3 Stupid-Easy Ways to Increase Restaurant Profits

Charge for bread service.

Everyone’s doing it, including San Francisco-based US Foods® customer Dirty Habit, where pull-apart milk bread comes to the table with Calabrian chile butter. Meanwhile, US Foods customer Alfreda in Washington, D.C., serves a brick oven-baked garlic focaccia with ricotta and basil pesto for cheesy, pull-apart fun for groups. 

“It’s so easy to offer a killer bread service and charge for it,” says Fresh Produce Specialist/Chef Ben Hoza. “You can even buy par-baked breads or rolls, bake them fresh to order, and then serve them with housemade or pre-bought compound butters like garlic and herbs. Maybe you add a nice chutney, pickle or vinegar to round out the spread.”

Add butters to brunch.

They make things special. “We worked with Food Fanatics Chef Tyler Herald to develop compound butters for our chicken and waffles and cornbread using fresh fruit, preserves, our candied sweet potatoes and other ingredients we already had on hand,” says Chef James Jones, owner of US Foods customer His Place Eatery in Indianapolis. “We offer a peach, strawberry, ginger-orange and sweet potato butter for just $2 more. They make the dish pop, they’re inexpensive to make and they’re an easy upsell. People love them.”

Offer at least one plant-based option.

By not offering at least one option, you risk having the plant-based diner in a group veto your restaurant as a choice of where to eat.

“There’s a study that showed the majority of diners will look up your menu online before deciding to come through your doors,” says US Foods Fresh Product Specialist Amy Stull. “If you get someone who doesn’t eat meat, or is vegan, making the decision for the family or a large group, you’ll lose that entire check if you don’t have any plant-based options. I was at a university recently where apparently 80% of the 18- to 22-year-old students asked if there were plant-only options.”

This doesn’t mean you need to run out and buy those meat analogues or jackfruit, Stull says. “You can use mushrooms, beans and other veggies you have on hand already. Meatless salads are great, but might not be enough. Make vegan stuffed peppers with beans, a root veggie taco or a mushroom burger. It doesn’t cost anything additional in terms of labor and inventory, and you’re casting a much wider net for customers.”

To purchase breads, compound butters and other ingredients mentioned above, click here to shop MOXē®, the US Foods all-in-one ordering app and e-commerce portal.

Click here to contact your local US Foods Food Fanatics® chef and Restaurant Operations Consultant for more tips and tricks on saving cash – and to help you Make It.

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