Back-to-school means new routines, lunchbox quandaries, and the daily what-to-make-for-dinner dilemma. Calm the chaos for parents, teachers, and students of all ages with promos and LTOs that drive sales across dayparts everywhere from college campuses to neighborhoods with a big yellow bus.

Class Actions

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times — this sums up that back-to-school feeling! Focus on this tryingly terrific time by tapping into mealtime solutions that help kids and adults ease into the new school year.

Different audiences have different needs during back-to-school time. The right promos will drive diners to your door — or deliveries to theirs.

• Stay-at-home & work-from-home parents: Help them exhale now that the kids are back in class. First-week breakfast and lunch specials let them carve out dine-in me-time moments they’ve been missing all summer, hopefully with friends!

• College students: Happy Hour F&B specials are made for getting the gang back together. First-years will be looking for places to take the ’rents at move-in, so tee up specials aimed at those hard-working mamas and papas. Grab-and-go options for breakfast, lunch, and dinner help students stay on time and on track. Dorm dwellers appreciate mini-fridge and microwave-friendly to-go containers perfect for dashing and stashing.

After weeks of pizza, off-campus students welcome takeout with a taste of home — think comfort food superstars portioned for now and later. Lastly, lots of college kids get “the crud” when they’re back on campus, so stir up soothing soup combos they can get delivered, also giving worried out-of-town parents a way to take care of their babies.

• Teachers, profs, bus drivers, administrators & more: Support everyone who makes the magic happen with dine-in or takeout dinner specials to ease the end-of-the-day load. Get creative with BOGOs. Or think future-forward with dinnertime to-go discounts on items that make mornings more manageable, like egg sammies or muffins. Housemade is great, or you can give your kitchen a break with Heritage Ovens® Muffins, superior low-touch yums that come fully baked and loaded with goodies like wild blueberries and real chocolate chips.

Up-Level the Appeal

Kids love what they love. Lean into the familiar and take it up a notch with back-to-school LTOs that transform faves to optimize your ingredients and tickle more tastebuds.

• Hot Dogs: Start with a top-dog frank, like Ridgecrest® Angus Beef Franks, then go Wonka with flavors. For kids, try pigs in a blanket, octopus dogs, grilled cheese dogs, hot dog nachos over tots, or Jacques Pepin’s cool-school curly dogs. For adults, think Cubano- or banh-mi–style doggos, dogs topped with kimchi or housemade Sriracha mustard, or big guns like a Bacon Dog with Stout Onions or a dog crowned with Ridgecrest® Fully Cooked Brisket, dripping with a smoky finger-lickin’ sauce.

• Chicken Tenders: Make tenders the stars they are! Get started with high-quality, lightly breaded tenders, like Perfectly Southern® Fully Cooked Frozen Fried Chicken Tenders (in kid-friendly original or with a hot & spicy pop), and get inspired. For kids, tuck tenders in taco shells or quesadillas, perch on sweet waffles, serve with a cheesy dippin’ sauce, or slip into kid-sized sliders. For adults, take your top-selling burgers and swap in tenders, feature fun sauces like gochujang or honey pecan, give them sophisticated Italian zip á la marsala or piccata, or spotlight tenders in specialty salads starring fall flavors like apples, pears, and maple.

Ways to Woo

Get creative to win over more diners — and more dollars.

• Make it mini: Jazz up your kids’ menu. Smaller portions of entrées and apps make kids with beyond-pizza palates — and their parents — happy. Test with back-to-school LTOs to see which dishes make the grade.

• Buy one, take one: Offer the opp to mix-and-match mains for dine-in and takeout on one check, so parents, profs, and teachers can take care of two meals at once.

• Healthy swaps: Kids and adults have dietary checklists, so promote plenty of gluten-free, meat-free, and dairy-free options to draw them in. Bonus points: Surprise and delight with Empire’s Treasure® Wild Alaska Pollock Frozen Cooked Protein Pasta to boost that buzzy protein in any pasta dish (without adding fishy flavor!).

• Family meals: Build complete to-go meal packages that busy parents (and teachers and profs, too!) can grab and serve at home. Add to-go cocktail options and you’ll move to the head of the class.

• Lunchbox helpers: With a kid’s meal, give the gift of lunchbox-ready choices to tuck away for tomorrow. Muffins and cookies make sweet treats, and classic PB&J or PB&H Fresh Take Crave Away® Frozen Crustless Stuffed Sandwiches are a cafeteria VIP for students of all ages.

Hint: Takeaway-for-next-day lunch specials are a perk for busy grown-ups too, many of whom eat at their desk or, like teachers and profs, eat on the run.

• Breakfast for dinner: It’s okay to play with your food! Put your best kid-friendly brunch and breakfast dishes on the back-to-school night shift to add fun options without expanding your inventory.