To say there’s been a lot going on is an understatement. A pandemic, supply chain hurdles, months of inflation, and a looming recession (depending on who you ask) have made the restaurant business tumultuous the past few years.
Still, despite all that, we’ve seen success story after success story from national chains. One strategy that we’ve seen restaurants adopt is reducing the number of core menu items and bumping up the frequency of their limited-time offers (LTOs). We reached out to some of our national account partners to learn how they managed to overcome recent industry obstacles to achieve LTO success.
Different Paths to Success
The brands we contacted all chose smart but different ways to create an LTO with broad audience appeal. Ty Goerke from Smashburger told us how The Bayless Burger capitalized on several trends at once:
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Celebrity collaborations have gained increasing traction in the culinary world. Smashburger partnered with celebrity chef Rick Bayless for this Mexican-inspired creation.
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The patty is topped with chorizo, an ingredient that has grown rapidly on menus.
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With the launch of the burger, Smashburger also matched guest donations to Bayless’ Frontera Farmer Foundation.
Bar Louie decided to go with a charitable angle as well. With their Cocktails for a Cause LTOs, Bar Louie introduces new cocktails and donates one dollar from each to a charity. Currently, they are offering their Aloha Punch to support World Central Kitchen.
“The success of Cocktails for a Cause is largely due to the fact our teams get behind the program and sell it. With everything going on in the world—COVID, wars, etc.—the team got behind an effort that supports the common good.”
David Tashman, Bar Louie
This approach has become more popular as diners look to restaurants to take a stand on issues, but affordability, familiarity, and seasonality are long-standing components of successful LTOs. When asked what made Church’s Texas Chicken’s peach cobbler a hit, Patrick S. Miller responded, “it delivered a big, bold flavor at an affordable price.” It’s that simple. Plus, the peach dessert hit the menu in time for summer.
Jeff Burrus of Noodles & Company described their tortelloni dishes as “classic comfort food.” The chain’s first stuffed pasta makes classic tortellini bigger and better with a larger shape that packs extra flavor. It’s hard for diners to turn down elevated comfort food.
Overcoming Challenges
LTO wins are hard won in this environment. National accounts have to execute plans to a “T” to minimize risk from issues with supply chain, labor, and inflation. Smashburger used their existing SKUs in a new way to create the burger’s pico de gallo To work through turnover challenges and “do more with the same or less,” they also switched up their testing process and prep procedures.
But you can’t plan for everything. Church’s Texas Chicken wasn’t able to get the peaches they wanted, but they pivoted fast. They sourced peaches from Greece, and the R&D and quality assurance teams adjusted the final formula for the new peaches. Bar Louie had to change up their garnishes due to some availability issues.
These chains teach us that flexibility is a must. From sourcing to prep, restaurants have to think on their feet when something—or many things—don’t go according to plan.
A Little Advice
Each of these national accounts left us with some advice for their fellow operators. A couple of them emphasized the importance of communicating with supplier and distributor partners. Miller of Church’s Texas Chicken recommends “leveraging your core supplier base to develop creative solutions for increased freight efficiencies and ease of implementation.” He recommends allotting extra time for developing and implementing LTOs because of extended lead times. Bar Louie’s David Tashman also suggests communicating early with suppliers to ensure availability.
While communicating with external partners is critical, internal communication is also key, according to Goerke of Smashburger. He advises getting team members involved in the development process.
Regardless of the execution, LTOs won’t perform well if they don’t interest diners. Noodles & Company shared that LTOs should be familiar but still different from what guests cook for themselves to get them in the door.
“Play to your base. Innovation is great but remember what drives the majority of your guests. Make sure you continue to develop things that feel familiar and encourage frequency of visit. Elevated offerings or items you don’t typically make at home also help with keeping guests interested.”
Jeff Burrus, Noodles & Company