Our Five Top Tips For a Great Christmas Season
1. Less is more –
Concentrate on where you need to put your energy rather than spreading yourself too thin.
Concentrate on where you need to put your energy rather than spreading yourself too thin.
It’s easy to get carried away, but getting the basics right is more important and will make a bigger impact overall. Smaller festive touches through carefully selected drinks, sauces, sides and seasoning will also help you to keep a handle on costs and any waste, keeping your menu as versatile as possible.
2. Go for comfort instead of indulgence -
Current trends still indicate that hearty comfort food and good value are key to success.
In hospitality especially, paying customers are much less likely to forgive a poor experience while they are feeling the pinch, so investing time in your teams (front of house and back of house) to make sure that everything runs smoothly will be important. In other parts of foodservice, nutrition, sustenance and service will trump frills and excess.
3. Have a Plan B–
Although most supply chain issues on the whole have eased, it’s still an uncertain world. So, having a few ‘Plan Bs’ up your sleeve is always a good idea.
4. Plan ahead and utilise your freezer –
Where can you save money by prepping in advance and freezing? Weigh up what’s best for you versus your budget and the time it takes to batch cook and freeze key components.
5. It’s all in the detail -
If items have been home-made, made using leftovers to reduce waste or you’ve bought locally, then shout about that detail to help dishes stand out.
Home-made seasonal soup or a festive bread and butter pudding using up leftovers are always quick wins, and people are generally more and more interested in where food comes from and why you’ve selected certain dishes.
