‘Tis the season (the season before the season of goodwill)
With the kids back at school, it is once again the time of year when planning for Christmas comes to the front of our members’ minds.
The whole sector enjoyed growth last December in comparison to 2022 and an increase in bookings against this time last year suggests further growth for 2024. As ever, we are here to support you in making the most of the festive season so let’s get started with some trends, traditions and top tips to inspire you.
Learning from Christmas past
Feed It Back offer a fantastic (free) report on last year’s customer behaviour. It’s well worth a read, but a few key takeaways include:
Be ready to entertain earlier: It’s no surprise that work celebrations peak during the first two weeks of December, but friends are tending to get together earlier so make sure you’re ready from mid-November so you don’t miss out.
Consistency is key: Saturdays always perform the best (the 14th and 21st will be the peak dates this year), but weekday feedback improves as the month goes on, suggesting that many venues fail to find their festive stride straight away. A really well briefed team will help you hit the ground running, ensuring a great experience for every single customer. Remember – those who visit early might book again before the year is out!
Millennials to middle agers are the tough nuts to crack: When out without their children, the 35-54 year olds are the hardest to please, with food (both quality and temperature) being the main cause for complaint. It might be worth investing in higher quality ingredients, an additional team-member in the kitchen or replacing any older equipment which might slow service down.
Money over menus: Interestingly, it’s not necessarily the menu that leads to bookings, so you can keep it simple and still win. A previous good experience and an attractive overall Christmas package are the main factors in customers choosing where to go so consider extras you can include to really add value.
Customers taking their time: As you would imagine, both being shooed out to make way for the next sitting and a reserved table not being ready for guest arrival are key detractors. Think carefully about how long you’ll allow for each sitting.
Festive food
We know that the traditional turkey with trimmings remains the most popular dish on festive menus, but it doesn’t dominate in the way it used to. Consumers don’t feel as bound to tradition and are increasingly opting for beef, chicken and fish. So you need to offer a range of options – not just to your a la carte guests, but also to the larger and pre-order groups. Fortunately, the range of alternatives and innovative recipes never cease to amaze.
Our partners at Brakes and Bidfood have done Christmas proud as usual with their newest offerings including gluten free Wild Boar, Pork, Apple and Cider pies from Phat Pasty and an incredible looking recipe for Slow Cooked Porchetta with a seasonal Cranberry and Pink Peppercorn sauce.
Elsewhere (but with ingredients available from our suppliers no doubt) we’ve spotted a seasonal take on salmon and a Moroccan inspired lamb dish which would need only a few tweaks to go from ‘foreign’ to ‘festive’.
And there’s really no excuse for failing to accommodate dietary restrictions with offerings that look THIS good:
Our cafe and deli members needn’t feel left out of the loop either, with both suppliers offering recipe ideas, sandwich fillings and complete products for the ‘to-go’ market:
Christmas cocktails
Did you know that punch is the new prosecco? We are seeing recipes everywhere so the team have chosen a few favourites you could offer by the cup from the bar, or ‘by the bowl’ for the table:
Alison (our athlete) has been drinking less this year so she’s opted for the alcohol free Pear and rose punch from the BBC (but let’s be honest, you could throw some gin or vodka in there if you wanted to give it a kick!).
Hayley has decided to combine her two favourite tipples with this prosecco and gin liqueur number, also from the BBC.
Fruit lover Becki likes the look of Wholefully’s Jingle juice.
I’ll admit, I’ve cheated a little. I found this Grinch punch recipe and loved the concept, but it doesn’t feel right for the UK market, so how about making up a bowl of this version instead!
But don’t forget that alcohol consumption is down and offering orange juice or lemonade simply isn’t going to cut it anymore. Non-drinkers expect a decent range of interesting and high quality low/no alcohol options to choose from and for their drinks experience to match that of their boozier counterparts so get shaking those mocktails!
Elevating the experience
Reports may suggest that the cost of living crisis is easing, but consumers are still cautious, expecting a high-value experience when they do choose to eat out. As we know, value is not about price, it’s about how good the experience was relative to the price. Did the customer walk away feeling they have paid fairly for what they got?
In our view, there are four key elements to offering good value:
Service: Friendly, efficient service lies at the heart of any visit, but there’s more to a smooth and enjoyable visit than a wink and a smile.
Quality of product: At a fiver for a full English, no-one will mind if your eggs aren’t uber-organic Burford Browns. But for £24.50 (plus another £3 for toast) at The Wolseley, I want to be able to taste the difference! Choose the best quality that your price point warrants – remember, you’re competing with increasingly good at-home dining.
Atmosphere/entertainment: We’ve banged on about design before, but really, anything you can do to make your space different to normal is going to make things feel special. If you don’t usually cloth your tables, Johnsons Stalbridge offer short-term contracts and coloured linen options. Uplighters are cheap to rent and can truly transform a room. And the right mix of music (think festive but funky) can really set the tone (if you’ll pardon the pun).
The little extras: ‘Value-adds’ are the small things that don’t cost you a lot, but make for a nice perk in the customer’s mind: Small gifts for the kids (or grown ups!), nicely presented nibbles upon arrival, a mini gingerbread with coffee, or even a voucher for a visit in January.
Wherever you are in your planning for Christmas, if there is anything we can help with, please give us a call!
01494 398400