Innovative Thanksgiving Menus Drive Consumers to Restaurants this Thanksgiving

Still not sure where you are going to eat this Thanksgiving?  Don’t worry you do not have to cook.  You can go out to eat at your favorite restaurant of you can order one of the 1,900 innovative new menu items put on the menu this year.

According to Steven Johnson Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions® “restaurants have been adding new grocerant niche Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat menu options every year.  This year there are over 1,900 new menu options that restaurants have added targeting your Thanksgiving dinner table.”

According to SpotOn, a restaurant software and payment provider, reported a list of Thanksgiving meal trends it is seeing from the independent and small chain restaurants it serves across the U.S.

Here let’s look at some of the trends for this Thanksgiving they include:

Thanksgiving Menu Items

·         A majority of items were added Oct. 23-29 and include Thanksgiving Meal Kits from Looking Glass Hospitality, Thanksgiving Dessert Boards and Cookie Decorating Kits from M. Streeting Baking Co., and even a Thanksgiving Leftovers Kit from Lucius Q.

·         In the last 30 days, SpotOn reported an uptick in traditional Thanksgiving Day sides and desserts added to its restaurant clients’ menus, including 652 sweet potato items, 421 mashed potato items, 272 yam items, 275 pumpkin pie items, 164 pecan pie items, 83 stuffing items, 44 cranberry sauce items and 24 green bean casserole items.

Business on ‘Drinksgiving’

·         The night before Thanksgiving, also known as “Drinksgiving,” is typically one of the busiest bar nights of the year as consumers kick off the start of the holiday weekend.

·         Last year, SpotOn reported its bar and brewery clients saw a 50% increase in sales on “Drinksgiving” vs. the previous Wednesday.

·         Not surprisingly, the Wednesday before Thanksgiving was also the busiest Wednesday of 2021 for SpotOn’s pizza clients.

Post-Turkey Day Trends

·         After the holiday weekend is over, and the leftovers are gone, it seems diners are in the mood for a particular cuisine type(s). Last year, Japanese, sushi and seafood restaurants saw an 18% uptick in business on the Monday after Thanksgiving, welcoming in consumers hungry for a break from heavy holiday meals.

The Remaining Holidays

·         Holiday menu items, in general, have been on the rise, with over 500 holiday menu items added in the last 90 days, with the largest number of items added the week of Oct. 2. Some of the highlights include a Herbivore Holiday Meal from Pondichieri in Houston, Holiday BBQ Plate from Viewhouse with various Colorado locations and Holiday Wellington from Matthew Kenney’s Veg’d in Los Angeles.

·         SpotOn also saw an additional 405 Christmas menu items, with the largest spike added at the beginning of October, including The Christmas Mimosas at Famous Toastery, a “take n bake” Christmas Ham from Three Blondes Brewing and Christmas Chile at ABQ Burrito & Burger.

·         As for the season’s favorite flavors, SpotOn found restaurants added: 470 hot chocolate and 86 hot cocoa items, 410 peppermint items, 148 gingerbread items, 21 eggnog items, 39 candy cane items and 22 mulled wine items so far.

If customers don’t want to cook Thanksgiving dinner at home, they can now visit a restaurant and enjoy a nice holiday meal with family.

Foodservice Solutions® specializes in outsourced business development. We can help you identify, quantify and qualify additional food retail segment opportunities or a new menu product segment and brand and menu integration strategy.  Foodservice Solutions® of Tacoma WA is the global leader in the Grocerant niche visit us on our social media sites by clicking one of the following links: Facebook,  LinkedIn, or Twitter