your existing business with cloud brands by DNY Kitchens.

They invest in the major ingredients that people would consume at the event, like vegetables, bread, etc. Since a catering business would not be able to hold bottles of sauces because their demand is only in events and there is a risk of their getting spoiled if not consumed before the expiry date. After the tie-up with a cloud kitchen, it would make use of the sauces during its operations. A catering business usually invests in crockery, cutlery and furniture that is safe to store. The cloud kitchen may negotiate on rates for taking the sauces’ bottles. This way both can sustain in Food & Beverage Industry.

17. Incentives to Employees

We have already discussed upselling previously in the article. To encourage the frontend staff to sell more to the customers, offer them incentives. Give them some proportion of the sold food items or set a target for incentives’ generation for unleashing their enthusiasm to work. Your employees will act in response in your favour because they also need to sustain in food & beverage industry.

18. Special Treatment to Guests

Guests are always important to the host according to the cultures of most of the countries. Combining the cultural significance of guests and the practical approach of treating customers giving extraordinary treatment to the visitors is mandatory to sustain in food & beverage industry. Achieving restaurant sustainability is the easiest by making your guests or customers feel special on their visits to your restaurants. Offer them discount coupons if they exceed a particular amount of order.

Avail some complementary food items unexpectedly. Keep some surprises without marketing them like shopping vouchers or welcome drinks or desserts. All these tactics will make your guests feel special and they will definitely come back soon to help you sustain in food & beverage industry.

19. Launch Combo Offers

You might have come to know about combo offers by highly renowned international brands in your country but it has in the reach of small and local brands also. If you have not yet launched combos at your restaurant for cloud kitchens, it’s time to do it to sustain in food & beverage industry. Always remember to broadcast it as much as you can with digital marketing services that we will read about in the next tactic below.

20. Start Digital Marketing for Your Restaurant

Digital marketing is in practice in every business from this year because we all have learned online ordering, online making payments and online interaction. During the lockdown, it became the major means of communication and arrangement of essentials. You may utilise this as an opportunity to sustain in food & beverage industry to approach your target market. The digital world has brought people closer to each other. Food & beverage industry is at a unique advantage because it can design creative and colorful posts with tempting pictures of food items on social media handles.

The Pandemic Outbreak has also made everyone get access to online news channels, YouTube, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter, and others for staying updated or getting entertainment. It has given a boost to digital marketing tactics availing a million-dollar opportunity to sustain in food & beverage industry. People are very close to their phones, influence them through SMS, messages, emails, social media, food delivery applications, etc. The correct approach of SEO and content marketing with regular posting can get you to the topmost ranks by Google or other search engines. Use Google Analytics to review the ups and downs of business performance. Have a look at the major tools of digital marketing as one of the ways to make your restaurant sustainable.

1 - Food Delivery Apps

2 - Social Media Marketing  

3 - Email Marketing

4 - SMS Marketing

5 - SEO

6 - Content

7 - WWW

8 - Analytics

These were some of the Ideas to sustain in F&B Industry.

Conclusion

The answer to the question of ‘What are Ideas to sustain in F&B Industry?’ is not very complicated. Persistence must be in determination to get over the challenges in food & beverage industry and not in the challenges. Keep up the hard work; take consultation from an experienced consultant like DNY Hospitality who can get you through this tough time. It is only a matter of a couple of months. If you sustain in food & beverage industry, you will be able to increase your restaurant sales astonishingly.

Not because many other restaurants have given up and there will be a boost in demand for online ordering but because of these 20 tactics for cloud kitchens and QSR's both. Maintaining a little more patience will take you to new heights as soon as normalcy will retain. Good luck!