Simplot RoastWorks - banner - both - 01.20

Hormel - Fire-Braised Chicken - We Cook It - Operators Take Credit - skyscraper - both - 02.20

Campbells Culinary Reserve Jerk Chicken - both - skyscraper - 02.26

Indiana Packers - Vertical Integration - banner - both - 07.21

Hormel - Fontanini - Handcrafted Meats - Unparalleled Flavor - banner - both - 02.20

Hormel - Bacon 1 - Full Case of Bacon No Grease - skyscraper - both - 02.20

Tyson - Jimmy Dean - Loaded with Flavor - banner - both - 04.21

Banner Ad - 4 - PICs - Operator - supersized

Nestle Stouffer White Mac and Cheese - banner - both - 08.18

Jennie-O Premium Turkey Breast Turkey that Turns Up the Quality - skyscraper - both - 02.20

Rich's Plant-Based - Good Things Grow - banner - both - 11.20

Knorr's Cook with More Possibilities - banner - both - 09.24

Check Out the Major Products Product Guide - skyscraper - OE - 03.22

Performance Dairy Extra Melt - banner - both - 04.24

Hormel - Fire-Braised Chicken - Don't Labor Over Great Chicken - banner - both - 02.20

A Family of Fine Cheeses - skyscraper - both - 08.22

Performance Plus Food Safety - skyscraper - both - 09.21

Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt skyscraper with chef - both - 04.23

Dixie Ultra Surface Systems - banner - both - 02.23

Banner Ad - 1 - MM - Recipes - Operator - supersized

Savor Imports - banner - both - 06.24

Hormel - Fire-Braised Chicken - Now Serving Flame-Seared Perfection - skyscraper - both - 02.20

Simply Potatoes Low Sodium Mashed Potatoes - skyscraper - both - 09.23

Sugar Foods Barista Blend - skyscraper - both - 04.17

Indiana Packers - All-in-One Pork Supplier - skyscraper - both - 07.21

Nestle White Cheddar Mac - Customize Creamy Comfort - skyscraper - both - 04.19

Nestle White Cheddar Mac - Mac Pizza - skyscraper - both - 04.19

Sugar Food Traina California Dried Fruits - banner - OE - 10.19

Nestle White Cheddar Mac - Customize Creamy Comfort - banner - both - 04.19

Skyscraper Ad - MM - Cook - Operator

Performance Dairy Clarified Butter - banner - both - 04.24

Nestle Stouffers Can Your Classics Do This Recipe Ideas - banner - both - 01.20

Grab 'n Go! Anytime. Every Time - banner - both - 07.23

Stacked for Success - OE - skyscraper - 05.01-08.31.26

Tyson - Wright Brand Bacon - skyscraper - both - 04.21

Cooper Shreds Have Now Arrived - banner - 02.24

Golden Tiger Vegetable Spring Roll - Elevate Dishes with Vibrant Flavor - OE - banner

Reel in Greater Appeal - skyscraper - both - 10.22

Cargill - Truvia Serve America's Best-Selling Stevia Sweetener - skyscraper - both - 03.19

Catch of the Season - skyscraper - both - 07.22

Sugar Foods ecoSticks Style and Substance - skyscraper - both - 04.18

Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt skyscraper - both - 04.23

Entree Redi Wild Alaska Pollock - skyscraper - both - 08.25

La Ranchera Birria Base - both - 09.24

Campbells Masterbrand SnackCore Chips and Pretzels - 2 - both - skyscraper - 02.26

Sugar Foods - Add Savory Beet Notes Crispy Beets skyscraper - both - 05.18

Nestle Vitality - Build a Refreshing Beverage Program - both - skyscraper - 04.20

General Mills - Gluten Free Options - banner - both - 03.18

Sugar Foods Barista Blend - banner - both - 04.17

Hormel - Fontanini - Handcrafted Family Recipes - skyscraper - both - 02.20

Fabri-Kal - Packaging solutions for environmental and off-premise needs - banner - both - 11.19

