Running a café or restaurant isn’t a walk in the park.
There’s constant planning, stocking, managing, preparing and cooking.
It’s easy to let things slip because you’re too busy.
Change is constant.
Here’s some important trends to help re-focus on what’s showing up in 2015 in the café and restaurant scene.
1. Having a good Fitout:
The appearance of your café or restaurant fitout is so important in attracting customers inside.
An inviting shopfront/entry point, great branding, good signage, up to date furnishings all add up to quality presentation.
A fitout which caters well for customers with disabilities and complies with health standards is a given.
Don’t go down the road of a cheap and nasty presentation.
Customers these days have so many choices and are well educated in which fitouts look appealing and which don’t. They are drawn to innovative design and fitout.
2. Using Technology:
Big steps have been made lately in this area, driven mainly by the Millennial generation.
Interact with your customers via a Mobile App, ordering online, or establishing an ordering system via Tablet.
Having a good website which is kept up to date is essential. Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and a Blog are necessities.
Having great, emotive images is so important. Use professionals who know what they’re doing to help you.
3. Healthy Food Options:
These definitely should be on the menu.
Customers are increasingly becoming aware of what they eat and what’s good and bad for them.
They’re paying more attention to nutritional content and looking for healthy keywords such as “vegan”, “gluten-free”, “nut free” and so on.
Ensure your menu embraces this trend.
4. Environmental Features:
Using environmentally friendly materials in your cafe fitout and making them known to your customers is a win for everyone.
Everything from recyclable flooring to eco- friendly paints, to recyclable paper menus and reducing waste are markers to show you’re considering the environment.
An increasing number of customers are valuing eco-friendly places which are sustainable and are taking action to make their café or restaurant more green.
5. Community Involvement:
“Locally-made” and “locally-grown” or “fresh local products” are supportive of the local community and become a statement of trust for your customers. So where possible, use them.
Community-building activities like “pay it forward” or “suspended coffee” are great concepts which have really taken hold.
Having the scheme of buying a coffee for someone more needy whilst you buy your own is a way of reaching out your business to the community.
Keep your business relevant, up to date and customer-centric. That’s the age-old recipe for success!
