What’s a Family Restaurant without Kids?

At the intersection of time starved parents and hungry is the age-old question, ‘What’s for Dinner’ according to Steven Johnson Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®, ‘if kids are welcome, and wanted as customers when they are at your restaurant, the parents will be happy. Remember it’s the parents that pay the bill’.  

Here are 5 ways a restaurant can become a favorite spot for kids:

1.       Create a Fun and Engaging Atmosphere: Make your restaurant visually appealing to kids. Use bright colors, fun furniture (think booths shaped like animals), and decorate with kid-friendly themes. Consider having a designated play area with toys, coloring books, or even a mini arcade to keep them occupied while waiting.

2.       Offer a Dedicated Kids' Menu: This doesn't just mean chicken fingers and fries! Develop a menu with a variety of healthy and delicious options that appeal to kids' tastes. Consider including fun presentations, like smiley face pancakes or animal-shaped pizzas.

3.       Host Kid-Friendly Events: Organize themed nights, character appearances, or even magic shows. You could also have cooking classes specifically designed for kids, where they can learn to make their own pizzas or decorate cupcakes.

4.       Incorporate Play and Entertainment: Think beyond just a highchair. Offer interactive features like digital games on tablets or activity sheets with crayons. Consider having a scavenger hunt or trivia night specifically for kids.

5.       Incentivize Visits: Offer rewards programs for kids, like a free dessert after a certain number of visits. You could also have a "stamp card" system where they collect stamps with each visit and get a prize upon completion.

By focusing on these aspects, your restaurant can become a place kids, genuinely enjoy, influencing them to want to return and becoming a top choice in their minds (and their parents' wallets!).

Don’t over reach. Are you ready for some fresh ideations? Do your food marketing ideations look more like yesterday than tomorrow? Interested in learning how Foodservice Solutions® can edify your retail food brand while creating a platform for consumer convenient meal participation, differentiation and individualization?  Email us at: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us or visit us on our social media sites by clicking the following links: Facebook,  LinkedIn, or Twitter 

Don't for get

Finger Food for Kid's 

Kid’s Meals Grocer H-E-B aims to Win back Families

In an effort to win back family business once the mainstay of the grocery business Texas, based H-E-B took a direct shot at chain restaurants when the company's Central Market location in San Antonio, Texas, has launched family focused meal kits for kids. The kid-friendly entree choices the ilk of spaghetti and meatballs and chicken quesadillas are designed to appeal to and feed only kids.

The meal kit are priced at $6.99 to compete with fast food restaurants and feed two kids. The meals come with pre-portioned ingredients and require some cooking, Ok we know that at fast food restaurants now cooking is required but you can serve a meal they like at home and your kids will know you cooked for them.  That just might be more important than you think.

H-E-B is the only grocer at this time targeting kids with specific kits designed to appeal to the younger palate. Scrumpt, Nurture Life and some other companies do offer subscription based meal kits for kids, and the "kid meal kit" space seems to be exploding accord to new reports.

1.        A new target consumer has emerged in the fast-growing meal kit industry – kids. H-E-B has launched meal kits for kids at its San Antonio Central Market store, according to Retail Leader. The new line features entrees such as spaghetti and meatballs and chicken quesadillas. Each kit costs $6.99 and feeds two.

2. H-E-B joins Yumble, Scrumpt and Nurture Life in the children’s prepared meals space. HelloFresh co-founder Dan Treiman helped launch Yumble last summer and it is now available in 26 states with expansion planned this year.
3. The home meal kit category has grown to $5 billion, according to Packaged Facts. Although online players like Blue Apron and HelloFresh dominate the market, grocers like Kroger, Albertsons, and now Walmart, have steadily grown sales. According to Nielsen, sales of in-store meal kits grew 26.5% last year, to $154.6 million.

McDonald’s Happy Meal just might be under attack as both H-E-B and Yumble have promised “fun” in their offerings, and Yumble’s boxes include activity sheets and trivia cards. It will also take some promotional pushes to get the word out that these targeted kits exist. H-E-B will need to promote the new offerings in store circulars and online, and, if they haven't already, position the kits next to their grown-up counterparts. H-E-B currently offers dinner-for-two meal kits ranging in price from $14 to $18. Think about it fun for mom, dad, and kids. 

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 Facebook.com/Steven Johnson, Linkedin.com/in/grocerant/ or twitter.com/grocerant