Campbells Pacific Rose Chai Pistachio Milk - both - banner - 02.26

Rich's Plant-Based - Good Things Grow - skyscraper - both - 11.20

Simplot Conquest Crispy Potato Strips - banner - both - 01.20

Butterball - Your Trusted Partner - skyscraper - both - 07.19

Tyson - Bonici - Crave Chorizo - skyscraper - both - 04.21

Performance Dairy Craveable Flavor and Time Savings - banner - both - 04.24

Flattop Grillers - banner - both - 06.24.26

Simplot Delivery Solved - Conquest Fries - banner - both - 08.20

Campbells Culinary Reserve Jerk Chicken - both - banner - 02.26

Nestle White Cheddar Mac - Mac Pizza - banner - both - 04.19

Sugar Foods ecoStick Less Waste - banner - both - 10.16

Campbells Culinary Reserve Thai Curry - both - banner - 02.26

Simplot Harvest Fresh Avocado - banner - both - 01.20

Rich's Plant Based Cooking Creme - skyscraper - both - 02.18

Cargill - Truvia Serve Americas Best Selling Stevia Sweetener - banner - both - 03.19

Indiana Packers - Vertical Integration - skyscraper - both - 07.21

Nestle Minors Slow-Simmered Stock - Free Sample - banner - both - 02.20

Hormel - Bacon 1 - You've Never Seen Bacon Like This - banner - both - 02.20

Campbells Masterbrand SnackCore Chips and Pretzels - both - skyscraper - 02.26

Jennie-O Premium Turkey Breast Products - Turkey that Turns Up the Quality - banner - both - 02.20

