Breakfast, lunch, or dinner — your main courses obviously need to pop. But the secret to truly maximizing sales is having a plethora of pile-ons guests can't say no to.
Nation's Restaurant News is calling side dishes the "unsung heroes" of the menu right now. They’ve on the rise across all restaurant segments — with 71% of consumers ordering sides monthly compared to 66% in 2021.1
With an add-on here, and an upcharge there, you'll soon be signing your way to higher tickets — and stronger profits.
Jazz Up the Classics
Fries, chips, soups, and pasta salads shouldn't be replaced — in fact they still reign supreme for most consumers!
With nine different flavors, Delancey Street Deli® Potato Chips deliver the crunchy complement guests love with their sandwiches and wraps. Plus, it's an easy addition to an on-the-go-boxed lunch with no extra labor necessary.
Other labor-saving options that taste like homemade are Delancey Street Deli Soups. With a range from classic crowd-pleasers like broccoli cheddar to new twists like chicken tortilla, there's a soup for every palate, one that can be dressed up with add-ons per each guest's personal taste! Plus, all soups are certified gluten-free and all meat is raised without antibiotics or growth hormones — great selling points today's consumers are looking for.
The beauty of utilizing the proven classics is that you can please all types of eaters. For the more adventurous, pay attention to trends so you can offer easy, delicious, and healthy upgrades to these items while racking up the add-on charges.
Tasty Trends
One trend worth capitalizing on is the fermented foods market. People are catching onto the health benefits of these ancient probiotic foods. In fact, North America holds more than 40% of the global fermented foods market revenue (nearly 234 billion!) and that's expected to grow nearly 5% in the next decade2.
So, offer a yogurt aioli dip for fries and potato chips; add a kimchi or kraut topping option for sandwiches and grain salads; serve your soups with a crusty sourdough roll. In order to make this successful, be sure and list these upgrades right on your menu such as "probiotic boosts".
Other popular chargeable add-ons include gochujang, peanut sauce, and the nation's fave "swicy" condiment, hot honey (which saw an increase on menus by 10.5% over the past year, including 44.4% growth on chicken sandwiches alone!).3 FLAVORSMITH® Sweet Heat Hot Honey is made with clean, simple ingredients and delivers the perfect balance of heat, sweet, and tang that add the perfect kick to a whole variety of foods — from pizza to fish to desserts.
Build and Bundle
Consumers love to customize — especially Gen Z who value authenticity and personalization above all. This presents the opportunity to have a variety of mouth-watering side dish options available. Guests can build their own meals while paying a set bundled price.
A "pick two" meal deal is a great option to give guests a better value, so they feel comfortable ordering more than one side — and it's also a great way for your business to test out new or seasonal sides to see how well they are being received.
One of the most popular summer sides right now is Mexican Street Corn. Instead of taking the time to roast and mix up your own, Contigo® has you ready to go with Mexican-Style Street Corn Dip featuring fresh roasted corn, jalapeños, a mixture of cream and cheddar cheeses, cilantro, and lime. Versatile enough as a summery side, as a dip, or a topping on nachos, it comes frozen in boilable bags for easy prep you don't have to think twice about!
Possibilities for profitability abound if you saddle up to the side game. Get creative while keeping quality classics, and you'll not only enhance your guests' dining experience, but you'll benefit as well.
1., 3. Technomic: 2023 Starters, Small Plates and Sides Consumer Trend Report
https://www.nrn.com/supplier-news/sides-unsung-heroes-of-the-menu
2. Cognitive Market Research
https://www.cognitivemarketresearch.com/fermented-foods-market-report#:~:text=Pacific%20Fermented%20Foods-,According%20to%20Cognitive%20Market%20Research%2C%20the%20global%20Fermented%20Foods%20market,CAGR)%20of%208.2%25%20from%202024