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SUMMER LTOs

solemn happy new year banquet. Lot of glasses champagne or wine on the table in restaurant. buffet table with lots of delicious snacks. canapes, bruschetta, and little desserts on wooden plate board.

For many, summer is a booming time, but in other areas it’s a period that requires a little extra effort to draw in diners from the heat.  Whether you set up Limited Time Offers (LTOs), local deals, reduced hours, or prix fixe menus, treating loyal customers is critical during off peak periods.

  • Locals Only: Reward year-round diners with specials such as VIP cards, 10% off, or two-for-ones to ensure tables are always filled.
  • Bar Menus: Go beyond reducing drink prices for happy hour and draw in customers looking to snack while socializing. Cost-effective favorites like nachos, bean-based dips, flatbreads, and boards keep food costs low and flavor high. Pile on the produce garnishes for social media-worthy dishes.
  • Summer Specials: Showcase cold offerings like crudites, poke plates, mason jar salads, fresh spring rolls, noodle bowls, and frozen desserts that can be pre-made, reducing prep and staffing while increasing tickets.
  • Salads: Value-added lettuce blends reduce back-of-house labor—just pour onto the plate and garnish with eye-catching toppings like shaved watermelon radish, grilled avocado slices, frizzled shallots, micro-herbs, and edible flowers for pennies per plate

SHOWCASE IDEAS FOR OPERATORS

  • Boards: RSS Fruit Cut Fruit (including cantaloupe, honeydew, pineapple, and fruit salad blends), MFC Grape Tomatoes, MFC Green and Red Seedless Grapes, MFC Shishito Peppers, and RSS Pico de Gallo Guacamole.
  • Grill Items: MFC Bell Peppers, MFC Eggplant, MFC Fennel, RSS Sweet Baby Broccoli, RSS Brussels Sprouts, MFC Asparagus, RSS Pineapple Spears, RSS Romaine Hearts, and stone fruit (nectarines, peaches, plums, and apricots).
  • Salad Mixes: RSS Urban Blend, RSS Kale Color Crunch, RSS Romaine-Heritage Blend, and RSS Spring Mix.
  • Wow Garnishes: Watermelon radishes, blood oranges, micro-greens, edible flowers, star fruits, and fried RSS Peeled Shallots.
  • Desserts: MFC Strawberries, MFC and ESS Lemons and Limes, MFC Cantaloupe and Honeydew Melons, RSS Pineapple Chunks, RSS Grapefruit Sections, RSS Orange Sections, blackberries, blueberries, and raspberries.

Diners are increasingly hyper-focused on high-protein and plant-based foods. Alongside all of the new-fangled, lab-based, cell-cultured options out there is the humble bean. A staple food for millenia, beans are being re-examined as a healthy, versatile ingredient worthy of menu inclusion.

  • Retro and heirloom recipes—like Southern succotash, French cassoulet, and Cajun red beans and rice—fit the bill for those in search of authenticity.
  • Most world cuisines incorporate some type of bean in their classic dishes. Think feijoada in Brazil, black beans and rice with plantains in Puerto Rico, and garbanzo beans in Israel. Modern interpretations of these recipes are packed with produce and herbs.
  • The creamy texture of mung beans is proving an ideal substitute for those that are eliminating soy from their diets.