Hormel - Bacon 1 - Great Bacon in Half the Time - skyscraper - both - 02.20

Shrimp that Brings the Big Picture - skyscraper - both - 11.22

Simplot Sidewinders - Bendy is Trendy - banner - both - 01.20

Chef-mate We Can Better - skyscraper - both - 06.23

Reel in Greater Appeal - both - banner - 10.22

Wild Alaska Salmon Burgers - banner - both - 04.25

Indiana Packers - All-in-One Pork Supplier - banner - both - 07.21

Sugar Foods ecoSticks Dress Your Table for Success - banner - both - 04.18

Jennie-O No Basic Burger Here - banner - both - 03.20

Simplot Pineapple Perfected - RoastWorks - banner - both - 08.20

Ambrosia Chocolate - skyscraper - both - 03.23

Simplot Conquest Crispy Potato Strips - skyscraper - both - 01.20

Basic American Crispy Craveable Operator banner ad - 12.17

Knorr's Cook with More Possibilities - skyscraper - both - 09.24

Sugar Foods ecoSticks Beautiful Inside and Out - skyscraper - both - 04.18

Stacked for Success - OE - banner - 05.01-08.31.26

Kraft - Bold Flavor, New Home. - skycraper - both - 08.22

Banner Ad - 3 - OE - Operator - supersized

Portion Roast and Stew Meats - banner - both - 06.24.26

Rich's Plant Based and Gluten Free Crusts - skyscraper - both - 07.18

Simplot Harvest Fresh Avocados - skyscraper - both - 01.20

Sugar Foods ecoSticks Beautiful Inside and Out - banner - both - 04.18

Sunny Fresh Egg Bake Bites - banner - both - 03.23

Campbells Masterbrand SnackCore Crackers - both - skyscraper - 02.26

Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt banner - both - 04.23

Simplot GoodGrains - skyscraper - both - 01.20

Tyson Cortona Pepperoni - skyscraper OE 1.23

Skyscraper Ad - MM -  Beat - Operator

Dixie Ultra Surface Systems - skyscraper - both - 02.23

Consumers seek affordability and operators want profitability. Can the two co-exist in today&rsquo;s restaurant economy?
Three chain restaurant CMOs showed how they&rsquo;re finding the right balance during a panel on Monday at Informa&rsquo;s Restaurant Leadership Conference in Phoenix. Joel Bulger of WOWorks, Cathy Chavenet of Paris Baguette and Katie Love of Sonny&rsquo;s BBQ shared menu strategies that are working for them. Here are some of their takeaways.
Focus on items that are simple to execute. When a menu item is operationally complex, it will turn out to be more expensive than it seems if you&rsquo;re basing price on cost of goods, said Love. If you&rsquo;re using a lot of labor and bringing in more SKUs, it erodes profits. And if the complex item is not executed well, it can turn off guests and they won&rsquo;t return. Make simplicity a priority to improve margins.
Cross-utilize to the max. The operators all agreed that they never bring in a SKU for just one menu item &mdash; it has to work across multiple platforms. Chavenet, who oversees R&amp;D along with marketing at Paris Baguette, shared a clever cross-utilization idea that doubled as a zero-waste solution. Before large cakes are frosted, the tops and sides may be shaved to even them out and make them smoother, resulting in a pile of cake scraps. The team recycles those scraps to create &ldquo;cake cups&rdquo; that are layered with fruit and cream and sold for $3 as a small treat.
Value = food + experience. Fast-casual and full-service restaurants are working to deliver value without discounts, deals and low prices. For WOWorks&rsquo; concepts like Frutta Bowls and Saladworks, it&rsquo;s about making it easier on the consumer. &ldquo;For a lot of my brands, customers walk down the line picking ingredients to build a bowl or plate,&rdquo; said Bulger. &ldquo;If you&rsquo;re new and there are 10 people behind you, it&rsquo;s terrifying, so we created chef favorites that are curated. They sped up the line and accounted for about 12% of orders.&rdquo; There&rsquo;s a lot of talk about how a restaurant&rsquo;s ambience and service can add value, but ease of ordering may not be as obvious.
Value means different things on- or off-premise. For guests dining in at Sonny&rsquo;s BBQ, the Southern-style hospitality and tempting aroma of smoke wafting through the restaurant creates value, said Love. But for takeout and delivery customers, it&rsquo;s about speed, convenience, accuracy and food quality. The same goes for Paris Baguette &mdash; without the smoke. &ldquo;You walk into our caf&eacute;s and our cases are filled with fresh, house-baked pastries and beautiful cakes,&rdquo; said Chavenet. &ldquo;Combined with our photography and messaging, it creates an immersive experience.&rdquo;
High demand can translate to higher menu prices. The demand for protein is at an all-time high, and Sonny&rsquo;s leaned into that demand with limited-time $10.99 protein plates featuring cost-effective chicken and pork. &ldquo;They performed really well, but when the promotion ended, our customers practically stormed the gates,&rdquo; said Love. Realizing they could lose loyal guests, Sonny&rsquo;s brought back the protein plates at a higher price: $12. &ldquo;We haven't had a single comment from somebody calling out that we raised the price by $1, and the plates have been performing better than before,&rdquo; she added.
Beverages are profit centers. Operators have known for a long time that high-margin, low-cost drinks are a sure way to increase the check, but these days, those drinks have to be on-trend. WOWorks has added a virtual dirty soda brand to its portfolio, which is being tested at several locations. &ldquo;They couldn't be easier to make &mdash; soda, plus some sort of sweet cream, plus pumps,&rdquo; said Bulger, &ldquo;and it&rsquo;s very high profit and purely incremental, especially with delivery orders.&rdquo;
Paris Baguette does seasonal LTOs, with a theme that weaves throughout the food and beverage menu. This summer, it&rsquo;s blueberries. The fruit is showing up in pastries and cakes as well as drinks, such as blueberry latte, blueberry lemonade and blueberry matcha. And Sonny&rsquo;s has developed a line of non-alcoholic cocktails geared to Gen Zers, since the chain&rsquo;s customer demographic skews a bit older, said Love. The young team members are loving the flavors and selling the mocktails, she said, an indication that Sonny&rsquo;s hit the target.
Tell your story. The three marketing pros agreed that it&rsquo;s good to brag a little. Market the quality of your ingredients, the hand-crafted techniques you&rsquo;re using, the baker, chef or pitmaster in the back of the house, the origins of a menu item &hellip; all those stories enhance a brand&rsquo;s value in the eyes of the consumer and can justify the price you charge. &ldquo;Make people feel good about the money they&rsquo;re spending in your restaurant,&rdquo; said Love.
Informa&rsquo;s media brands, Restaurant Business and Nation&rsquo;s Restaurant News, moderated several of the panels and sessions at the Restaurant Leadership Conference, which concluded on April 22.
Source: Patricia Cobe, <a href="https://www.restaurantbusinessonline.com/marketing/making-menu-works-hard-boost-profitability" target="_blank">Restaurant Business</a>

Three operators share their strategies for maximizing margins as costs continue to rise and consumers grow wary of menu price hikes.

Making A Menu That Works Hard to Boost Profitability

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Making A Menu That Works Hard to Boost Profitability