Snacking of your Dreams Come True

Snacking of Your Dreams Come True

            Americans love to snack and if you need proof just stroll down the aisle of your local grocery store to observe how salty, savory snacks are positioned on one side of that aisle and then either cold beer or soft drinks are on the opposite side of the aisle, a match made in marketing / merchandising heaven.  This fact has not been lost on restaurant operators in their continuing efforts to capture additional non-traditional dining hour (daypart) meals.

            As witnessed by the efforts of chains such as Applebee’s, TGIFridays and Lee Roy Selmon’s many chains are offering late night appetizer menus and specials to lure post-dinner hour diners with the hope that competitively priced food will invite additional alcohol sales as well.  Casual dining operators indicate that guests are changing their eating / snacking behaviors with a jump of just under 15% of snacking sales increases.

            These facts stirred our thoughts in how to assist clients with increasing sales opportunities during non-traditional daypart meal periods.  We had recently assisted a client with an upgrade of their alcoholic beverage program, to match the quality of their food offerings, so we had been down this road before and just had to flip the menu.  We performed an analysis of the clients’ appetizer and dessert sales to learn the strength of these category sales and the winners among them.

            We reviewed the most popular appetizers keeping in mind the two most popular proteins sought by consumers are beef and chicken.  After a focus group test of potential candidates a late-night snack menu emerged that included a slider of combined beef and lamb, a yogurt-marinated chicken breast that was skewered, grilled and served with a garlic dipping sauce and  semi-frozen cheesecake bites rolled in finely crushed graham crumbs and served with chocolate, caramel and strawberry dipping sauces.

            While some of these menu items may appear familiar to many operators and industry observers it is the daypart during which these are available that offers another point of differentiation thus creating the perception of new and unique menu items.  The ability of restaurateurs to create a new daypart can drive new sales from existing guests and offer a dining (or snacking) option to those new guests who otherwise might have headed for the closest drive-thru window.