Macgregors Seafood Notes

Winter-Licious is here. Over 150 restaurants participate in this marketing event in effort to get people out and into restaurants in a typically slow season. The attraction is all these restaurants offer a 3 course prie-fix menu for relatively cheap ($25-$45).

However, each year that it comes & goes, restaurants & diners seem to be getting more and more resentful of the event. Restaurants comment that it's just a mass feeding, with very high turns and very low liquor sales. Servers get over-worked and complain of making less than typical gratuities. Some restaurants source very inexpensive items in an effort to maximize profits for the event. In the end, the diner may not always get a fair impression of what a "normal" experience at a certain restaurant may be like. This to me is a mistake.

If you've got people coming into your restaurant, for any occasion, they are your customer. Even an event like this, where they may only be looking to spend the minimum amount possible, it is still your chance to wow them. This year, more than any other year, people's personal dining budget is under tremendous pressure. The frequency of dining out, by all accounts, will be less this year. So how do you capture those precious customers? It isn't by turning them out as quickly as possible for a much profit as you can squeeze (typically made up in the product you sell).

We deal with a lot of restaurants who participate in Winter-Licious, and while some do look for the inexpensive products for their menu, there are some still who look at it as an opportunity to invest in a potential return customer. They feature good products, not unlike their "regular" menu's. They don't try to over-book themselves to the point that service suffers. As their supplier we try to find high quality items that we can potentially offer some value on, because we're here to help grow their business too. It may not be the most profitable 2 week event, but it isn't supposed to be. It's supposed to be advertising. Investing in your brand for future sales.

Hopefully the organizers and participants continue to grow this event and place an emphasis on quality of food and service, because there is plenty potential yet, and precious "dining-out" dollars need to be taken graciously, humbly and respectfully...