FSR September 2022

TRENDING ON THE MENU // Coffee and Tea

VERSATILE ACROSS FORMATS AND DAYPARTS, HIGH-QUALITY TEA—AS WELL AS HIGH-QUALITY COFFEE—CAN BUILD EXCITEMENT AND DRIVE REPEAT TRAFFIC.

RED DIAMOND

SecureMarginswithUniqueBeverages Here’s how trends in coffee and tea can support the bottom line. E ven as COVID-19 restrictions fade into memory and consumers ven ture out on a more regular basis, many successful restaurants still strug gle to turn a profit. quarter of 2022, the percentage of sur vey respondents mentioning inflation rose 37 points from the previous quar ter to hit 76 percent. with reliably highmargins—present the perfect opportunity to build excitement and drive repeat traffic.

“From a sheer margin standpoint, cof fee and tea are the most profitable items you can put on amenu outside of alcohol,” says EmilyWood Bowron, vice president of strategic marketing at Red Diamond Coffee & Tea . “They can also be used in multiple ways and across multiple dayp arts—as a base for cocktails or mocktails,

So, aside from raising prices yet again and risking customer backlash, how can restaurants fight inflation? Considering an uncertain supply chain and a linger ing labor crunch, it’s even more of an uphill battle. Coffee and tea—those classic MVPs

In a recent survey from Kinetic12 Consulting, restaurant operators called out supply chain disruptions, rising food costs, and staffing shortages as their top three biggest issues. The cost of ingredi ents is a growing concern: In the second

SEPTEMBER 2022 | SPONSORED CONTENT

58

FSRMAGAZINE .COM